Process for Selecting All-Indiana 2025-26 Global Scholar

1. Candidates initially apply for the $40,000 Global Grant Scholarship through an Indiana Rotary Club. After interviewing the applicant, the club will complete a club endorsement form and will send the application and form to Scholarship Co-Chairs Bob Morrison & Dwight Thompson (apply@rotaryglobalscholar.com). Deadline for submitting an application to the District Scholarship Chair is Friday, December 20, 2024.

2. On Saturday, January 25, 2025, the District Scholarship Committee will interview finalist Global Grant Scholarship candidates and will select one scholar to be nominated to The Rotary Foundation for a final decision. To be considered, applicants must interview for the scholarship on January 25, 2025.

3. Scholarship Committee members are responsible for selecting the proposed recipient of the All-Indiana Global Grant Scholarship and for forwarding the application to The Rotary Foundation. Once approved by The Rotary Foundation, the selected scholar will receive up to a total of $40,000 for one to four years, starting with the 2025-26 academic year.

Current Scholarship Committee members:

Ranjan Kini, Schererville

Sharon Kish, Valparaiso

Shelley Foley, Lafayette Daybreak

Holli Seabury, Fort Wayne

Brent Sheppard, Granger Sunrise

Rick Markoff, Carmel

Debbie Webb, Anderson

Jeff Richardson, Bloomington

Jill Griffin, Evansville

Santos Salinas, Kokomo

Ryan Henry, Indianapolis East

Dwight Thompson, Brown County

Bob Morrison, Columbus

Santhana Naidu, Terre Haute

Jim Bright, Bloomington

Mandy Lorhum, Greensburg

Kari Akins, Evansville

4. The Committee’s work is concluded when the nominee is informed that he/she has been awarded the Global Grant Scholarship, arrangements are finalized with the Host Club, and the scholar’s pre-departure orientation has been completed. Committee members stay in touch with the Global Scholar during the period of study overseas and following his/her return home.

5. The Committee’s tasks include updating the Global Scholarship material on the scholarship website and promoting the scholarship to colleges in Indiana, the District’s Rotary Clubs, and other sources of candidates. The Committee expects to recruit a sizeable pool of outstanding applicants by December 20, 2024.

6. This site provides information about Rotary’s Global Grant Scholarship Program, eligibility requirements, documents and forms, and a description of the application process.

7. Candidates must be endorsed by an Indiana Rotary Club. To find a club in your area, go to www.rotary.org and click on “club finder.”

8. Applications must be submitted to Bob Morrison & Dwight Thompson, District Scholarship Committee Co-Chairs (apply@rotaryglobalscholar.com) by December 20, 2024.In addition to the official form, applications include:

    • Two letters of recommendation
    • A preliminary budget (not to exceed $40,000)
    • A signed Club Endorsement form
    • A Letter of Acceptance from the overseas university of the candidate’s choice

In lieu of a Letter of Acceptance, the Committee will accept a Letter of Affiliation from the university indicating that the applicant has applied and meets the institution’s minimum qualifications, but that a final decision has not been made.

The Co-Chairs will review all applications to make sure they are complete. The accepted applications will then be distributed to members of the Committee for review. The Co-Chairs is responsible for resolving all issues raised by Committee members.

9. The Committee will convene on Saturday, January 25, 2025 on Zoom to interview finalists.
Candidates who want to be considered are required to interview that day.

10. After holding interviews, the Committee will select the candidate it wishes to nominate for the Global Scholarship and an alternate. The current Rotary District Governors and Foundation Committee Chairs are required to sign off on the Committee’s decisions before the nominee’s Global Scholarship application material can be submitted to The Rotary Foundation. Nominees are given 10 business days to accept or decline the offer of a Global Scholarship. Scholars who accept a Rotary Global Scholarship cannot accept another scholarship at the same time.

11. The Committee is required to document for The Rotary Foundation the process by which applications were generated, candidates were selected, and how/why the nominees were chosen.

12. As soon as possible following the selection and District approval of our Global Scholarship nominees, the scholar will prepare his/her applications for submission to The Rotary Foundation (TRF) who makes the final decision in every case.

Within three weeks of receiving a scholar’s application material and the authorizing signatures of the All-Indiana Rotary officials and representatives of the Host Rotary Club/District, The Rotary Foundation notifies the scholar of its decisions.

If a nominee is not approved by TRF, no scholarship is awarded. Most Global Scholarship applications that are not approved by TRF are rejected because an applicant’s plan of study or stated career goals was not sufficiently centered on one of Rotary’s Seven Humanitarian Areas of Focus.

After a nominee is approved by TRF, the scholar and the scholarship co-chair contact a Rotary Club in the city where the scholar will study and arrange for the club to be the scholar’s host.

13. The Global Grant Scholarship application to TRF is the funding process. No additional funding support is requested of an endorsing Rotary Club. $16,000 of the $40,000 that funds the Global Scholarship is provided by TRF World Fund and $24,000 comes from the three Indiana districts’ Designated Funds ($8,000 from each district).

Scholarship funds are transferred by TRF to a bank account in Indiana designated specifically for Global Scholarship and overseen by the Co-Chairs.

The Chair is responsible for disbursing funds to the scholar and ensuring timely and accurate reporting. At the end of the scholar’s study experience, the scholar is responsible for submitting a final narrative and financial report to TRF. It is always possible that an audit will ensue.

14. It is expected that Global Scholars will participate in the life of their Host Rotary Club and host district and, after returning home, will be willing to share their experiences as a Global Scholar with Indiana Rotary clubs.