To begin the funding of a local Resident Scholar program, work with the Director of Learning Communities at SigEp Headquarters to design a plan that coordinates grants available from the national Fraternity with grants and/or scholarships to be provided by the local Alumni and Volunteer Corporation (AVC) from existing funds and/or alumni gifts.

All funds provided to a Resident Scholar are in the form of a grant or scholarship and in some cases are tied to performance standards determined by the local alumni corporation with the Director of Learning Communities at SigEp Headquarters.

* The Resident Scholar is not an employee of the local AVC or national Fraternity; services provided are to assist the chapter and the AVC in achieving academic and leadership goals.

Funding Vehicles

Funding for a local program can be provided through one or a combination of the following vehicles:

1) Grant from the National Fraternity

The Director of Learning Communities at SigEp Headquarters manages a limited discretionary pool of funds. Grants are given based on a variety of factors, including responsibilities, need, and qualifications. Grants typically range from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 annually.

Grants from the national Fraternity are secured through an application from the Resident Scholar candidate in conjunction with the local AVC.

A grant from the national Fraternity is usually part of a funding package with the local alumni corporation contributing monies and/or room and board, as well.

2) Local Scholarship

The local AVC may choose to provide a performance-based scholarship to the Resident Scholar based on responsibilities and measurement/reporting systems determined by the local alumni corporation and the Resident Scholar candidate in conjunction with the Director of Learning Communities at SigEp Headquarters.

In a compensation package of this sort, a scholarship will typically be given in two parts – the first part at the beginning of an academic term as a base amount, and the second part at the end of the term based on performance. A formal review session involving all parties should take place as early as possible to trigger performance-based funding.

Performance-based measures may include, but are not limited to:

• New member academic performance
• Member retention
• A chapter’s overall grade point average
• Quality and amount of leadership development programming

Local scholarships are funded by an existing endowment held by the local AVC, or are funded by a new endowment or direct scholarship monies solicited by the local Alumni and Volunteer Corporation. Scholarships of this type usually range from $500.00 to $1,500.00. The local alumni corporation is not constrained to these dollar amounts, and can decide on any amount they find reasonable.

The Director of Learning Communities at SigEp Headquarters can be of assistance by connecting the AVC with the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation who can help design a campaign to chapter alumni as necessary.

* The Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporation and can also provide the administrative support and vehicles for endowments (funding from interest/proceeds) or direct funds (corpus available immediately). Alumni gifts to the Foundation are tax-deductible and are acknowledged directly to the donor.

3) Room & Board Stipend

The local alumni corporation may offer a partial or full stipend to cover the rent and meal plan (if applicable) expenses of the Resident Scholar. This is done at the discretion of the alumni corporation depending on the needs of the candidate and the attractiveness of the package necessary to secure a qualified candidate.

A room and board stipend can be part of the scholarship package offered to the Resident Scholar, as mentioned previously, or it can done separately as a check to be returned to the alumni corporation or as a preclusion of payment (full or partial) by the Resident Scholar for rent and/or meals.

Example Chapter

Resident Scholar Responsibilities and Performance Measures

• New member retention.
• New member academic performance.
• Chapter’s overall academic performance.
• Attend Carlson Leadership Academy with chapter leaders.
• Work with Executive Board in the creation of goals and the execution of those goals.

Grant from the National Fraternity

• $1,000.00 annually; $500.00 to be distributed at the start of each semester.
• Training to be provided at the Grand Chapter Conclave in Atlanta, Georgia, August 8-12.

Scholarship from the Local Alumni Corporation

• $2,000.00, timing, process; funded partially through an endowment with the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation ($25,000.00 corpus, yielding $1,000.00 annually), and partially through annual fund raising from chapter alumni in a direct fund managed by the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation ($1,000.00 = 4 alumni giving $250.00 each).
• Room & Board (full); preclusion of payment.