Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Program update from District 5710

As has been previously communicated, The Rotary Foundation is implementing the Future Vision Plan (FVP), and will have completed a three-year pilot program on June 30, 2013.  The FVP will change how some familiar Rotary programs are conducted and funded, will give more latitude and discretion to individual districts about the use of their District Designated Funds, and will promote broader and more collaborative efforts among clubs and districts for community and international service projects.

One particular change in the FVP is the discontinuance of the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program.  Rotary districts will still have the opportunity to award scholarships, and they will still be able to be paid for with District Designated Funds, but the design and administration of the scholarship program will now be the responsibility of each district. 

Because of the vast number of details involved in designing a scholarship program and the administrative and logistical responsibilities related to it, it has been decided that our district will not conduct interviews and award scholarships during this Rotary year.  Instead, we will spend the next several months designing a new District 5710 scholarship program, with the goal of having it in place in time for student applicants who would begin their studies in the fall of 2014 or sooner, depending on their place of study.     

We are deeply grateful to the Rotary Club of Atchison, whose members have overseen and supported our scholarship interview process so successfully and capably over the past many years.  Although we will not be in Atchison for interviews this March, we look forward to being there again in 2013 for the rollout of our new program.  

Please contact me if you have any questions about this, by reply to this email, or by telephone to 785.691.5488.  

Thank you for all that you do for our communities and the world, through Rotary service. 

Vickie. 

Vickie Randel
District Rotary Foundation Chair