As the latest Most Valuable Student contest wraps up, we asked Lodge Scholarship Chairs for their feedback about the 2014 Most Valuable Student scholarship contest, and the new MVS Judging Dashboard. About 34 percent, of Lodge Scholarship Chairs responded to the survey. Their responses are highlighted below.

• 34 percent have been the Lodge Scholarship Chair for three to five years, while 30 percent have been the Lodge Scholarship Chair for more than 11 years.
• 72 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs felt prepared to use the new online MVS Judging Dashboard.
• 79 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs agreed that the online MVS Judging Dashboard was easy to use.
• 71 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs thought the online MVS Judging Dashboard saved them time.
• The most popular way to promote the MVS Scholarship contest is to meet with high school guidance counselors, which 73 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs do, followed by posting articles in the local newspaper at 32 percent.
• 67 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs agreed that the MVS fact cards were useful in promoting the scholarship contest to local high schools.
• 56 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chars receive their information about the MVS scholarship contest from the Scholarship Chair section of the ENF website.
• During the 2013-14 scholarship contest season, 42 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs attended an informational webinar hosted by the ENF Scholarship Office.
• After the scholarship contest, 62 percent of Lodge Scholarship Chairs invite their scholarship applicants or winners to the Lodge, and 46% keep in contact with the scholarship winners beyond the contest.

We thank all Lodge, District and State Scholarship Chairs for their dedication to the ENF Scholarship programs and for their hard work throughout the year. The weekend of April 25 to 27, we will host the inaugural MVS Leadership Weekend in Chicago. The full list of 2014 scholarship recipients will be posted online in late April.

In 2013-14, the Elks National Foundation allocated $2.44 million to fund 500 four-year Most Valuable Student Scholarships, which now feature 20 top awards of at least $20,000. For more information about the Most Valuable Student scholarship program, including eligibility and deadlines, visit www.elks.org/enf/scholars.