Thank you to all the 2014-15 Scholarship Chairs who took our recent survey about the 2015 scholarship contests! We’ve tallied all the responses and noticed a few common themes.

• This was our second year using the MVS Online Judging Dashboard to track MVS applicants at each stage of the contest, and it seems Scholarship Chairs are getting more familiar with the process: 87% of respondents agreed they felt prepared to use the MVS Dashboard, 85% agreed they thought the Dashboard was easy to use, and 78% agreed that the Dashboard saved them time.

• Respondents indicated they had some confusion over the difference between the Scholarship Chair role in CLMS and the Scholarship Coordinator role in CLMS. To clarify:
  • Scholarship Chair: This is the person in charge of promoting, administering and judging scholarships at the local Lodge. The Lodge Secretary selects this person as the Scholarship Chair in CLMS.
  • Scholarship Coordinator: This is the person who has access to the online MVS Judging Dashboard at www.elks.org/enf/mvs. Oftentimes, it is the same person as the Scholarship Chair. If the Scholarship Chair does not feel comfortable using computers, the Scholarship Coordinator can be a different Lodge member.
  • The Scholarship Coordinator must be appointed in CLMS by the Lodge Secretary for that person to have access to the online MVS Judging Dashboard.
  • Note, the Scholarship Chair and Scholarship Coordinator are two separate appointments in CLMS.

• We received several comments from Scholarship Chairs who would like to be able to see their applicant’s progress throughout the contest—this is possible in the MVS Judging Dashboard. Simply log in to the Dashboard at any time to see how far your Lodge’s applicants progressed: District, State or National.

• The majority of Scholarship Chairs responded that they promote the contests by meeting with high school guidance counselors, with 78% selecting this response. However, several respondents indicated new ways of promotion:
  • Use the Lodge Facebook page.
  • Post Scholarship information on the Lodge website.
  • Attend college fairs hosted by the local high school.

• Many Scholarship Chairs are aware that our office offers periodic online webinars. Several responded that they were unable to attend the webinars due to timing. Please note that all webinars are recorded in full and can be watch at a later date. You can find all past webinar recordings online at www.elks.org/ENF/webinars.cfm.

• 46% of respondents said they do not keep in touch with their scholarship winners after the contest. But, we know that if Elks scholars form personal relationships with Elks members, they are more likely to join. Visit www.elks.org/enf/scholars/engage.cfm to watch a few short videos of Elks scholars discussing the best ways for Lodges to engage Elks scholars. You’ll get some ideas about how you can engage Elks scholars at your Lodge!

Thank you to everyone who shared their opinions. We look forward to another great year ahead! The 2016 scholarship contests begin on September 1, 2015.