The Department has a pool of scholarships available to qualified WS&T undergraduate majors to enable men and women of diverse backgrounds to enter Wood Science & Technology professions through an OSU education, and to encourage sustained high scholastic achievement by WS&T students. Wood-based Composite Center (WBC) scholarships are supported by the wood composites industry to encourage juniors and seniors to consider career opportunities in that sector. Richardson Scholarships are supported by a generous gift of the Richardson Family and are available to all qualified majors.

The awards are $1500 annually for eligible first-year students and $3000 annually for eligible sophomores, juniors and seniors, payable in $500-$1000 per term of eligibility. Currently, 12-16 awards are made annually, contingent on the availability of funds.

Award Information and Eligibility Criteria

Purpose: to increase the number and quality of WST undergraduate majors and retain them to successful graduation.

A. Application

1. Applicants must apply each year using the College of Forestry Scholarship Application. Forms are available online (by clicking this link) from December until February 1. At other periods, forms are available from the WSE Undergraduate Secretary (Margie York).

2. Applications for new first-year or transfer students are accepted at any time and awards may be made at any time during the academic year if funds are available. Applications for continuing student awards must be made following the College of Forestry Scholarship Program timetable and procedures.

3. Interested new students must submit a College of Forestry scholarship application, a transcript, and letter of intent to George Swanson, the college recruiter, or to the WS&E Undergraduate Secretary. The letter of intent must explicitly describe why a BS in WS&T will further your career goals and ambitions. Continuing or transfer OSU students should see the Undergraduate Secretary for application information.

4. Students are eligible for all other College of Forestry scholarships, and are strongly encouraged to apply for those awards as well.

B. Eligibility Criteria

1. Applicants must be a declared undergraduate Wood Science & Technology major at OSU.

2. Incoming first-year students with a minimum 3.5 high school GPA are eligible for first year support of $1500 (paid as $500 in each term of eligibility);

3. New transfer students into WS&T from community college or from another program on campus with at least sophomore status and with a minimum 3.0 GPA for college-level work are eligible for a $3000 award (paid as $1000 per term of eligibility). Sophomore status is defined as having successfully completed 45 OSU-accepted credits. Transfers from OSU programs will be evaluated on OSU Cumulative GPA only.

4. Continuing WS&T students having successfully completed three terms may receive an award of $3000 per year ($1000 per term) if they maintain their eligibility as described below.

   • First-year and sophomore students must complete an average of 12 credits each term; junior and senior students must complete 15 credits each term. Students in the Degree Partnership Program (DPP) must complete a minimum of 6 of these credit hours at OSU per term to retain eligibility.
     
   • All awardees must continue to make adequate progress toward a degree in Wood Science & Technology as judged by the WS&T Lead Advisor.
     
   • Awardees must maintain a Cumulative OSU GPA of 3.0 or higher to remain eligible for the scholarship. DPP students are evaluated on a combined Cumulative GPA calculated using all OSU credit hours and the Community College credits hours taken since entering the WS&T Major.
     
5. Students who fail to meet the above eligibility requirements in any term may be placed on a scholarship warning for one quarter at the discretion of the Department Scholarship Committee.
   
6. Students failing to meet the eligibility requirements by the end of the scholarship warning term may be placed on scholarship probation for a maximum of one term at the discretion of the Scholarship Committee. The scholarship will be withdrawn if the awardee fails to achieve eligibility by the end of the probationary term, or earlier if the Department Scholarship Committee feels that the awardee is not taking corrective action.
   
7. Students who lose their eligibility may reapply for reinstatement once the criteria are met.

C. Limitations:

1. WS&T Scholarships are awarded as a credit to the student’s OSU account during the academic year. No scholarships are awarded in summer term.

2. Students may receive WS&T scholarships for a maximum of twelve academic quarters (three terms per year). Awards may be initiated in any term and will normally continue through the academic year unless eligibility is lost.

3. Continuing students must reapply at the beginning of Fall term for the next year awards. Application is not automatic!

4. The number of WS&T scholarship awards made each year is contingent upon the availability of funds.