Grad Student Funding

I was talking to another PhD Candidate the other day and she was debating as to whether or not she should go through the tedious, time-consuming work of gathering information and filling out forms and writing letters according to the Graduate Student Organization protocol for funding, all to receive the $250 award (she had asked for $400 for travel to a conference in San Francisco). I think she decided not to go through with it, and I understand - the amount of work that one puts into a GSO funding application throughout the duration of the process is mind-numbing. Talk about colonial bureaucracy!

Here are some alternatives that I have found to fund my own conference travels. Although some of these funding options can also be used towards projects other than conference travel, a lot of what we do as grad students in English and in the Humanities in general is give talks at conferences, and as College of LLL Dean Joe O'Mealy (who is also from our English Dept.) told me in conversation, he reminds others serving on awards panels that those in the Humanities do not have a lot of funding options, like those in the sciences.

Arts & Sciences Advisory Council Awards
Office of Community & Alumni Relations
Dean O'Mealy serves on this council, which is lucky for us in English to have an advocate for grad students, one who knows how important it is for us to attend conferences, and how nearly impossible it is to secure funding. I won this award spring 2008, along with other people in English like Christine Kotecki (who asked for retroactive funding for a conference she attended) and Rachel Choy (who funded her study abroad to South America last summer). I applied for $1,100 to fund my travels to two conferences that summer, and won that amount.
How to Apply:
You need to be pro-active on this because they don't really advertise much. The deadlines fall around end of January. Contact:
Karin Mackenzie, Director
Office of Community& Alumni Relations
Colleges of Arts & Sciences
(808) 956-4051 or karinm@hawaii.edu

UHM English Dept.
Frierson Endowed Scholarship Fund
Usually the department gives two awards per year, one for undergrads and one for grad students, but Professor Heberle indicated that due to tough economic times, the dept. may be able to give only one of these awards this year. If English is a second language for you or if you come from a family for whom English was a second language, and you intend to pursue a career in English, you should consider applying for this $1,000 award. Be aware, however, that it is distributed via the UH Financial Aid office, so if you have loans, you must report this award to the Financial Aid office will adjust your award without telling you and a huge bureaucratic mess will follow. Be forewarned!
How to apply:
Contact the English Dept for info.

Travel Grants to College Composition and Communication Conference
CCCC Chair's Memorial Scholarship
Awards $800 travel grant to graduate students who are presenting at the annual conference. I applied for this one year but didn't get it.
Scholars for the Dream Award
Awards $800 travel grants to first-time presenters from U.S. minority groups at the annual conference. UH grad students have a good track record with this award: Robyn Tasaka won it when she was an MA student in 2005; I won it in 2006; Ryan Omizo was an MA student when he won it in 2007. About ten presenters are selected for this award based on their conference proposal. You attend a ceremony and meet the other awardees. It's worth applying for.
How to Apply:
Information is always posted on the annual CFP, which is on the CCCC website.

UH Manoa Dai Ho Chun Grad Fellowship Competition
This one is very competitive and labor-intensive to apply for (I didn't get it), but I'd encourage people to look into it anyway. It allows $2,000 travel award for MA thesis completion, $5,000 award for full-time thesis completion, or $10,000 award for dissertation completion.
How to Apply:
Contact Graduate Fellowships and Scholarships Office, Spalding 354D. The deadline usually falls the very beginning of January, so you should contact them early Fall.

Fullbright Scholarships
Of course, highly selective and competitive, but Professor Caroline Sinavaiana (Dr. Sina), a former recipient, is the area coordinator for Fullbright and very helpful and encouraging for interested applicants. Contact her at: sinavaia@hawaii.edu

I hope this is helpful, and I encourage anyone to respond to this posting with your own leads into funding or your success stories.