The Julian Williams and Eleanor Mullen Memorial Field Study Scholarship

By-laws revised July 2008

Scholarship Application Form

The purpose of the field study scholarship is to provide limited financial support to individual Chapter members or individual members of the Archeological Society of Virginia seeking to enhance their archaeological field skills through attendance at field schools that meet the criteria described below. This will enhance the level of archaeological knowledge among the Chapter’s members through the scholarship recipient’s personal sharing with the Chapter.

II. Name

The scholarship will be known as the Julian Williams and Eleanor Mullen Memorial Field Study Scholarship.

The scholarship will be funded through a legal, self-sustaining contributory fund. The Archeological Society of Virginia is a certified 501(C) tax exempt organization.

Contributions will be made annually from the Chapter treasury, in an amount necessary to cover the deficit, if any, between the income generated by the fund and the amount necessary to pay the scholarship amount.

Contributions will be solicited from business, government, and individuals, and accepted as voluntary.

The Chapter Treasurer will maintain accurate, current financial records of contributions to and awards made from the fund, and will include this information as part of a financial report required under the Chapter by-laws.

Not more than two aswards will be given in any calendar year, and the total amount of the awards in a year will be limited to an amount that is the lesser of $400.00 or 25% of the corpus of the fund; however, the Scholarship Committee may recommend to the Executive Board and the membership a higher amount, not to exceed $750.00 or 25% of the corpus fund, under exceptional circumstances in which the potential benefits to the Chapter are deemed to justify the higher level of funding.

The scholarship award may be used for: tuition and fees; travel, lodging, and subsistence expenses; equipment and supplies to be used by the recipient during the field study experience; or any other legitimate expense that serves to enhance the field study experience.

The field study scholarship program will be maintained and amended in accordance with the by-laws of the Chapter, or by a simple majority vote of the membership at a general meeting if the by-laws do not apply.

The program will be administered by the Scholarship Committee, with the vice-president as its chairperson.

The committee gives preference to field schools held in Virginia.

To be eligible for consideration for the scholarship the applicant must be a member of the Chapter in good standing for at least four months prior to the application deadline date of April 1.

To provide opportunity to the maximum number of members, preference will be given to applicants who have not received scholarship funding during the previous three calendar years; however, this does not preclude a qualified applicant who has received support during the previous three years from applying and receiving scholarship funds if no one else applies.

To encourage archaeological skill development at the entry level, preference will be given to applicants whose primary employment is not in the field of archaeology; however, this does not preclude a qualified applicant whose primary employment is in archaeology from applying if no one else applies.

If no Chapter member applies by the April 1 deadline date, the scholarship will be opened to all Archeological Society of Virginia members in good standing for at least four months prior to the application deadline date. The deadline date will be extended to May 15.

The award will not be given to anyone who is a paid staff member of the field school for which support is sought. No applicant will be considered eligible for support under this program unless and until all commitments associated with any previous award under the program have been met.

VI. Field School

The field school must be sponsored by an organization whose goals and precepts are compatible with those of the Archeological Society of Virginia and is recognized as legitimate by the archaeological profession. This may be an educational institution, a government agency, or other entity, public or private.

The Scholarship Committee may give preference to fields schools located in Virginia.

A recipient of the award must:

• Attend the proposed field school for which the scholarship has been awarded and provide documentation that such attendance took place;
• Provide the Treasurer with an accounting of the expenditure of the scholarship funds on a form to be provided by the Chapter, with appropriate documentation;
• Turn over to the Chapter any non-expendable equipment or supplies with an initial cost of more than $100.00 that were purchased with scholarship funds, except as recommended otherwise by the Scholarship Committee and approved by the Executive Board and a majority vote of the membership;
• Make an oral or written presentation concerning the field school experience to the Northern Virginia Chapter membership. An oral presentation, which is preferable, will be made at a general chapter meeting, last a minimum of 20 minutes, and include appropriate visual aids. Alternatively, the recipient is required to produce a written report describing his or her participation in the project, including spercifics such as the location, duration of project, type of artifacts retrieved, or other relevant information. The report should be at least three pages, doubled spaced, in Times New Roman, 12 point, or an equivalent format. Illustrations, photos, charts, graphs, and other visual pieces should not be included in the page count. The recipient may make use of assistance from chapter members in preparing an oral or written report.

These commitments will be agreed to in writing by the scholarship recipient at the time of the award. The recipient will agree to repay the funds if the commitment is not fulfilled.

The scholarship program and procedures for applying will be announced in the January, February and March issues of the Chapter newsletter, and the Archeological Society of Virginia quarterly newsletter.

The applicant must submit by the application deadline date a complete application using the form provided by the Chapter, including a description of the field school for which support is being requested.

The Scholarship Committee will review all applications received by the deadline date and will evaluate them with particular attention to the anticipated future benefits to be derived by the Chapter as a result of the recipient’s field study experience.

The Committee’s choice of recipient will be announced on or before the June issue of the Chapter newsletter, and the membership’s approval of the Committee’s recommendation will be sought.