Molly Ahlgren Scholarship Award Committee
Chairperson: Ray Hander
Phone: 456-0402
Fax: 456-0454
Email
Special Note:
Individual Campus Group presiding Presidents will be advisors to the Committee. Application to the Scholarship by a presiding Campus Group President will result in the Vice President, Treasurer or Secretary’s membership in the advisory role if more than the President applies.
Background and Mission:
Professor Molly Ahlgren was an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Sheldon Jackson College. The Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (Chapter) elected her to be the Chapter’s president in 2005, after many years of her active involvement and leadership in the Chapter. Less than two weeks after being installed as Chapter president, she was killed in a boating accident. The Chapter responded by creating the Molly Ahlgren Scholarship Award (Scholarship) fund to honor her and her life’s work.
At the Chapter’s 2007 annual meeting, the membership approved the following changes for the Scholarship: 1) the Scholarship is open to students attending the University of Alaska system, Alaska Pacific University, and Sheldon Jackson College––if the latter institution should return to operation, and 2) the Scholarship will only be available for a student’s senior undergraduate year.
The committee has developed an application and will be responsible for annually reviewing and passing judgment on all applications in a timely manner. Applicants need to complete and submit an application and will be evaluated on their work and/or educational experiences and interest in the fields of fisheries and aquatic science, interest in professional advancement, and reason(s) for financial need
Committee Duties:
- Annually update the Application Procedure document by 1 August.
- Distribute the Application Procedure to all eligible academic institutions, the Chapter web site, and the Oncorhynchus no later than 1 September of each year to solicit applicants.
- Select no more than three applicants for further consideration as finalists. The Committee may choose not to consider any of the nominees as finalists.
- Determine an award recipient, and a first and second alternative.
- Recommend the proposed recipient (if any) to the Executive Committee; the Executive Committee must approve by a two-thirds majority.
- Arrange for travel and registration for the annual meeting for the award recipient as provided by the Chapter.
- Ensure that the Executive Committee commissions an award certificate.
- Ensure that the disbursement of the funds is in a timely manner for use during the recipient’s first semester of their senior year.
- Report on Committee activities to the Executive Committee and at annual Chapter business meetings.