First-Year $uccess Program FAQ
Participants are presented with various opportunities to earn micro-scholarships by completing tasks related to success at Stetson. Each successfully completed task by its deadline results in banking a certain dollar amount towards a one-time scholarship on top of existing awards for the upcoming academic year. Participants must bank a minimum of $500 to earn the scholarship and are capped at a maximum of $1,500 (earnings, when combined with other grant aid, cannot exceed the cost of tuition).
Participants who earn the $500 minimum, re-enroll at Stetson for the subsequent fall semester, apply for and remain eligible for institutional financial aid, and maintain satisfactory academic progress, will have their First-Year $uccess award applied evenly between their fall and spring semester aid disbursement.
Participants log their activities in the First-Year $uccess Program Portal. This portal uses single-sign-on authentication, so you may be asked to log into your My.Stetson account if you have not already authenticated during your browsing session. The portal contains instructions and submission links under each micro-scholarship opportunity for you to log your activity and earn.
Stetson leverages its retention model developed collaboratively by the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness and the Data Officer of the Faculty Senate to identify incoming students who may need additional support to thrive at Stetson based on a number of pre-college academic and personal factors.
The leadership of Campus Life and Student Success, in consultation with partners in Academic Affairs, identified activities associated with success and selected those to be among the activities available for micro-scholarships. These activities focus on academic, social and institutional aspects of thriving at Stetson.
The overwhelming majority of activities are verified by some form of input from the participant following the activity. This may be answering a reflection question, providing a piece of information acquired during the activity, or other forms of verification. Some micro-scholarships are then cross-referenced with institutional records to confirm completion, such as submission of the FAFSA or completion of Advising Labs. It may take up to 10 business days for a submitted activity to be processed.
Questions can be directed to the Assistant Vice President of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Colin Hilton-MacFarlane, at [email protected].