We are pleased to announce that funding is now available to College of Communication undergraduate and graduate students who are outstanding in their field of study and interested in attending a professional networking event to further their professional goals.
Funding is available to cover costs including conference registration fees and travel related expenses around professional conferences and events. The College of Communication believes that the cultural and social diversity of our students, faculty and staff is vital to the distinction and excellence of our programs. To that end, we are especially eager to support students who share our institutional commitment to ensuring BU is an inclusive, equitable and diverse place where all of our students can thrive.
Funding recipients will have demonstrated success in their major field of study, through professional activities and internships and in the classroom. This is a prestigious student grant conferred by the DEI Committee of the College of Communication. Each student selected to receive funding will work with members of the DEI committee to identify professional mentors to work with during, at and following the conference to further the success of their networking experience.
Students who wish to request funding may nominate themselves if they meet the following criteria:
- Intend to graduate from Boston University College of Communication.
- Have a minimum overall GPA of 2.0 or higher; a member of the DEI committee will verify your GPA
- Complete the web-based application form (see below).
- Submit a resume and/or portfolio.
- Submit a personal essay outlining how they will use requested funding, an estimated budget detailing how the overall dollar gift will be allocated (conference fee, vs hotel vs flight etc.) and how they expect the funding to help them further their professional development, networking and career goals.
- Are willing to work with one or more professional mentors, who will also be attending the conference, before/during and after the event, to further the success of their professional experience.
- Once back in COM, the student grant recipients will work with a mentor on the DEI committee to develop a brief presentation (approximately 10 minutes) to share at a college-wide professionalization symposium. The student grant recipients will be asked to share what they learned from attending the conference with a focus on tips for other students about networking.
- Work with the DEI committee to share the impact of their experience with the committee’s alumni who has funded the gift.
Submissions will be evaluated by a subcommittee of The COM Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, comprised of student peers and at least one faculty or staff member. The subcommittee will meet worthy funding requests on a first-come first served basis until funding has been fully disbursed.
All application materials must be uploaded as part of the web-form or emailed to Associate Dean, DEI Tunji Akinsehinwa at Tunjia@bu.edu.