Bucknell University Athletics
Walter Byers Post-Graduate Scholarship Program
9/6/2004 8:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 6, 2004
In 1988, the National Collegiate Athletic Association established the Walter Byers Post-Graduate Scholarship Program as a means of recognizing the contributions of the former executive director through encouraging excellence in academic performance by student-athletes. Under this program, one male and one female student-athlete annually will be awarded a post-graduate scholarship in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and potential for success in post-graduate study in his or her planned career. It is intended that an individual named a Byers Scholar will be recognized as one who has combined the best elements of mind and body to achieve national distinction for his or her achievements promises to be a future leader in his or her chosen field of career service.
The Walter Byers Post-Graduate Scholarship Program is separate and distinct from the NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship Program, which provides numerous annual awards with smaller stipends. The basic stipend for each Byers Scholarship shall be $12,500 for an academic year. The amount will be adjusted every five years so that the purchasing power of the award will remain reasonably close to the award as initially conceived in 1988. If the graduate school where the Byers Scholar is enrolled provides evidence of satisfactory performance and progress, the grant may be renewed for a second year. The program is administered by the Walter Byers Post-Graduate Scholarship Committee, established by the NCAA membership and appointed by the NCAA Divisions I, II and III Management Councils. The committee will review the nominations, contact the finalists for an interview by the committee and select the final recipients.
If you satisfy the qualifications listed below please contact your faculty athletics representative or chief academics officer about obtaining his or her nomination and the application packet. Please see the Office of Compliance Services if interested in applying for this program.
Qualifications for the Walter Byers Post-Graduate Scholarship
To be eligible for consideration, nominees shall:
1. Have an overall cumulative grade-point average of 3.500 or better (based on a maximum 4.000), or the equivalent in other recognized grading systems.
2. Have competed in intercollegiate athletics as a member of a varsity team at an NCAA member institution.
3. Be a graduating senior or be enrolled in graduate study at the degree- granting institution while completing the last year of eligibility per NCAA Bylaw 14.2.
4. Have applied for admission into graduate degree program at a properly accredited, non-profit educational institution or into a post-baccalaureate professional degree program at a professionally accredited law school, medical school, or the equivalent, without restriction as to the national site of the institution.
5. Be committed to work on a full-time basis toward a graduate degree or toward a post-baccalaureate professional degree
6. Have evidenced superior character and leadership.
7. Have demonstrated that participation in athletics has been a positive influence on the nominee's personal and intellectual development. Relative success in athletics is important but not of overriding significance.
Financial need shall not be a factor in the granting of these scholarships. Awards from other sources will not disqualify an applicant, except that an awardee may not use more than one NCAA post-graduate scholarship.
Final award is contingent upon acceptance and attendance at an accredited, non-profit educational institution; stipends will be paid through the institution in which the Byers Scholar is enrolled for graduate study. Evidence of acceptance into a graduate degree program or a post-baccalaureate professional degree program may be submitted after the notification of an ward, but must be supplied by the institution in which the Byers Scholar enrolls for graduate work before the funding of the scholarship. If the initial awardee is not admitted to an appropriate graduate program, the award will be withdrawn and an alternate will receive the award.
