A scholarship is available for students whose parents or guardians work at NIU.

The Operating Staff Council (OSC) Dependent Award is available to any child of an operating staff employee, said Joe Koch, associate director of the Office of University Publications and member of the OSC. He said the OSC Dependent Award has been around for about four years.

Koch said the operating staff includes employees covered by the state university civil service system, such as secretarial staff, clerical workers, groundskeepers and business managers, he said. It does not include faculty or supported professional staff, Koch said.

Each year, the OSC names a committee to select the scholarship winner. The committee is composed of five people; two usually are from the council and the rest are regular members of the operating staff. The purpose of the OSC is to work in the best interest of the operating staff at NIU, Koch said. The OSC has 17 members.

Some years ago, the state of Illinois started to change benefits for children of university employees, Koch said. He said it used to be that children of operating staff could receive half the cost off their tuition, but now parents must have been employed full-time for seven years to receive the incentive. The OSC decided to make a scholarship for this reason, he said.

Applications for the OSC Dependent Award are available online at the Operating Staff Council’s Web site, at www.niu.edu/osc. To be eligible for the award, one must be a full-time student and child of an NIU operating staff employee or retiree. The deadline for applications is Jan. 16, 2004.

Rachel X. Turner, graphic designer in media services imaging and member of the OSC, said the minimum grade point average to apply for the scholarship is 3.0. However, it is not strictly enforced. She said committee members look more closely at the personal statement.

Funds for the scholarship are collected through fundraising activities, she said.

Turner said the scholarship is renewable, and students can apply for it multiple times. The scholarship is typically $500, and one is awarded per year. The maximum amount of money awarded to one person is $2,500 over five years.

Turner said they typically get eight to 12 applicants for the award each year.