Stewart Book Scholarship

Spring Quarter 2013 applications are closed.

Spring quarter 2013 applications will be reviewed on May 8. Notifications will be emailed shortly thereafter.

Applications will reopen Fall quarter 2013

 

New: Consider applying for the full LIST price (rather than the discounted price), especially if you order your books from the EWU Bookstore. The Bookstore will order the book at a discount (if available). Applying for the full list price may reduce any additional costs to you if your actual purchase price turns out to be more than your awarded amount. FOR EXAMPLE, you are awarded $40 discounted price . The Bookstore orders the book for $45. You pay the additional $5. If you apply for the full LIST price of $60 and the Bookstore orders it at their discounted price of $45, then you pay nothing extra.

New: A cultural event may be combined with a book award. Up to $100 is allowed for one cultural event. Any remaining funds, up to $250, may be used for one book. For example, $90 is awarded for a cultural event. Up to $160 may be used for one book.

The Scholarship Award 

Established in 1989, the Florence and Earle Stewart Book Scholarship is offered to students at Eastern Washington University as a way ... "for students to begin building a personal lifetime library or to experience cultural activities to the symphony, theater, etc."

Books awarded by this fund are primarily intended to be cultural additions to the recipient's personal library. Students can apply for 1) up to two books; 2) apply for one ticket to a cultural event plus one book; or 3) apply for one cultural event.

Criteria for Awards

Any EWU student registered full time may apply for this award, and groups of students from a class or a university academic activity may apply in advance for individual admission fees to pertinent extracurricular activities. The total amount that may be awarded to an individual student each academic quarter is limited to two books with a value of $250.00 or less, up to $100.00 for one ticket to a cultural event plus one book with a total value (cultural event plus book) of $250.00 or less or one ticket to a cultural event with a value of $100.00 or less. Two cultural event tickets will not be approved.

The Endowment's emphasis upon literary enrichment or cultural experience is intended to promote the intellectual quality and/or relative permanence of the proposed purchase. While a primary intent of the Endowment is to foster personal breadth, significant seminal books in a student's academic specialization (not textbooks) are appropriate. It is expected that the level of the book requested will reflect the student's own stage of intellectual or scholarly development, to be useful at once as well as later. Requests for materials proposed for use as examples in future career situations will be evaluated for their potential innate permanence and intellectual value.

General Guidelines

  • Once your application has been submitted online, you will be notified whether your application has been approved or disapproved. If approved, you will be notified of the amount of the award. Please note that the amount of the award may be less than the amount applied for. You will be notified approximately one month following the application deadline.
  • Once your application has been approved, you may obtain books two ways. You may purchase the book and submit a receipt for reimbursement. You may also have the bookstore purchase the book. Please note that while the bookstore is able to purchase some books at a discount, they may not be able to purchase the book at some of the deeply-discounted prices found on the internet. You may pay the difference between the bookstore price and the amount of your award.
  • The purchase of an appropriate used book is acceptable.
  • The explicit exclusion of "textbooks" also applies to materials which are essentially guides or manuals dealing with such things as instrumental course-related operations, information which pertains to specific changing or intermittent data or requirements, or to other ephemeral print (such as manuals, almanacs, and most encyclopedias), including periodical subscriptions. Textbooks of general interest and not for a course the applicant is taking and not in the applicant's major field will be considered for approval.
  • The following book requests will not be considered for approval: language dictionaries for courses currently being taken, or being used to meet university requirements; books for other people's regular use (e.g., children's books to be read to your own children or in a class library); and, electronic media such as videos, CDs, tapes, etc.
  • No provisions in the Endowment allow for other types of acquisition or cultural experience than those described above. Such items as electronic or cinematic reproductions, collection of original art or artifacts, manuscripts or rare editions, "popular concerts"--though possibly worthy as culturally broadening--cannot be considered for grants.
  • For reimbursement of an approved book, an original receipt must be submitted as proof of payment that contains the transaction price, company name, date of purchase, list of items, cost and type of payment made (cash, check or charge to credit card). The item must have shipped.
  • You may include tax and shipping in the cost of the book(s) in your application. If these additional costs are not included in the application, they will not be reimbursed.
  • Expenses for travel, food and housing related to grants for attendance at extracurricular events cannot be awarded.

Guidelines for Student Essay

  • A one page essay is a requirement for scholarship approval.
  • The essay should indicate why the books(s) will be an important addition to your personal library and why you wish to have the book.
  • The essay can include what the book is about and its validity as a worthwhile purchase.
  • Cut and paste a review (including the url address) of the book provided by a library source, regular or online book vendor (such as Aunties Bookstore, Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com) or a brief review of the book by a faculty member that is substantive and not pro forma will be considered as evidence of validity and must be submitted with the application.

Scholarship Priorities for Approval (in order from highest to lowest)

  • Books from outside of the student's major.
  • Other vocational interests and hobbies and tickets to cultural events.
  • Classics within the students major field, the works to be at least ten years old. Except for classics, no awards will be made within the major field unless the interest is avocational rather than vocational. This must be demonstrated in the student essay.
  • A collegiate level dictionary may be approved as one of the two book requests.

Selection/Notification/Reimbursement

The deadline for submitting applications is the fourth Friday of the quarter (summer quarter excluded) by 5:00 PM. Applications will be reviewed initially to confirm that the request meets all requirements, with decisions being made within 4 weeks after the application deadline. You will be notified by email if your application is approved. EWU Foundation regulations require an original receipt for the actual purchase of the book or event ticket. Receipts must include the name of the vendor, title of book or event, the cost (including taxes and/or book fees, etc.) and show a zero or paid balance. The receipt and request for reimbursement must be mailed or delivered to the Graduate Education & Research Office, 206 Showalter Hall, Cheney, WA 99004. Reimbursement checks will be mailed to the address listed on your application. Please allow four full weeks for the delivery of your reimbursement.

How to apply

  • Complete an online Florence and Earle Stewart Book Scholarship Application.
  • Write a short essay.
  • Obtain a review of the book(s) or cultural event, from a professor, library or internet source.
  • Submit the online application before the deadline.

When to apply

To be considered, please complete the online application by the fourth Friday of each quarter (summer quarter not included). Completed applications must include the title of the book or type of educational or cultural event, and the actual cost (including tax) of the book or event. Incomplete or late applications, or requests materially exceeding the annual dollar limit for a student, will as a rule not be processed. No substitutions will be allowed after the award has been approved.

 

How to obtain your book, once you receive an approval email


Obtain your book one of two ways

1.  Order your book from the EWU Bookstore OR
2.  Purchase your book yourself and get reimbursed

How to purchase the book from the EWU Bookstore
1.  Take a copy of your award email to Lowell Simonsen in the Bookstore OR forward the award email to Lowell Simonsen at lsimonsen@ewu.edu
2.  He will order your book, apply your scholarship and notify you when the book(s) are in.
3.  DEADLINE TO ORDER BOOKS - FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2013
    How to purchase the book yourself and get reimbursed 

    1.  You may purchase the book yourself and seek reimbursement.
    2.  Once your book has shipped, submit the following information:
              A.  A receipt
              B.  Sign the receipt
              C.  The receipt must have the following information
                   i.     Your name
                   ii.    Vendor name
                   iii.   Title of the book(s)
                   iv.   Cost
                   v.    Proof of purchase (for example, credit card payment)
                   vi.   Ship date
                   vii.  Your signature
    3.  Submit the receipt by FRIDAY, March 15, to Leslie Swannack, 206 Showalter Hall, 
         Cheney, WA 99004.

    Event Procedures

    1.  You may purchase your event ticket.
    2.  After you have attended the event, bring your original receipt and ticket stub to the 
         Graduate Studies office located in 206 Showalter Hall
    3.  Please sign your receipt.
    4.  Your receipt must include your printed name at the top of the receipt.
    5.  Submit your receipt no later than Friday, March 15, 2013, for reimbursement. If your event occurs after March 15, 2013, email stewbook@ewu.edu requesting an extension.
    6.  Your reimbursement for the ticket price will be sent to the address submitted with your 
         application unless otherwise noted on your receipt.
    7.  It is appropriate to submit a thank you letter with your receipt. 

     

    For more information, call 509.359.4675

    or email stewbook@ewu.edu

    Download the group request guidelines and application
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