Commuter Story Improved: Talent Grants are tuition scholarships available at OSU

phot courtesy of the LBCC Livestock Judging Team, a co-curricular activity

Talent Grants are available through LBCC Co-Curricular Programs and the Student Leadership Council, which is the Student Government at LBCC.  Talent Grants cover anywhere from 1-3 credits per term or more at the discretion of the advisor of the co-curricular program or student government.

LBCC Co-curricular programs include Livestock Judging, Diversity Achievement Center, the Commuter, and the Student Leadership Council (SLC).  A full list is online at linnbenton.edu.  By searching for "clubs" you can also access a list of co-curricular programs.  Keep clicking on the “co-curricular” links until you come to the list which includes contact information for all the advisors involved with co-curricular programs. Clubs are not the same as co-curricular programs.

If you are in a co-curricular program, you may be able to get financial aid for classes by working for the program in exchange for a Talent Grant that will pay for some of your credits. According to Heather Morijah, Program Assistant for Clubs, Co-Curricular Programs, and the Diversity Achievement Center, “it’s solely up to the [co-curricular program] advisor [to decide] who receives [the Talent Grants] and how many they get.

“Only co-curricular programs have access to Talent Grants; clubs do not,” says Morijah. “The number of Talent Grants any co-curricular program receives is up to the discretion of the Co-curricular Budget Committee.” Some clubs do become co-curricular activities. Morijah said that the active “Civil Discourse Club” is currently trying to become a co-curricular program. Other co-curricular programs, like the Art Galleries on campus, started right away as co-curricular programs and never were clubs.

For more information on Talent Grants contact Morijah. Her office is in Student Life and Leadership next to the Hot Shot Cafe in the mornings and in the afternoons her desk is on the left in the Diversity Achievement Center on the second floor of the Forum Building facing the quad. “Anyone can talk to me about clubs and co-curricular programs,” said Morijah, speaking from her cozy office in Forum 120. “That is my job here [in Student Life and Leadership.] The other half [of my job] is providing the same type of work for the Diversity Achievement Center (Forum 220),” said Morijah.

Advisors for the co-curricular programs award Talent Grants to some students within each program. Some of the co-curricular programs, such as Livestock Judging, use Talent Grants to recruit and support students in their related discipline to come to LBCC. Each individual Talent Grant is worth 12 credits for the whole year. A program like the Diversity Achievement Center has 9 Talent Grants to award over the year to be distributed among three student positions. In the DAC these students are then responsible for campus-wide programming showcasing the diversity of LBCC students.

In co-curricular programs such as Space Exploration and Remote Operated Vehicles, Talent Grants “are awarded to team leaders for projects they are working on,” said Morijah, sitting on her exercise ball surrounded by the twinkly lights of her office.

At a glance:

What: Students can earn free tuition (fees still apply) by working in co-curricular programs and Student Government (Student Leadership Council.).
Who: All LBCC students are eligible, regardless of financial status.
When: Available during all terms.
Where: Ask Heather Morijah about Talent Grants; her office hours are mornings in the Student Life and Leadership Office (Forum 120) next to the Hot Shot Cafe and afternoons in the Diversity Achievement Center on the 2nd floor of the Forum Building facing the quad.

FMI: search for co-curricular programs under “Clubs and Co-curricular programs” in the linnbenton.edu website.