Giving to Meteorology
Our fund-raising priorities include scholarships, fellowships, and facility upgrades that will enhance the education experience of our current graduate and undergraduate students or help to recruit bright, promising students into our program.
Our three most critical areas for fund-raising:
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Undergraduate Scholarships
Our main priority is to increase scholarship funds available to our undergraduates. Although we have many generous alumni and friends who have already endowed scholarships, our distribution is still extremely thin, with the majority of students receiving less than $1000 per year to support their education. Of 300+ students, only 45-50 students per year end up with scholarship money from our department. Considering the cost of Penn State's tuition, $1000 barely makes a dent in their costs and isn't enough to entice great students to enroll at Penn State. Although they know Penn State is a leader in the study of atmospheric science and meteorology, and they are enthusiastic about the opportunities we offer them, they often choose to study elsewhere due to financial limitations.
Please consider a new undergraduate scholarship endowment to help us retain and recruit our excellent students and prospects. It's very rewarding to invest in the futures of Penn State Meteorology students. A minimum gift of $50,000 is required for a named scholarship. Please visit: http://www.giveto.psu.edu/ReasonsForGiving/UndergraduateSupport/index.html for more information on initiating a named scholarship.
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Graduate Fellowships
Graduate fellowships are extremely important in recruiting and retaining brilliant graduate students into the Penn State meteorology program. We currently have one active graduate fellowship, The Dennis and Joan Thomson Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, and an estate gift specifically for a graduate student fellowship, the Alfred K. Blackadar Graduate Fellowship in Meteorology. Increasing the amount of fellowships we can offer to potential students, is essential for us to remain competitve in recruiting students into our graduate program.
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Weather Station Renovation
Our alumni have fond memories of the many hours they spent in the Weather Station--we hear it from them all the time. After thirty years of serving Penn State Meteorology students, a major renovation was sorely needed. Our goal was to create a facility that will maintain the qualities that our alumni so cherish, and yet will serve the students and department well for the next thirty years.
The renovation is now complete and we are extremely proud of how it turned out, and we hope our alumni and friends are as well. Although the renovation was costly, it has completely transformed the old Weather Station into a spectacular place to study, learn, and visit. At this time we are seeking gifts to name the individual rooms in the newly renovated complex. For more information about these naming opportunities, please contact the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Development team (development@ems.psu.edu).
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