Last modified: Thursday, September 13, 2007
Sarah Booher named director of new IU Office of Scholarships
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Sarah Booher has been named the first director for the Office of Scholarships at Indiana University. The new office falls under the administrative area of enrollment management and will serve as information-central for IU academic scholarship initiatives available to high-achieving high school students.
"Now, more than ever, Indiana University is reaching out to talented students across our state and indicating that, based upon their strong academic background, scholarship dollars are available," said Roger Thompson, IU vice provost for enrollment management.
"Sarah has a passion for helping young people to aspire and achieve their goals, which made her the ideal person to fill this new role," he continued. "She possesses a strong understanding of high school students, their families and the college selection process, and will provide leadership to ensure families are aware of our programs."
While the Office of Scholarships will focus on all scholarship-eligible students, Booher said that her primary goal this year will be to get information about new scholarships to high school students in the state of Indiana.
"In demonstrating IU's commitment to the state, our major goal this year will be to spread the message to potential students in Indiana and their high school counselors," she said. "We want them to know that higher education at IU is within reach, and that we will reward hard work and academic achievement. We intend to recruit the best and brightest students to IU, and scholarships are a major part of that effort."
Booher said that a new Web site at https://scholarships.indiana.edu/ has been developed to provide information about the various academic and need-based scholarships now available at IU. She also said that printed information is being sent to students in the state of Indiana and to all Indiana high school counseling offices about new scholarship initiatives at IU.
"This position and the new Web site have been created at IU to provide a more streamlined approach to the scholarship process," said David Johnson, associate vice provost for enrollment management. "Scholarships are an important part of the enrollment process for new students, and the creation of this position helps to place emphasis on that important aspect for students and parents. We are pleased to offer our portfolio of scholarships, and Sarah will help bring focus to the scholarship programs."
Among new additions to the university's scholarship portfolio is IU Excellence, which is awarded automatically to all Indiana high school seniors who have been admitted to IU and who have a SAT score of 1300 or above -- or an ACT score of 29 or above -- and a minimum GPA of 3.75. The scholarship is valued at $32,000 over four years. There also are IU Prestige, IU Recognition, National Merit and Valedictorian automatic scholarship programs based upon specific criteria.
"We just enrolled our largest freshman class in the history of IU," said Thompson. "But as families across the state of Indiana learn more about our new scholarship programs, we believe IU will become even more appealing."
Booher earned a Bachelor of Science in communication arts and sciences, and sociology and anthropology from DePauw University, and a master's degree in higher education and student affairs from IU. She has 10 years of experience in higher education at IU, including responsibilities for student recruitment, student transition programs, outreach and communications, publications and multimedia initiatives, marketing and enrollment management strategic planning.
