Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Let’s Talk! With Rod Johnson of PCC Foundation’s Scholarship Office

Student Advocates | Start the discussion

Hosted and produced by Carrie Cantrell. Produced and edited by Carrie Cantrell. Transcriptions authored by Cheryl Secomb. Carrie interviews Rod Johnson for the best strategies in this year’s scholarship season.

You can also listen to this episode on Spotify.

Transcript

Carrie: Hi, my name is Carrie Cantrell. I’m a Student Disability Advocate at Portland Community College, and we’re making this podcast called “Let’s Talk” to talk about student culture at PCC from the perspectives of students with disabilities. You can join us in self-advocacy and building community pretty much anytime. Get in touch if you want to be part of the podcast.

For this episode, we talked with the PCC Scholarship Foundation organizer, Rod Johnson. Rod gives us some great tips to embark on the scholarship process with knowledge and confidence to get those dolla dolla bills, y’all. Okay, sorry, I won’t do that again. But seriously, check out this episode. It’s full of a lot of helpful information.

Rod: Hello there! My name is Rod Johnson, and I have been at Portland Community College since December of 2019, so just before the pandemic started. So I have not had a real, regular onboarding or experience at PCC, but that-that’s totally fine. Because I have been working at higher ed my entire career, which is, I’m getting long in the tooth, so it’s been a long time. So I was at Portland State in the College of Urban and Public Affairs for 17 years. And I did work on scholarships while I was working there in the Dean’s office. I worked when we were bringing an online system in. We were still paper-based, and I was the one who worked with the college on selecting the software they were using and then implementing it for the College of Urban and Public Affairs as the pilot for the university, which the university migrated to that.

And then I-I went to work for the School of Social Work for a few years and did step away from doing scholarship work. And then was at the Chancellor’s Office for a few years. And then I went down and was the Chief of Staff and Title IX Officer at Marylhurst University. And then I came over to Portland State, or I mean to Portland Community College. Sorry, I, you know, the PSU and the PCC, I sometimes I slip between them. [Carrie laughs] There you go. And you know, a lot of our students end up going to PSU, and so I use that as an example frequently. The wrong one comes out, but I’m at PCC. So that’s all great.

Carrie: When was the PCC Foundation formed? Was it after the college was formed – founded?

Rod: Yes. So the – we’ve-we just celebrated 41 years.

Carrie: Wow.

Rod: The college is-is a little older than that. So the PCC Foundation is a separate nonprofit from Portland Community College. And we have, you know, I think we’ve got about 16 people on the team right now. And, basically, all we do is do fundraising to support students through emergency grants, through program funds, and then the majority of our work is really focused around scholarships. We’re coming in at around $2.3 million so far, which is-was our biggest number ever so far, which is great for our students. We received last year about 3200 applications in the cycle. And then we had a late incoming high school cycle in May. And then, you know, we made 1600 awards.

Our scholarships range, basically, anywhere from $1000 to $5,000 for a year. This is scholarship money to support students when they need it. So if you are transferring to Portland State midway through the year, or if you’re going to be dual enrolled, you just let us know what terms you’re going to be attending PCC, whether it be you want to get an early start and start in summer term. We split your scholarship amongst the terms that you let us know that you’re going to be attending.

Carrie: Very cool. And that’s so exciting to hear. You’ve raised upwards of $2.3 million for this next scholarship cycle. Where do you see a lot of that funding coming from?

Rod: A lot of our funding, it’s mostly from private donors. We’ve got some companies that are – they’re involved with it, but we have a fundraising team that are – there’s an Annual Giving Officer, and then we have a Major Gift Officers that, you know, work with partners that are with the college. We have alumni that-that give a lot to us. You know, we have planned getting through our office.

Carrie: Okay. So you mentioned not just the scholarship funds, but also program funds and emergency grants. Where – do those also come from private donors, or do you work with state programs or federal programs?

Rod: Those are-those are really mostly from private donors. But we also have some foundations, [indistinct] Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust. We’ve got a handful of other ones that we work with that we have some funding from them. And it’s, you know, we have private donors that give to program funds. It’s a – program funds are just a little bit different meaning that it can be for a department to use for awards for students, or it can be equipment.

Carrie: Cool. And now I’d like to move on to a bit more of the student experience and get some information about that. What I remember filling out scholarships when I was applying for college the first time in high school, there was a lot, I mean, there were some E-Submissions, but I graduated high school in 2006, and so a lot of the scholarship applications were handwritten, mailed in individually. This is a very, very unique and modern format to apply for a lot of different scholarships with the same criteria and the same information just one time and it’s – PCC is the first college I’ve seen to actually do that for their students. What other ways has the PCC Foundation reduced barriers to access these scholarships for our students?

Rod: Sure. So we got this software in 2014. And it was my predecessor. She is legendary among campuses. She’s known as Jen the Money Lady. So she’s the one who really brought the college into the modern world. They were paper-based before that. The applications, really, it’s a really great system that makes it easier for students to apply, and that they only have to submit one application in order to be considered for multiple scholarships. So, right now, I have about 250 active funds. And that doesn’t mean that 250 students get scholarships. That means that some funds have one award, one recipient, and we have some awards that have 100 recipients. The really neat thing about the system is that I’ve got those 250, you know, unique funds, that they have their unique criteria. Some of them, you know, have a lot of overlap. But it’s this – about 100 and, 150 of those 250 are just auto-matched based on the information that students put into their general application. The general application is 74 questions. Most of it is just general demographic information: your name, your email, your phone number, the groups and activities you’re involved with on campus, what program you’re studying, GPA.

One of the things that we wanted to do was to also reduce barriers. So we went from three essay questions down to two. We made the reference, instead of being required, it’s optional and worth some bonus points. We did that last year, and it increased the total number of applications by quite a bit that we were able to get submitted. It’s really worth for students to get the reference letter, because sometimes that few extra bonus points does make a difference. But, you know, we have plenty of students that don’t get one submitted that get lots of funding as well.

Carrie: Okay.

Rod: So then we have those, about 100 of those scholarships that we call the Recommended or Apply To, meaning that they have a little bit more information that they’re looking for than the questions that were on the general application. But we didn’t want to ask every person every single question. So we came up with a question on the general application that suggests or recommends those particular scholarships to students based on their answers in the general. Did you submit an application?

Carrie: I did.

Rod: What program are you in?

Carrie: I’m in Communications, AAOT. So yeah, I’m really excited about it. And that’s one of the – Communications in Journalism is the industry I want to go into. I love interviewing, I love human interest and telling stories, storytelling, and podcasting. So yeah, that’s-that’s kind of where I’m focusing.

Rod: Did you take a look, there’s a couple of scholarships specifically for broadcasting.

Carrie: Ooooh!

Rod: Did you take a look at those?

Carrie: I’ll be honest with you, Rod, I spoke with my reference last night and got the approval to put their name in there. So I actually submitted my application, PCC Foundation, today. And tonight is my plan to go through with all of the extra opportunities and add my things.

Rod: Okay, so the one that you need to look for specifically, it is an Apply To. So do you understand the difference between the – how those work? So, you know, of my 250 scholarships, about 150 are just based on auto-match off the general app. And then there’s about 100, that based on your answers in the general application, it kind of points you to them as ones that you might be a good fit for. But they have a little bit extra information that they are looking for. But we didn’t want to ask every single person every question, so we got to it by pointing some questions off the general to them. This-this is one that specifically is for broadcasting, people that want to go on and work in broadcasting or mass comm. All the Apply To opportunities that we have, because it takes a little extra work, there’s less people in them. So you’ve got a better chance at winning those.

Carrie: Oh, thank you so much for that tip. That’s super helpful.

Rod: Yeah. So when you’re going through that list, you know, the ones that are the recommended ones to you, take a look at those because those are the ones that have the – they’re-they’re only the Apply To’s, and they’re the ones that we – the system thinks you’re going to be a good fit for. So we have students that they’ll, you know, if you don’t answer a lot of the questions, it won’t have anything to point it to. So a normal amount is like 10 to 30 that are suggested to you. And probably of those, it can be anywhere from, you know, two or three all the way up to a dozen.

Carrie: Okay. Very nice. And let’s talk about those essay questions. How would you suggest prioritizing your approach or a student’s approach to answering those essay questions? Because…

Rod: That is the number one question, and it’s really the most important question. I’m asking three things. What’s your career goal? What’s your educational plan to get there? And what is your inspiration? It’s only 350 words, which is really just a couple paragraphs, it’s not that long. All three components is really what they need to have. Same thing for the second question. It’s, you know, what is your greatest strength or characteristic? What makes it a strength? And how is that going to help you be successful at PCC? So it’s just break it down to those three things. And then, and then focus on those things and write about each one.

Carrie: Would you give us an example off the top of your head? Like what-what’s a strength that you would like to read about that is considered valuable to bring to PCC?

Rod: Well, people are determined, that’s a good quality. People could be creative. You know, if that-if you’re studying in an art major, or if you’re, you know, working in political science or public policy, or you want to work in something that you have been creative. So coming up with what is-what is a strength. And the other thing is, maybe you have a hard time talking about yourself or writing about yourself. So it’s a really great thing is to talk to friends, or a partner, or a parent, or your children, and ask them, you know, what are my strengths? And then once you get a little list to work off of, think about which one resonates with you? And then think about what makes that a strength? And then how is that going to serve you in getting through your education and getting to your career goal. And pick the one that-that really addresses all three of those issues. You know, it describes you, it’s served you well, use examples, and it’s going to-it’s going to serve you well, and talk about why.

Carrie: Awesome, love hearing that, because I think you’re right. That’s a common trap a lot of students feel. They don’t feel quite confident. And yeah, they’re like, What do you mean, I don’t have a strength, I’m here to learn a strength. [laughs]

Rod: Exactly, exactly. Everybody has strengths. And, you know, it doesn’t have to be – it could be somebody says you’re stubborn. Stubborn can be it, a good quality. I mean, if you are like, if you set your mind to something, and you’re like, I’m going to get it done, and I’m going to get it done because I said I’m going to get it done. Well, if you set that out as a career, like I want to get my AAOT, because I want to get a General Studies, I know I want to go on. But it also can be, you may not know specifically what you want to do long term. It’s – especially if you’re coming in straight out of high school, you don’t even know what the potential jobs are out there that-that you want to work in. So it is perfectly acceptable to say, you know, I know that I want to go to college, I know that’s a path to a better career, to a more successful life. So I’m going to just start taking classes and take Gen Ed. I’m going to – I’m interested in working with people, so I’m going to take some psychology and some sociology classes. And I’m going to see, you know, what really resonates with me and what areas I like, and then I’m going to explore more into that. That’s a perfectly acceptable answer. Again, everybody doesn’t know exactly what they want to do. And the average person, how many times do they change their major in college? What would you guess?

Carrie: I’ve changed mine at least a couple times. [laughs]

Rod: Three, three is the average number of majors that every college student has. So it’s totally normal to start on one thing, and then take this random class that’s going to completely upend your life, and I have a new passion, and I’m headed in a new direction, and that’s totally great.

Carrie: Awesome. Can we talk about students that might not have access to the same capabilities to fill out the form for themselves? How would they go about accomplishing filling out a scholarship application? Is that allowed? A lot of people might think that asking for assistance could be a form of cheating. What do you say about that?

Rod: No. [laughs] It’s not cheating. You know, we encourage everyone, you know, whatever help you can get with your application is great. So if you need help physically with-with inputting your information into it, we want to be able to help students where they need to have help. There’s also PCC is the biggest institution of higher learning in the state, and we have a lot of resources available to students. And we encourage students to take advantage of those resources. You’re paying tuition, you’re paying fees, and those fees go to all these auxiliary services to support you. For example, the Writing Center, we have the Tutoring Center, we have the Peer Mentoring sections. All these places are willing and able to help people with their application. And we always say with, especially with your essays. Those are the most important piece of your application. Always getting another set of eyes on that and getting some feedback is super helpful. You know, the Writing Centers, they have people, you can get up to three appointments. And this is for the future, people are going to be here for a couple of years. You can get three appointments, specifically just to get assistance with your scholarship application. So there’s-there’s resources available, we’d love for students to take advantage of them as well.

Carrie: Excellent, excellent. What sort of feedback system do you have for issues like accessibility?

Rod: So we went through an audit actually with, and I’m-I’m going to screw up the new name of the Disability Services Center, I apologize for that. It is the new Accessible Education and Disability Resources Department. We went through an audit with them last year, where they had people on their team that I created dummy login accounts for them. So they could actually – these are trained people that, you know, work to make things more accessible for students and are – have expertise in that area. That they went through our application to make sure that we are making it as good as we can for students that maybe not have the same kind of access or ability as a lot of students.

Carrie: That’s so cool. So it’s all in-house, we make sure family’s taking care of family.

Rod: We do, yes.

Carrie: Great. And so after, after you get everything done, we have, you know, decided on our career path or educational path, we’ve gotten assistance writing it down, made sure that we’ve got everything dotted and crossed, and we’ve-we’ve submitted our application, what’s next?

Rod: And then you’re going to sit there for a couple months going, Why does it take so long? [Both laugh] And it’s because we have to read thousands of applications. So what we do is I have these trained readers that follow the rubric. Now I’m not going to say every application is read twice, every – all your essays. I’m the only one that ever reads the entire application. So it’s really is the readers are only looking at your two essay questions that you’ve written and the letter of reference, and then applying those points to it. So then every application is read twice, and the ess – or the letter of reference points are given. And then those scores are averaged. And that’s how students get their initial ranking in each one of the scholarship pools that they meet the criteria for. So it’s complicated to do awarding. You know, we’ve got a few months that we’re doing the reading. And then I’ve got four to six weeks where I’m doing the shuffling of the money around. And then the beginning of June, we get all the initial offers out.

Students have two weeks to respond to the offer. And it’s really important that they pay attention to this part. We send notifications to people’s PCC email address. And for incoming high school students, they maybe don’t look at that email address. They’re not used to checking their PCC email, and so they won’t respond to a notice. And then we make the assumption that you’re not coming if we haven’t heard back from you, and then offer it to the next student in the pool. So if you’re not paying attention to your PCC email, you know, make sure that you have that forwarded to an email account that you are paying attention to, so you can respond in a timely manner and don’t lose the scholarship opportunity.

Of course, we’ve got people that decline because they’re going somewhere else or, you know, whatever their situation is. When they go through a decline, then I have to go and reoffer it, and then even into fall term. Because we have students that have said, you know, most, I said earlier, most of our students come fall, winter, spring. So if somebody, you know, I think it’s like 18% of our students attend in summer. If-if that percentage of people come, then we don’t know about that 82%, if they really are going to come, until fall term happens. So then in fall term, if we have people that haven’t used any scholarship funds in summer, or in fall term, then we do call downs and say, Hey, are you really coming? Or are you not? And if not, then we make more offers, because donors give to PCC to support PCC students that are active. So I-we keep awarding because we’re trying to get those dollars into-into students’ accounts.

Carrie: Has there ever been a situation where the PCC Scholarship Foundation has got like leftover money after a scholarship cycle, and it’s like I can’t find any more students to give this money to?

Rod: With – in some cases, because, and usually it’s not because, you know, we don’t have students to give it to. It’s that sometimes some of the scholarships have really specific criteria, that’s kind of like trying to find a unicorn. And it’s really hard to find sometimes the exact student that someone’s looking for. For example, we have some programs that are really small programs, so there’s not a lot of students in them. And then the percentage of students that apply for scholarships is low. So in some of the programs, I may have only, you know, let’s say – I’ll make one up. Fire Science has a, you know, a cohort of 20 students, and there’s two cohorts, so that’s 40 students total. And then only five or six of them may even start applications, and only one or two may complete their application. So I don’t – I have some, I have like four or five Fire Science scholarships, but I only have a couple of students that applied. So, you know, my-my word to everyone is apply! I mean, there’s, the more applications I have, the more money I can give out. And, you know, if you think you’re not a scholarship-worthy student, think again.

Carrie: Amazing. Thank you so much, Rod, for explaining all of that to us. Is there any last piece of advice and parting wisdom that you’d like to end on?

Rod: Well, just get your application in. It, really, if you were just going to sit down and-and type the application out, it really, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, so it’s not that hard. But you really do spend some time focusing on those essay questions. And don’t try to do those all at once. It’s good to like make a draft, think about it, stew about it, get some feedback, make some edits, and then just cut and paste them in when you’re ready.

My last most important piece of advice, if you are going to put in a letter of reference, do not wait until the end. The way that works is you put the name and email address of the person who’s going to write that for you. And then when you hit Save, the system is going to send them an email with a link for them to fill out. And that just goes right into your application. But they have to be in by the deadline as well. So start your application, put in your reference right away, and save your work because then they will have as much time as you are giving them. Because they have to get it in by the February 1st deadline as well.

Carrie: That’s great advice.

Rod: Yeah.

Carrie: All right. Well, thank you so much for sitting in for this interview.

Rod: Thank you!

Carrie: And I hope you’re prepared for an entire flood of applications because I’m going to tell everybody about this process. [laughs]

Rod: Please, please do. Thank you so much.

Carrie: All right, you’re welcome. Thank you. Have a great day.

Rod: Bye.