In this issue:

• Carmel Report
• Schedule
• Grants-in-Aid
• Fundraising and Staff Update
• Branson
• Carmel Photos
• Library Update

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AAPG Foundation
P.O. Box 979
Tulsa, OK 74101-0979

918.560-2644
Fax: 918.560-2642

Grants-in-Aid Program Connects Students and Supporters

You may not be aware of a phenomenon that occurs annually on January 31 -- not a monumental day unless you are a Grants-in-Aid Coordinator (that would be me) or a graduate student who needs funding for a research project. The phenomenon? Many graduate students show tendencies of procrastination at a crucial time in their lives.

Please don’t misunderstand. I commend each student for completing the lengthy six-page application, which requires copies of official transcripts plus endorsements from advisors and department chairs. Frankly, I don’t believe the application process is possible to accomplish in less than 24 hours. And that’s the quandary, because deadline procrastination has led to more than a few desperate excuses ranging from “my truck broke down with smoke pouring out of it,” to “I owe money to the registrar who won’t release my transcript” and “the department chair was off that day so I had to go to his home for his signature.”

While January 31 is the deadline to receive applications for the Grants-in-Aid Program, each accepted application contains much more than the required documents to apply. With the application comes the hopes of the very best geoscience graduate students (and more importantly, their wonderful parents) to be successful in receiving funding that will be essential to their very significant research.

Each year the Foundation receives several hundred applications from students seeking funding to continue their research. Grants-in-Aid Chairman (and Trustee Associate) Pete MacKenzie has the final responsibility of awarding funding to the very highest ranking applicants. After the selections are made, students are mailed checks and a letter of congratulations. I am the fortunate one who receives the letters of gratitude that contain genuine appreciation from students who move one step closer to completing their research.

The Grants-in-Aid Program can be a special connection for you and a worthy student, because your gift helps to form a relationship rather than a transaction between AAPG and the recipient. Your philanthropy has matched your commitment to your profession, and it is my privilege to be acquainted with you and with these students, some of whom will become the future leaders of AAPG.

– Rebecca Griffin, Grants-in-Aid Coordinator