Sigma Delta Pi

Undergraduate Study Abroad
Awards, Summer 2023 and
the 2023-2024 Academic Year

(Form B-1)

Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, is pleased to announce the following awards for its Undergraduate Study Abroad Award Program in 2023:

Ten (10) stipends of $2500 each for study abroad with a program in a Spanish-speaking country for the summer of 2023 or during the 2023-24 academic year (4-week minimum). Programs that begin before summer 2023 are ineligible. The applicant chooses the study abroad program, which must be approved by the college or university (for course transfer credit) of the applicant’s chapter of Sigma Delta Pi. Internships will ONLY be funded if framed within an academic, credit-bearing course; evidence for which the applicant must provide with this application.

SIGMA DELTA PI reserves the right to suspend and/or cancel this awards program at any time due to circumstances related to COVID-19. Applicants and participants will be informed of any such developments once such decisions have been made.

RULES GOVERNING THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDY ABROAD AWARDS PROGRAM

CRITERIA. To be eligible to receive one of the 10 stipends, an undergraduate student MUST meet the following minimal requirements:

(1) be a Spanish major or minor;

(2) be of at least junior standing;

(3) be an active (elected) member of Sigma Delta Pi;

(4) have a superior academic record;

(5) be enrolled on February 1, 2023 as a full-time undergraduate student;

(6) have earned grades in at least 12 semester or 18 quarter hours of Spanish courses;

(7) be nominated in writing by the chapter adviser(s);

(8) complete this online application form and include all required documentation. (Consult with local faculty adviser for guidance)

Additional rules and conditions:

Graduate students are ineligible.
Applicants whose transcripts do NOT meet the national requirements for membership will automatically be disqualified.
Internships will not be funded unless framed within an academic, credit-bearing course.
Undergraduate students with financial aid in the form of a scholarship to cover the study abroad experience in question are NOT eligible for these awards.
Undergraduate students with financial aid in the form of a loan may apply for these awards if the applicant submits verification that the loan would be reduced by the amount granted by the Sigma Delta Pi award stipend.
Previous winners, whether they accepted or declined a stipend, may not apply.

The award stipends are for students who will use all the Sigma Delta Pi funds received to cover expenses directly related to the study abroad experience: tuition, room and board, and plane flight. These Sigma Delta Pi study abroad awards are NOT for spending money while abroad, or for other purposes.

OFFICIAL APPLICATION FORM. Applicants must use this online application form. The faculty adviser of chapters with more than one applicant must complete the online Ranking Form (click here).

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS. Complete applications must be submitted online no later than 11:59:59 pm (EST) February 1, 2023. Incomplete applications and those submitted after this date will not be considered.

JUDGING APPLICATIONS. A committee of three judges will be appointed by Professor Shelby Thacker, Committee Chair of the Sigma Delta Pi Undergraduate Study Abroad Award Program for the 2022-23 academic year. Working independently and with a given set of criteria, the judges will select the winners. Their decision will be final.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF AWARDS. Winners will be notified around April 1, 2023.

USE OF STIPENDS. The $2500 stipends must be used solely for the program and terms described in the accepted application, and only during the summer of 2023 or the 2023-24 academic year. These awards may not be used for research purposes, but they may be used for internships only if framed within an academic, credit-bearing course. The stipends may be used to participate in established college or university-sponsored/directed study abroad programs. Permission will not be made to alter any of these stipulations. Possible transfer credit must be coordinated with the student’s college or university, not with Sigma Delta Pi. Applications that propose to use the $2500 stipend for study in a country that is classified as Level 3 or 4 by the U.S. State Department of State may be permitted depending upon the warnings issued for the specific region/city proposed. These levels must be addressed in the applicant’s personal statement. Also ineligible are applications that propose a country that is NOT permitted by the applicant’s home institution; applicants should consult with their institution’s study abroad office, or the equivalent, to determine which countries are restricted from institutionally-endorsed/approved travel. Confirmation for the latter must be provided in the applicant’s personal statement.

If the program proposed for a $2500 stipend is cancelled for any reason, the award will automatically be null and void as well and may NOT be applied to any other program.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF WINNERS. Each student who accepts a Sigma Delta Pi Undergraduate Study Abroad Award MUST commit to consistent class attendance and participation during the period studying abroad as afforded by this awards program.

Within two weeks of their return from studying abroad, each stipend winner must submit via the online form (click here for submission guidelines) a passport-type photograph (.jpg or .gif file) and an essay (Word format) of approximately 200 words in Spanish describing the experience of studying abroad. An awardee who fails to provide the photograph and essay by the aforementioned deadline will forfeit half of his/her stipend.

Awardees unable to undertake the study abroad provided by the stipend must inform the National Office immediately and will return any funding received from Sigma Delta Pi. If the awardees fail to inform the National Office by May 15, 2023 and in sufficient time to award their stipend to another student, understanding that arrangements have already been made for funding their study abroad, they will be required to reimburse Sigma Delta Pi for the cost of their award.

If the Chair of the Undergraduate Study Abroad Award Program and/or a judging committee member is also a chapter adviser, then their chapter is eligible for no more than one (1) undergraduate stipend. An exception may be made if 1) the number of applicants is less than the number of available awards and/or 2) the President, in consultation with the Executive Director, concludes that the quality of the applicant pool is deficient.

THE COMPLETED APPLICATION FORM AND ALL RELATED MATERIALS

MUST BE SUBMITTED TOGETHER

OR THEY WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

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APPLICATION FOR A SIGMA DELTA PI UNDERGRADUATE STUDY ABROAD AWARD

The signing of my name below is considered my official signature and certifies that:

a. I have read and completely understand “Form B-1” included above with this
application form.

b. I am an undergraduate Spanish major or minor.

c. I am an active (elected) member of Sigma Delta Pi.

d. I am enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student on February 1, 2023.

e. The Personal Statement included with this application was written solely by me, and I

did not receive ANY assistance in composing or correcting it.

Signature of Applicant: *

clear

Contact Information

PLEASE INCLUDE ALL THE INFORMATION REQUESTED BELOW:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): *

Present (SCHOOL) address:
(Street, City, State, Zip-code) *

Cell Phone (include area code): *

Permanent Email *

Until what date will you be at the above address? * +

Permanent (HOME) address:
(Street, City ,State, Zip-code) *

When will you be at this address? * +

IF ANY OF THE ABOVE INFORMATION CHANGES, PLEASE NOTIFY THE NATIONAL OFFICE IMMEDIATELY AND CONFIRM YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER.

Sigma Delta Pi Membership Information

University/College where initiated: *

Sigma Delta Pi Chapter: * 🛈

Date of Initiation * 🛈 +

Sigma Delta Pi Adviser(s)

For each adviser please include: FULL NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS and TELEPHONE NUMBER (with area code). *

Education Record

TRANSCRIPTS

Using the button below, upload with this application a digital copy of your updated transcript from each college or university you have attended. Please do not ask your Registrar to forward a copy since it MUST be uploaded with this application. Applicants whose transcripts do NOT reflect the national requirements for membership will automatically be disqualified.

Classification (check one): *

JUNIOR

SENIOR

Did you complete: *

Semester Hours in Spanish

Quarter Hours in Spanish

Both Semester Hours and Quarter hours

Number of semester hours of college Spanish courses completed:

Number of quarter hours of college Spanish courses completed:

Grade point average in Spanish courses completed: *

GPA is on a base of: *

Cumulative grade point average in all college studies: *

GPA is on a base of: *

ACADEMIC RECOGNITION

Other academic honors (scholarships, awards, grants, dean's list, etc.) . Please provide a brief (7-10 word) description, including dates, where appropriate:

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

List here your extracurricular activities. This is intended to show that while maintaining a superior academic record, you have participated in nonacademic affairs of student life. Please make special mention of your participation in the activities of your Sigma Delta Pi chapter.

Letters of Recommendation

CHAPTER ENDORSEMENT

Upload a letter from your Sigma Delta Pi chapter adviser stating that your chapter recommends you for a Sigma Delta Pi stipend. For chapters with multiple advisers, ALL advisers must provide a signed recommendation (one letter may be submitted on behalf of the multiple advisers, but it MUST be signed by each adviser or the application will be disqualified).

If an applicant’s current transcript shows qualifications that would no longer qualify him/her for Sigma Delta Pi membership, the chapter adviser’s letter MUST include the following: 1) the exact date of initiation of the applicant; 2) the following qualifications of the applicant at the time he/she was inducted into Sigma Delta Pi: a) his/her cumulative GPA; b) his/her GPA in Spanish courses completed; c) the Spanish courses completed.

For chapters with more than one applicant for Sigma Delta Pi’s 2023 Undergraduate Study Abroad Award Program, chapter advisers must complete and submit by 11:59:59 pm (EST) February 1, 2023 the online “Chapter Adviser Ranking Form” (click here).

Chapter Endorsement(s): *

REFERENCES

Upload letters of recommendation from two of your college Spanish teachers who can attest to your scholastic achievements and aptitude.

In smaller departments where the second of the aforementioned college Spanish teachers is also your chapter adviser, their letter may serve as both a chapter endorsement and an endorsement of your scholastic achievements and aptitude, thereby eliminating the need for three total letters of recommendation.

First letter of recommendation: *

Second letter of recommendation:

PERSONAL STATEMENT

In the space below, type in your own words in Spanish a brief but comprehensive statement of at least 200 words about your reasons for majoring or minoring in Spanish, your career plans, how a Sigma Delta Pi stipend will help you, how you may be able in the future to support the goals and ideals of Sigma Delta Pi, etc. If you have already spent extensive time abroad—one semester or more—explain the experience (amount of time, place, etc,) and why you still believe this award will benefit you. This statement must be your own work and you are not to receive ANY assistance in the writing or correcting of it. Notice that your electronic signature on this application attests to this fact.

Stipend Information

Name of proposed study abroad program: *

Name of sponsoring agency (company, institution, etc.): *

Website address of proposed program: *

Location of study abroad program (street address, city and country): *

Is this an internship? *

Yes

If this is an internship, please upload evidence with this application that the internship is framed within a credit-bearing, academic course that is accepted by your home institution.

Proposed dates of study (must be 4-weeks minimum during summer 2023, fall 2023 or spring 2024). Please specify the exact dates of proposed study (e.g., July 1-July 31, 2023), and not just “summer 2023”:

Beginning Date: * +

Ending Date: * +

Total estimated expenses of proposed program, to include airfare, room and board, tuition, etc.: *

Amount of expense already definitively covered by other scholarships: *

Does your college/university permit students to participate in this program? (your institution's Office of International Studies, or the equivalent, can inform you accordingly) *

Yes

Does your college/university accept transfer credit for courses successfully completed in this program?
*

Yes

Submit your Application

In the space below share any additional information about your application, qualifications or your planned internship that should be considered while evaluating your application.