Student Awards

The College of Business has also added a Pillars of Success Entrepreneurship Award to encourage students’ innovation that exemplifies entrepreneurship from ideation to launching successful ventures in a way that demonstrates notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while pursuing their undergraduate or graduate degree.

Application materials will be accepted through April 11, 2025, at 5:00pm. Awardees will be notified by Friday, April 25, 2025, and are strongly encouraged to attend the Pillars of Success Awards Ceremony on May 1, 2025, to be recognized for their achievements.

Apply for the Student Award

Categories

The following four categories have been established for this year’s Pillars of Success Student Scholarships and Entrepreneurship Award:

• Discipline Scholarships (9)
• Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship (1)
• Outstanding Graduate Scholarship (1)
• Outstanding Entrepreneur Award (1)

1) Discipline Scholarships ($1,000)

Full-time undergraduate students in the following disciplines will be eligible for Discipline Scholarships: Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, General Business, Management, Business Information Systems, and Marketing. One student per discipline will be awarded the Discipline Scholarship.

Submission Criteria

• Video essay (3 minutes) to include what your career goals are and how your degree will prepare you to achieve your goals.
• Unofficial transcripts indicating a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher and at 50-102 credit hours earn, of which at least 15 are College of Business course credits.
• Supplemental materials demonstrating each significant activity or accomplishment. Material examples include active organization and participation in discipline activities/events, working in a support capacity for the discipline, representation of the discipline at internal or external events.
• Two (2) letters of recommendation from Bowie State University faculty or staff, at least one of which should be from College of Business faculty or staff.
• Good academic standing.

2) Outstanding Undergraduate Student Scholarship ($1,000)

One full-time undergraduate student will be recognized who demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, strong leadership skills in student organizations, commitment to their department and demonstrated strength in achieving success while overcoming their own personal challenges.

Submission Criteria

• Video essay (3 minutes) to include discussion of academic achievement, strong leadership skills in student organizations, commitment to their department and
  demonstrated strength in achieving success while overcoming their own personal challenge. Videos should also include how the student is engaged in civic affairs,
  entrepreneurship, and/or social justice activities that positively impact the University or community.
• Unofficial transcripts indicating a CGPA minimum of 3.50 and at least 30-90 credit hours earn, of which 9 are College of Business course credits.
• Supplemental materials demonstrating each significant activity or accomplishment. Material examples include active organization and participation in discipline
  activities/events, working in a support capacity for the discipline, representation of the discipline at internal or external events.
• Two (2) letters of recommendation from Bowie State University faculty or staff, at least one of which should be from College of Business faculty or staff.
• Good academic standing.

3) Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship ($1,000)

One full-time graduate student will be recognized who demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, strong leadership skills in student organizations, commitment to their department as shown through graduate or teaching assistantship and demonstrated strength in achieving success while overcoming their own personal challenges.

Submission Criteria

• Video essay (3-5 minutes) to include discussion of demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, research, teamwork, strong leadership skills in student organizations, commitment to the department as shown through graduate or teaching assistantship, service, and demonstrated strength in achieving success while overcoming their own personal challenges. Videos should also include how the student is engaged in civic affairs, entrepreneurship, and/or social justice activities that positively impact the University or community.
• Unofficial transcripts indicating a CGPA minimum of 3.85 and at least 9 credit hours of Bowie State University coursework.
• Supplemental materials demonstrating extra curriculum activities, and challenges. Material examples include student organization and participation in graduate school
  activities/events, working with faculty as graduate assistant, or representation at internal or external professional events.
• Two (2) letters of recommendation from Bowie State University faculty or staff, at least one of which should be from College of Business faculty or staff.
• Good academic standing.

 

4) Pillars of Success Entrepreneurship Award ($1,000)

One full-time undergraduate or graduate student will be recognized for notable entrepreneurial characteristics and achievements while pursuing their undergraduate or graduate degree.

Submission Criteria

• Video essay (3 - 5 minutes) to include why the student is deserving of the Entrepreneurship Award. Students should discuss the following:
  • o The problem identified to be solved or gap to be filled, or technological trend by embarking on the searching phase or established business with a business plan.
  • Documented process of entrepreneurial journey from ideation to Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or the product or service.
  • Unique Value Proposition.
  • Customer discovery journey to obtain the MVP, product or service using lean start up methodology.
  • Identify the next steps and key resources needed.
  • The business revenue generation model.
  • The business cost structure.
  • The financials of the business for 3 to 5 years’ projections.
• Supplemental materials supporting the above items is strongly recommended, though not required.
• Unofficial transcripts indicating a CGPA minimum of 3.00 for undergraduate students and a CGPA minimum of 3.50 for graduate students.
• At least 9 credit hours of Bowie State University coursework.
• Good Academic Standing

5) Outstanding Student Organization Award ($500)

One College of Business student organization will be recognized for excellence in providing leadership, organizing high quality campus events and activities, and providing opportunities for student professional development.

Submission Criteria

• Video essay (3-5 minutes) to include discussion of demonstrated outstanding achievement in leadership activities, organized high quality on-campus or off-campus activities, and professional development opportunities for College of Business students. If applicable, videos should include how the student organization is engaged in civic affairs, entrepreneurship, and/or social justice activities that positively impact the University or community. Video essays must include commentary from the leader of the student organization. Additional organizational representatives from the leadership team or general membership are also encouraged to participate in the video.
• Student organizations must be active and officially formed according to Bowie State University policy.

Eligibility and Application Process

To be eligible for this award, the organization must show a substantive member of at least 10 active members who are students in good academic standing and satisfy the submission criteria.

Apply for the Student Award

Organizations should not submit video files. Instead, they should upload their videos to a cloud service of their choice, such as YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox. Organizations should then share the publicly viewable video link in the scholarship application. Videos containing errors and/or that are not viewable will be removed from consideration by the review taskforce.

Qualified organizations applying for scholarships must submit supporting material that encompasses the period Fall 2024 to the present. During the application process, the organization will be asked to upload one (1) PDF file which should include:

• Unofficial Transcripts
• Two (2) Letters of Recommendation, one from the organization's faculty adviser and the other from a College of Business faculty or staff member.
• Other Supporting Material: Each significant activity or accomplishment since Fall 2024 should be supported by evidence and/or explanations outlined in the criteria above.

Evaluation Process

The College of Business Dean will form a taskforce with at least one representative from each Department to make final decisions regarding the Award applications. All decisions are final. Announcements will be made by Friday, April 25, 2025.

*In any year, if student applicants or organizations do not meet the criteria for a particular award, that award will not be given.
**Full-time status is defined as currently enrolled in at least 12 credit hours for undergraduate students and 9 credit hours for graduate students.