FACULTY OF Arts and Letters (AB) Dean Prof. Melanie Turingan is eyeing to produce at least one scholar from every Artlets program under her administration.
Turingan said she aims to achieve the goal through the help of the Philets and Artlets Alumni Association.
“It is my dream that each program could sponsor a student, especially those who are deserving of scholarship, and for it to continue,” Turingan told The Flame.
“So imagine, we would have 13 students who would graduate as scholars every year. Once they graduate, perhaps they can pay it forward as it would help those with insufficient financial resources to finish their education,” she added.
Last January, the UST Philets and Artlets Alumni Association introduced senior sociology student Faustina Dizon as the first recipient of the Artlets Alumni Scholarship Fund (AASF).
UST Philets and Artlets Alumni Association president Henry Tenedero said the fund, which was launched during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to “assist graduating students who experienced sudden difficulties preventing them from graduating on time.”
Artlets who are facing financial burdens may write a letter about their current situation to the dean to receive the faculty’s endorsement.
According to Tenedero, the number of beneficiaries is subject to the alumni association’s deliberation based on the availability of funds.
“Right now, we plan to seek more donations to assess more [students],” he told The Flame.
The University offers several scholarships for college students, namely, the Santo Tomas Academic Scholarship, Santo Domingo de Guzman Scholarship for the Gifted, San Martin de Porres Equity Scholarship and the San Lorenzo Ruiz Student Assistance Scholarship.
Some students have lamented that the options for those seeking assistance for their studies are limited. Turingan encouraged Artlets to try applying for government-led scholarship programs.
She added that the Office for Student Affairs is assisting the AB office to coordinate with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for available scholarships.
“I hope students would also be able to explore the scholarships provided by CHED. The government has a lot of resources, and a lot of that are budgeted in terms of education…but we are also appealing to our alumni that they would be able to sponsor (AB programs),” the AB dean said.
A check amounting to P230,000 and donated to the AASF was turned over to Tenedero during the General Assembly of the UST Alumni Association Inc. last March 9. It was sponsored by UST economics graduate Joel Macanaya of batch 1974. F
