Architectural Education Foundation BY TIM SCHENK, AIA AEF of AIA WY Board Members: Chet Lockard, AIA, President Brandon Daigle, AIA, Vice President Tim Schenk, AIA, Treasurer Cornelius Kinsey, AIA, Secretary Dan Stalker, AIA, Director In 1997 the AIA Wyoming Chapter established the Architectural Education Foundation of AIA Wyoming (AEF-AIAWy) devoted solely to educational purposes such as to assist Wyoming students obtain an architectural education at National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited schools of architecture. The AEF-AIAWy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is administered by the board of directors, volunteer members of AIA Wyoming. Multiple scholarships are typically awarded each year to deserving Wyoming residents or Wyoming high school graduates. The original funds for the scholarship were a gift of $3,000 from the Colorado Producers Council to AIA Wyoming in the late 1980s. The endowment fund was created to improve and encourage the teaching and practice of architecture and related fields of engineering, arts and sciences, in memory of Christopher Robin Hard, AIA. During the 1990s, AIA Wyoming started distributing a portion of excess funds from the previous year’s budget to the AEF-AIAWy scholarship fund. Since then, the AEF-AIAWy has asked AIA Wyoming members for their firms to make a yearly donation pledge. AEF-AIAWy also solicits gifts from allied professionals, Wyoming philanthropic organizations and individuals, and holds periodic fundraising events. The AEF-AIAWy has been able to grow the corpus of the scholarship funds to a level where we can sustain the scholarship awards from yearly earnings. In 2017, AEF changed the scholarship eligibility requirements to assist more potential future architects. All applicants must still be a graduate of a Wyoming high school, have graduated (or anticipate graduating in the year of application) from the University of Wyoming, or be a current Wyoming resident. Scholarship awards are now tiered to match a student’s progress towards an accredited degree in architecture. College freshmen must have an anticipated college path leading to a degree in architecture and are eligible for a $500 scholarship from AEF. Sophomores must be accepted by or enrolled in an accredited school of architecture pre-professional program. Sophomores are eligible for a $750 scholarship. College juniors through Master of Architecture graduate students must be enrolled in an NAAB accredited school of architecture in a professional program that leads to either a Bachelor or Master of Architecture degree. Juniors are eligible for $1,000, seniors are eligible for $1,250, and fifth-year and graduate students are eligible for $1,500. The listed amounts are minimums, and the Scholarship Committee may award high amounts. There is an additional financial incentive for students to work for a Wyoming resident architect for at least eight weeks. Occasionally the AEF hosts fundraising events, which we did last year during the fall conference in Casper. The golf outing netted $6,759.26 after expenses. Since we typically access our funds once a year for scholarships, we combined these dollars with some previous contributions and placed them in a one-year CD, which generated 5.7% interest. This CD matured mid-October and earned $508. We have reinvested this money in another CD. AEF of AIA Wyoming is pleased to announce a total awarded amount of $15,000 in scholarships this year! Congratulations to the 2024/2025 scholarship recipients: Tessa Coughenour (final semester, 5th year grad) from Casper, attending Montana State University, received $8,000. Britt Bardman (first year master’s program) from Bondurant, attending Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, received $3,500. Henry Kobulnicky (sophomore) from Laramie, attending Kansas State University, received $3,500. An additional $1,000 was included in all recipients’ scholarships for working a minimum of 320 hours with a Wyoming architectural firm prior to the start of the current school year. For more information about the Architectural Education Foundation, view www.aefwy.org by scanning the QR code, or visit the AEF Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AEF.AIA.WYO or contact any of the board members. 38 WYOMING ARCHITECTURE .24 | www.aia-wyoming.org
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