The James and Helen Phillip Scholarship Fund

The James and Helen Phillip Scholarship Grant Fund was established to honor James and Helen Phillip by providing scholarship assistance to people in need who are interested in careers in the retail and floral design sectors of the floral industry. The Fund was established by a $500,000 donation by their daughter, Lee Phillip Bell, in 2008. Ms. Bell passed away in 2020.

This AFE scholarship fund provides block grants to institutions to distribute to students primarily in the Great Lakes region, however they are also available to other institutions with established floral design programs. The gift is designed to achieve several goals. “This will go a long way toward helping people in need while creating a pool of trained workers to fill positions in retail flower shops,” said Bell’s nephew, Jim Phillip. “Because the principal will never be touched, this Fund will leave a perpetual legacy to honor Jim and Helen Phillip — giving back to an industry which they dearly loved.”

To be considered to receive a grant from this scholarship fund, please complete the Application Form by March 1 of each year. Applications will be reviewed and institutions will be notified in June/July if they have been selected.

Apply by March 1st

Use the form below to submit your application by the March 1st deadline each year.

The James and Helen Phillip Scholarship Fund

Section A: Information on Academic Institution

Name of Institution

Address

Address Line 1

Address Line 2

City

State/Province

Zip/Postal

Country

Mail address, if different

Address Line 1

Address Line 2

City

State/Province

Zip/Postal

Country

Contact person

First

Last

Phone

Fax

What organization(s) have given your college accreditation?

List the required and elective classes, as well as the total classes or credits required for completion; or provide a link the current degree plan and core course descriptions from your college’s catalog. (You may also upload this as a pdf at the end of this application if necessary)

List the degree(s) or certificate(s) available for your students that are interested in pursuing careers in floral design and retail flower shop operations.

Name of Degree or Certificate 1

Typical Time to Complete

please indicate years or semesters

No. of Students Completing

Year

Name of Degree or Certificate 2

Typical Time to Complete

please indicate years or semesters

No. of Students Completing

Year

Name of Degree or Certificate 3

Typical Time to Complete

please indicate years or semesters

No. of Students Completing

Year

What mechanism do you have in place for considering scholarship applications, awarding funds, and advising foundations of the recipients and their educational progress? Please include or link to current information regarding these procedures, timeline, and any scholarship application form typically used by your students. Also indicate if 100% of grants benefit students, or if some overhead fees are required to cover your administrative costs.

Please indicate any provisions in place to ensure that scholarships are used only for the purpose intended (e.g., not distributed directly to student but applied to their account or not awarded if students drop a required course).

Please list information about the instructors teaching the required courses for your floral programs, including their degrees and professional certifications. (You may also upload this as a pdf at the end of this application if necessary)

Besides providing your current college catalog, if you have any brochures explaining your program or if there is additional information about your program not covered in this questionnaire, please feel free to explain below or link to relevant materials. (You may also upload this as a pdf at the end of this application if necessary)

Section B: Student Job Placement

Please estimate the percentage of your students who obtain full time employment as retail florists within three years of completing their degree/certificate.

Does your program encourage internships? Please explain

How does your institution assist graduates with job placement?

Section C: Financial Need of Students

Please list or link to information about scholarships currently available and limited to your students pursuing one- or two-year floral degrees/certificates, including requirements and amount of the award. (You may also upload this as a pdf at the end of this application if necessary)

Please provide any information you can about the following costs of the program:

Tuition per semester/other

Typical fees/supplies fees per semester/other

Typical books per semester

Other

It is the intent of this scholarship fund that recipients have some personal investment in their education. Accordingly, no individual award should exceed more than 50% of the total cost of a student’s tuition, fees, books, and supplies in an academic term. In order to assure prudent distribution of funds, we also require that distributions be made on a term by term basis. Given this requirement and your institution’s tuition and fees, please indicate the number and dollar amount of scholarships you believe would be practical to award each academic term.

We would like to know: Are there any particularly compelling reasons why your floral program should be considered to award some of these scholarships? (e.g., breadth or depth of courses offered, recognition received, utilization of internships, career placement success, number of students unable to complete the program due to financial issues, etc.).

If chosen to award one or more of these scholarships, at the end of the school year with the recipients’ written permission you will be asked to provide the information on the form to assist us in monitoring the program. Kindly sign below to indicate that you understand that you will be required to complete and return the form, and that you will abide by the rules and expectations for distributing awards from The James and Helen Phillip Scholarship Fund. We have read the questions on this form and answered them truthfully and accurately to the best of our ability.

Applicant Name

First

Last

Dean’s Name

Dean's Name

First

Last

Title

Dean of:

Signature

initial

Signature

initial

Date

mm/dd/yyyy

Date

mm/dd/yyyy

Document Upload

Please use the embedded form below to upload your documents. Note: You will have to press submit to upload your documents (purple button), then press submit again to submit your complete application.

NOTE:

You will have to press submit twice to submit your entire application – submit documents by pressing the purple submit button, and submit complete application by pressing the blue submit button. If you have any issues, please reach out to cmusgrove@afeendowment.org.

The James and Helen Phillip Scholarship Fund

Apply by March 1st

Section A: Information on Academic Institution

Section B: Student Job Placement

Section C: Financial Need of Students

Document Upload

NOTE:

You will have to press submit twice to submit your entire application – submit documents by pressing the purple submit button, and submit complete application by pressing the blue submit button. If you have any issues, please reach out to cmusgrove@afeendowment.org.

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