University of Montevallo announces new scholarship fund

MONTEVALLO, Ala.- The University of Montevallo Foundation is pleased to announce plans to add $1.1 million toward increasing scholarships.

With rising tuition costs nationwide, the UM Foundation recognizes the need to assist the University of Montevallo in recruiting and retaining high-achieving and otherwise meritorious students.

“The Foundation Board exists to monitor economic resources to help UM grow. Without the ability to recruit and retain the highest quality students, we would be overlooking the very nature of this board. Recruiting and retaining great students creates great leaders, so we are very excited to be a part of this opportunity,” said Foundation Board Director John Paul Strong of Strong Automotive Merchandising in Birmingham.

The University of Montevallo Foundation, established as a non-profit corporation in December 1973, operates to advance the mission of the University of Montevallo in all of its educational, instructional, service, charitable and outreach endeavors.

The primary purpose of the Foundation is to receive, solicit, accept, hold, administer, use, invest, endow and disburse private philanthropic gifts, bequests, devises and all types of property for the exclusive benefit of the University. As such, the Foundation operates with the highest possible degree of skill and integrity to safeguard the resources entrusted to its stewardship and care.

“The Foundation Board has been diligently working toward that mission and are pleased to have the ability to make this multi-year investment in the University’s future, by creating this scholarship fund. The Foundation Board has taken a tremendous step toward supporting the University’s mission of providing a quality education to its students. The students that will benefit from these scholarships are a cornerstone of the University of Montevallo’s future,” said Chair of the UM Foundation Board Ronnie Jackson.

The $1.1 million scholarship fund will be spread across seven years, adding 25 renewable scholarships each academic year. These funds will increase the amount given to existing scholarship recipients to better fund their education.

“Montevallo has a long history of providing a premier education to students within the state of Alabama and beyond. The University of Montevallo Foundation Board Scholarships will help us to continue to recruit the best and brightest incoming students. Moreover, the scholarships will enhance our ability to retain those high-achieving students throughout their four years at UM. The investment the Foundation has in the lives of the young people who will receive the scholarships will surely increase in value over the years as we nurture them through graduation and send them into the world as productive and loyal Montevallo alumni,” said Dr. Tammi Dahle, vice president for enrollment management.