Professional Development Scholarships

Award Categories:

Scholarships may be awarded in these categories:

(1) conference presentation/attendance
(2) fees for membership in professional organizations

Application information:

1. The amount of a scholarship will vary by category. Applicants may request up to $2,500; awards may be awarded for a lower amount.
2. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
3. Scholarship applications must be submitted at least 60 days before the conference or event you plan to attend. This allows enough time for review and funding to be processed.
   For example: If you plan to attend a conference in April, you should submit your application no later than February 1.”
4. Please review instructional guide for allowable use of funds.

Eligibility:

1. Practitioners. Apply if:
   • Employed at a Virginia public institution of higher education or a Virginia private non-profit institution of higher education that participates in the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) Program?
   • Job involves connecting students to work-based learning and internships?
   • Interested in joining a professional organization or attending a conference?
2. Graduate Students. Apply if:
   • Majoring in Education, Counseling/School Psychology, Human Services/Social Work or Human Resources.
   • Intend to pursue a career that advances work-based learning opportunities for students.
   • Interested in joining a professional organization or attending a conference.

If you answered yes, then you should apply for our professional development scholarship under the appropriate category. Please Note: you must submit for an actual event or membership and not requesting funds in general.

Documentation:

Please fill out the application by clicking on the link located under the appropriate category. All other documents are to be sent by email to carolynsutphin@schev.edu. Applications will not be processed until required documents are received.

1. Practitioners:
   • Instructional Guide for Practitioners
   • Application Form for Practitioners
   • PDF Form (to be used ONLY to gather data and prepare before filling out the required Online Document.)
2. Graduate Students:
   • Instructional Guide for Graduate Students
   • Application Form for Graduate Students
   • PDF Form (to be used ONLY to gather data and prepare before filling out the required Online Document)
3. Documentation for ALL Applicants:
   • Scholarship Travel Estimate/Membership Dues Form
   • Virginia W-9 Form (Signature and current date required. Please send clear, legible copy only.)
   • Scholarship Photo Release Form

Scholarship Follow-Up Process:

Required within 7 business days of returning from conference or obtaining membership either:

• Record a short video (10-15 minutes) of a scripted response to the questions via the form response link.
• Provide written responses via the form response link.
• Video or written responses may be posted on V-TOP’s website under Professional Development Scholarships. https://virginiatop.org/highered/professional-development-scholarships/.
• FAILURE TO COMPLY with this requirement will make you ineligible to receive future professional development scholarships through V-TOP.  

Recipients of conference scholarships and recipients of scholarships for membership fees should also consider other activities, such as:

• Becoming involved in the professional development organization, i.e., volunteering at a future event and/or joining a committee.
• Posting on social media while at the conference and referencing V-TOP support.
• Participating in an interview with the V-TOP intern for the newsletter.
• Volunteering to serve on the scholarship application review committee.

Guidelines for Candidates in Completing the Application Process:

1. Applicants are not eligible to receive scholarship funding for the same conference in consecutive fiscal years. To maximize learning opportunities, applicants are encouraged to apply for conferences they have not previously attended. Selected conferences should focus on work-based learning and support the continued development of knowledge and skills in this area.
2. Before completing the application, take time to prepare. Make sure your responses highlight your experiences in Career Services and how it supports work-based learning. Be sure to include how membership and/or attending the conference will expand your knowledge of work-based learning–and how that knowledge will benefit students, employers and your university as a whole.

Questions:

Please contact Carolyn Sutphin, Associate for Innovative Work-Based Learning Initiatives, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia/Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP) carolynsutphin@schev.edu.

Scholarship Testimonials

To find out about the benefits of the V-TOP professional development scholarship for practitioners, check out these testimonials from career practitioners. 

Nathaniel Hughes, Assistant Director for Employer Relations, UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science. Awarded Professional Development Scholarship to attend VACE’s 2025 Conference at Christopher Newport University.
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Philip Wilkerson, Employer Engagement Consultant, George Mason University Career Services. Awarded Professional Development Scholarship to attend EACE’s 2025 Conference in Albany, New York.

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Robert Clarkson, Associate Director, Corporate Engagement, VCU School of Business. Awarded Professional Development Scholarship to attend the National Association of Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO) annual conference. in Kansas City, July 2025.

What did you learn from the professional development opportunity and how does it relate to advancing work-based learning for students? “At NACRO 2025, I gained valuable insight into how universities across the country are innovating their approaches to corporate engagement and experiential learning. A consistent theme was the importance of creating structured, strategic partnerships that deliver tangible value for both students and companies. Several institutions, such as UC Irvine and Carnegie Mellon, shared effective models of capstone projects and internship programs that deeply integrate industry engagement with student learning. These programs emphasized real-world deliverables, faculty collaboration, and flexible funding structures (some free, some fee-based), offering scalable approaches we could tailor at VCU.”

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Meghan Jester, Director of Enrollment Management, Virginia Tech. Awarded Professional Development Scholarship to attend the uConnect “Career Everywhere Conference”, July 29th, Boston, MA. The Career Everywhere Conference provided concrete, actionable learning that informed how I can support WBL initiatives through the lens of enrollment management. Throughout the conference, we explored the importance of and practical tips for embedding career support across campus—not confined to one office or platform.

Sessions like “Meet the Moment with AI: 3 Specific Playbooks…” gave me practical tools to leverage labor market data, AI-enabled prompts, and digital platforms to surface WBL opportunities and employer connections early in the student experience—enhancing scalability, equity, and measurable impact. I also learned how to use analytics to build buy-in, strengthen employer relations, and advocate for WBL programming based on demonstrated outcomes.

What set this conference apart was its emphasis on collaboration beyond career services—from enrollment to academic affairs to family engagement. Sessions reinforced how cross-campus advocacy can embed career readiness into curriculum and orientation programming.

Overall, this opportunity enriched my professional toolkit for developing scalable, equitable systems that help students connect liberal arts content to meaningful experiences and prepare for purpose-driven careers.

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Barbara Watts, Director of Career Services, Sweet Briar College. Awarded Professional Development Scholarship to attend the Eastern Association of Colleges and Employers (EACE) annual conference, June, 2025, Albany, New York.

What else would you like to share about the conference/membership experience? One of the opportunities that my membership in EACE has afforded is the opportunity to participate in their professional exchange program. This EACE signature program provides an opportunity for career center staff to visit employers in order to explore career pathways, learn current recruiting processes, uncover internship options and discover potential partnerships. They offer both in person site visits, hybrid visits, and virtual visits. Since I secured my membership with EACE through this scholarship and started attending these professional exchange/employer engagement sessions I have been able to discover new career pathways for the students I serve. I am grateful for this unique opportunity that EACE provides and it is a tremendous benefit of membership in this organization. I look forward to taking advantage of upcoming opportunities in the year ahead and have already signed up for additional events.

Thank you to VTOP and SCHEV for having this professional development scholarship program. I have learned so much that I will be able to directly apply to my day-to-day work with students as I help them become workforce ready.