Professional Development Scholarships

General Information

Scholarships may be awarded in these categories for career practitioners:

(1) conference presentation/attendance
(2) fees for membership in professional organizations or
(3) professional development training/workshop.

Application information:

1. The amount of a scholarship will vary by category. Applicants may request up to $2,500; awards may be for a lower amount.
2. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
3. Please allow at least 60 days’ notice before attending conferences, etc.
4. Applications for conference presentation/attendance scholarships MUST BE submitted by the deadline before the month of the conference. (For example, if requesting scholarship funds to attend the VACE conference in April, the application should be submitted by February 1 to ensure there is enough time to receive the funding.)

Practitioners

1. Are you 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?
2. Does your job involve connecting students to work-based learning and internships?
3. Do you want to join a professional organization or attend a conference?

If you answered yes, then you should apply for our professional development scholarship. Please review our instructions for practitioners and an appendix with the application form.

Application for Practitioners

Graduate Students

1. Are you majoring in Education, Counseling/School Psychology, Human Services/Social Work, or Human Resources?
2. Do you intend to pursue a career that advances work-based learning opportunities for students? 
3. Do you want to join a professional organization or attend a conference?

If you answered yes, then you should apply for our professional development scholarship. Please review the following information before applying: graduate student instructions and an appendix containing the graduate student application form.

Application for Graduate Students

Forms to Download, Fill Out, and Upload with Your Scholarship Application (see instructions).

• Scholarship Travel Estimate or Membership Dues Form
• Virginia W-9
• Scholarship Photo Release Form

Scholarship Follow-Up

To fulfill the obligations associated with your professional development scholarship, within seven business days of returning from your conference or obtaining your membership, please either: 1) email Carolyn Sutphin at carolynsutphin@schev.edu to set up time (~15 minutes) to record a video of your scripted response to the questions in the linked form below or 2) if you prefer, simply provide your written responses via the form response link. Responses (video and written) will be posted on 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.  

Questions

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.

To find out about the benefits of the V-TOP professional development scholarship for graduate students, check out this brief YouTube video.

V-TOP Scholarship Recipient – Jessica Pappagianopoulos (International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting)

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

Katie Maher, Assistant Director of Career Services, VMI, NACE 2024 Conference.

Michelle Simmons, Project Manager, 757 Regional Internship Collaborative, ODU, SoACE 2023 Conference.