Last September 20, 2012, the Office of the Executive Treasurer (OTREAS) along with the parents’ association, DLSU Parents of University Students Organization (PUSO), hosted the Lasallian Scholarship Program awards night where seven Lasallian Scholarship Program (LSP) scholars received their tuition grants.
The LSP program was established last year by OREAS and PUSO, and has since benefited 13 scholars. The program was born out of the increasing demand for financial assistance programs that the University, through the Office of Admissions and Scholarships (OAS), cannot accommodate.
Former Executive Treasurer Djon Nacario, who initiated the project during his term, acknowledges in his opening speech that although the biggest stakeholders in the University are the students, parents still play a vital role.
According to Nacario, the Lasallian Scholarship Program (LSP) was designed for financially eligible students who did not qualify for the University-provided scholarships because of the high academic performance requirement. Incumbent Executive Treasurer Carlo Inocencio, however, explains that the program would still consider academic performance and participation in extracurricular activities as criteria for a grant.
Moreover, the program aims to instill the values of faith, service and communion in the term-long scholars. Hence a crucial element for a grant is a students’ exemplification of the 5 Cs: committed, confident, compassionate, competent and Christ-like.
The program could give a grant that ranges from P15,000 to P50,000 to eligible applicants who have passed screening, panel interviews, and have submitted the necessary requirements.
The program this year is different though in that in the previous runs, only three winners received grants per term. This year seven aspirants were granted the scholarship due to mechanics changes, awarding one winner per college. For this term Christian Karigal (COE), Kevin Hernandez (CCS), Omyr Abdala (SOE) and Thea Estacio (CED) were all in fourth place, receiving P15,000 each. Gillian Lambenco (COS) received came in third and received P20,000 while Rochelle Triguero (CLA) won second place to receive P35,000. Angela Castillo (COB) received P50,000, the biggest grant.
Antonio Co, current president of PUSO, shares that their organization aims to tie the efforts of parents with the students’ activities inside the university to give their children a more gratifying academic experience. He commended the seven awardees for their performance, and also praised their parents for giving them a chance to engage in extracurricular activities apart from academics. He hopes the awardees and future awardees would become good examples to other Lasallians to get involved and perform better.
The LSP has since gone through revisions in mechanics and policies to efficiently screen and scrutinize the qualities of each applicant. The program though has encountered difficulties in distinguishing itself in the past from another USG scholarship program.
Benedict Lopez, Executive Chairperson for Assistance Funds and Services, is confident that the LSP would be institutionalized to continually serve the students.
Apart from the LSP, the USG also spearheads another scholarship program known as the Achievement Scholarship Program (ASP) where qualifications lean more on students’ academic and extracurricular achievements, barring all financial factors.
