BELIEVE Maternal Health Scholarship Application

Congratulations to our Maternal Health Scholarship Awardees

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Background information:

Application window closed. Awardees were announced at the Black Joy Gala on Saturday, June 10th. 

The BELIEVE project is providing scholarship opportunities to support students interested in entering the field of Maternal and Child Health (MCH). BELIEVE is offering (3) $1,000 scholarships.

Scholarships can be used towards tuition for the next school year or a certification course. The scholarship is open to high school seniors and/or individuals applying to study in a health-related field.

While there are many wonderful, talented, and deserving people who do not belong to oppressed communities, the focus of the BELIEVE project is to promote the diversity of the MCH field to better serve historically marginalized communities. Those eligible for this scholarship must identify as members of groups that have been historically marginalized.

Applicants must use funds towards school tuition or a certificate program with an interest in maternal health, Fall 2023. 

Be sure you are subscribed for updates (here).

More than 25% of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States are tied to poor heart health, especially among women of color, putting both mothers-to-be and their babies at risk, according to the American Heart Association Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2022 Update. To address this issue, the American Heart Association is funding a new $20-million initiative comprised of a network of special projects focused on advancing the understanding of the factors underlying the disproportionate impact of maternal complications and deaths among Black women, Native American women, and those living in rural areas1.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s joint collaboration with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) in Greensboro, is among the five targeted research projects set to begin in July and run for the next four years to help implement change in health services for women of color. The Building Equitable Linkages with Interprofessional Education Valuing Everyone (BELIEVE) team is working with birthing people and healthcare workers to learn how collaboration can help us to work together better. We want to make healthcare workers and healthcare systems safer and build trust between birthing people and healthcare workers. We want to understand how these complicated problems in the health system harm pregnant people and healthcare workers, and we want to help fix them.

The goal of all this work is to make the healthcare system better so that every birthing person and healthcare worker is treated with respect and care. This goal is in alignment with both the White House’s Maternal Health Blueprint2 and North Carolina’s Perinatal Health Strategic Plan3, which both include strategies to expand and diversify the perinatal workforce.

Citations:

  1. UNC, N.C. A&T Team to Lead Project to Address Social Determinants of Health in Women of Color | Newsroom (unchealthcare.org)
  2. White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis. whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Maternal-Health-Blueprint.pdf
  3. North Carolina Perinatal Health Strategic Plan 2022-2026. https://wicws.dph.ncdhhs.gov/phsp/docs/PerinatalHealthStrategicPlan-9-15-22_WEB.pdf

Applicants must use funds towards school tuition or a certificate program with an interest in maternal health. See the attestation at the application link for additional details.

You can find a sample application here, but applications must be submitted via Qualtrics survey link.

Rubric Scale for Applications: 

Application Presentation

10%

 

10 points total

Application is carefully completed and well presented. All aspects are complete and there are no issues with viewing the video submission.

10 points

 Application is complete but greater attention to detail could have provided to avoid typos. There are setting issues with viewing the video that can be resolved.

5 points

 Application is incomplete. There are issues with reviewing the video that cannot be resolved.

0 points
Commitment and Interest in MCH and Health Equity

40%

40 points total

 The applicant answered the prompt in its entirety and provided a full picture of their interest in promoting Health Equity in MCH. The applicant demonstrated their career plans in the MCH field.

30 – 40 points

 The applicant provided information that showed their interest in promoting health equity or their MCH plan, but greater attention to detail could have provided more clarity.

11 – 29 points

 The applicant did not answer the prompt entirely.

0 – 10 points
Creativity/ Originality

30%

30 points total

 The video submission is done with exceptional care and attention to detail. The applicant has expressed their passion for MCH and health equity in a unique and vibrant way.

20 – 30 points

 The video submission is done with care and attention to detail. The applicant has expressed their passion for MCH and health equity in a unique and vibrant way.

19 – 11 points

 Minimal effort was placed into the video submission.

0 – 10 points
Demonstrated Need

10%

10 points total

 Financial need is clearly stated in the video submission. Financial need is stated in the video submission, but more clarity is needed. Financial need is not stated in the video submission.
Demonstrated Performance

10%

 The applicant included a complete Resume/ CV and provided a comprehensive list of extracurricular activities that thoroughly demonstrate their academic career and community activities.

10 points

 The applicant included a partial Resume/ CV and a list of extracurricular activities that thoroughly demonstrate their academic career and community activities.

5 points

 The applicant did not include a Resume/ CV or list of extracurricular activities.

0 points

Applications are now open (opened March 31st)! The deadline to apply is May 12th, 2023.

Scholarships will be announced after May 31st, 2023.

The (3) $1,000 need-based scholarships will be available to use for Fall 2023. This scholarship is intended to support education in MCH topics and can be used towards tuition for the next school year or a certification course.

Contact: Janiya M Williams, jtmitnau@ncat.edu, for details.

Applications are open! Be sure you are subscribed for updates here.

Apply Now

Contact: Janiya M Williams, jtmitnau@ncat.edu, for details.