The global health pandemic has been horrific and has resulted in the loss of life, health and jobs. Despite this level of devastation, the HACC community – including our generous donors – has stepped up in ways that we could not have imagined.

An example of this has been with the HACC Foundation scholarship program. HACC has hundreds of scholarship funds. Many of them are categorized by campus – meaning that our students have to attend specific campuses to qualify for the scholarships. Well guess what? Many students are no longer attending specific campuses. They are taking online classes and benefitting from online services. A benefit of online instruction and services is that there are no geographical boundaries and restrictions.

We are encouraging donors who previously established campus-based scholarships to consider removing the campus criterion and adding a county-based criterion. This modification will allow us to help students who live in certain communities – no matter which campuses they attend.

For example, before the pandemic, a Gettysburg resident who only took classes at the Harrisburg and York campuses would have been ineligible for a scholarship restricted to Gettysburg Campus students. However, a Gettysburg resident who only took classes at the Harrisburg and York campuses would have been eligible for a scholarship restricted to Gettysburg residents. The Gettysburg student may have been taking classes at the Harrisburg and York campuses for the following reasons:

• The classes were not available at the Gettysburg Campus.
• The dates and times of the classes at the Harrisburg and York campuses were more convenient for the student’s busy schedule.
• The student’s job was located closer to the Harrisburg and York campuses.

Research shows that 80% of HACC alumni remain in Central Pennsylvania after completing their HACC studies. This means that no matter which campuses our students attend, the Central Pennsylvania workforce and economy benefit. A Gettysburg resident who attends the Harrisburg and York campuses is still paying taxes, shopping and engaging in the Gettysburg community. Attending other HACC campuses does not negate the student’s love for the Gettysburg community.

HACC is One College, and our donors understand that. We commend our donors for thinking broadly about the HACC mission and not restricting their philanthropy to specific campuses. We applaud them for thinking about the short-term and long-term impact their philanthropy has on students and their local communities.

We respectfully request that donors who have established campus-based scholarship funds to please consider changing the scholarship criterion to be county-based. This enhancement will allow us to help more students AND continue to impact the communities we proudly serve.

To review your current scholarship criteria, please:

• Visit https://hacc.academicworks.com/
• See the “Search by Keyword” field
• Type the name of your scholarship fund in the field
• Wait for the scholarship fund to appear
• Click on the name of the fund
• Note that the scholarship fund criteria will appear

Please:

• Complete the online form below to authorize the HACC Foundation to change the campus-based criterion to a county-based criterion
• Do so within 30 days

Once we receive the completed online form, we will update the criterion in our records.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact us at foundation@hacc.edu.

Thank you and best wishes!

Gratefully YOURS,

Linnie S. Carter, Ph.D., APR
Vice President of College Advancement,HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College
Executive Director, HACC Foundation