A $100,000 Hovensa scholarship fund will allow University of the Virgin Islands students to further their education in science, technology, engineering and math as well as process technology.
Sloan Schoyer, Hovensa general manager, presented a check to UVI President David Hall on Wednesday at the university’s Research and Technology Park. Schoyer said the scholarship is intended to “promote education, hopefully degrees,” and that he hoped the recipients would remain in the territory after graduation.
“Hovensa believes that providing higher education to local residents is crucial to a better economy and the future of this community as a whole,” Schoyer said.
According to Dionne Jackson, vice president of institutional advancement at UVI, the funds will provide tuition for STEM and progressive technology students on St. Croix and STEM students on St. Thomas. The criteria for selecting applicants will later “be fleshed out with the donor,” she said.
“It is one of our big priorities because we want to make sure, as an institution, we eliminate some of the financial barriers to an affordable education,” Jackson said.
Hall said the university will begin awarding scholarships later this year or next.
He said it would allow the university to provide support to a number of students. “We try to support more students instead of a few,” he said
Hall said neither the number of tuition scholarships to come from the donation nor the terms had been determined yet since the donation came as somewhat of “a surprise.”
“I would say a surprise, but Hovensa has supported the university down through the years, so that’s not a surprise,” Hall said. “It’s an important and major investment for the future.”
In recent months, the university has been the beneficiary of $100,000 from the Marriott Corporation and St. Thomas businessman Dale LeFebvre donated $350,000 for scholarships, Hall said.
Hovensa’s last scholarship grant was in 2011, when they donated $70,000 for students studying process technology. Overall, Hovensa has given $1.4 million to the university, according to Mitchell Neaves, UVI director of major gifts.
Process technology is used in many industries including power and water plants, industrial waste monitoring, oil exploration and pharmaceuticals. Process technicians plan, analyze and control product production from the raw material stage through production and distribution, according to the Center for Process Technology
Shoyer said the donation was not mandated but “ties in” with the fourth amendment to the Hovensa Concession Agreement and that there are no stipulations as to how the scholarships should be awarded. He said further donations would depend on whether the refinery sells or not.
The fourth amendment to the Hovensa agreement outlines, among other things, a process for selling the refinery that was closed in December 2012 and includes provisions for property tax payments, the territory’s fuel supply and use of the Limetree Bay Channel by commercial vessels and other provisions if the property does not sell within a year.
The fourth amendment was debated between Government House and Hovensa for almost a year before it was approved by the 30th Legislature in November.
