Sledge/Benedict Fellowships

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The Robert W. Sledge and H. Y. Benedict fellowships are for the first year of graduate study toward the master’s, doctor’s, or professional degree at any recognized institution. For eligibility, a nominee must plan to complete their undergraduate degree in the academic year in which the application is made and must enroll in a graduate or professional program in the fall semester of the award year. Two Sledge Fellowships worth $4,000 each and eight Benedict Fellowships worth $3,000 each are awarded each year. All nominees automatically compete for both awards except that nominees submitting cooperative projects or work will be evaluated separately and compete for one $2,000 scholarship. The deadline to apply is Feb. 15, 2025. See additional details below.

Who are Drs. Sledge and Benedict?

The Sledge Fellowship is named for Dr. Robert W. Sledge, who served on the National Council for twenty-four years, 1973-87 and 1989-99, twelve of those as president. He also authored the history of Alpha Chi’s first 75 years and assisted with its update in 2022. The Benedict Fellowship honors the society’s first president, Dr. Harry Yandell Benedict who served from 1934 to 1937 during Alpha Chi's early years.

Sledge/Benedict Competition Elements

I. Nomination by a chapter advisor. Chapter advisors must declare their chapter's nominee(s) no later than Feb. 1, 2025, by completing the Scholarship Nomination Form.

II. The official nominee's application form. Once the chapter advisor submits their nomination, the nominee will receive an email inviting them to begin their application. This online form must be submitted no later than Feb. 15, 2025. The most important aspect of the application form is evidence of scholarship; it will be judged for clarity, originality, and correctness of form. Evidence for this competition must be supplied in a form described in (A) or (B) below.

A. An academic paper in the applicant's major field

1)  Papers should generally be between 10 and 25 pages long (double-spaced), saved in Word or as a PDF.
2)  If an applicant submits a cooperatively written paper or project, the applicant must have written at least 50% of the submission, and only the portion of the paper written by the applicant will be judged. Writing not done specifically by the applicant must be clearly delineated in a red font or the entry will be disqualified. 
3)  Scientific papers or projects should begin with an abstract.

B. Other appropriate work in the applicant's major field which is predominantly without a written element

1)  Recorded audio or video performances are limited to 20 minutes.
2)  As part of the online application, the applicant will be asked to provide a written explanation that demonstrates an understanding of the theoretical basis for the project or subject matter.
3)  No more than 10 photographs or 10 works of art may be submitted.
4)  Media such as photographs, videos, audio recordings, photographed art, etc., must be saved in common file formats.

C. If either type of submission above (A or B) represents a cooperative project, the nature of the collaboration and an assessment of the applicant's contributions will be requested as part of the online application form. All cooperative submissions will be evaluated for a $2,000 cooperative scholarship in the Sledge/Benedict competition.

III. An official faculty assessment addressing the significance of the submission submitted by a faculty member in the field represented by the applicant's paper or project. Nominees must provide the faculty assessor's contact information as part of the online application; the assessment form will be automatically emailed to the faculty assessor upon submission of the online application form. Assessments will not be considered late until after Feb. 20.

IV. No additional materials will be considered, and only applications fully submitted via the online application form by the deadline will receive consideration.

V. Please contact the national office at 800-477-4225 if you have a situation not addressed above and need guidance.