By: Diane Stirling
(315) 443-8975
Innovation and entrepreneurship are embedded qualities at the School of Information Studies (iSchool), even extending to a unique scholarship opportunity.
Students interested in a graduate-level education where library and information science and entrepreneurial innovation studies go hand-in-hand have again this year been applying for the iSchool’s Entrepreneurial Librarianship Scholarship, and the review of applications is underway.
The award is available to incoming, full-time Master of Library and Information Science students who want to become immersed in an environment geared towards entrepreneurship and startup development, according to Victoria Williams, graduate recruitment and marketing manager.
“This generous scholarship offers a unique opportunity for graduate students who are entrepreneurially minded and who see themselves as current or future librarians. It’s also for students who envision a future working in start-ups and who understand how critical library and information science skills can be to a start-up’s success,” Williams explained.
Multiple awards are available. Each scholarship provides for nearly $15,000 of annual tuition support. Recipients will be notified in the coming weeks, Williams said.
The scholarship is designed to encourage residential students to study library and information science full-time while also working in an innovative environment geared toward creating pioneering startups. The expectation is that recipients’ primary focus will be on the development of enterprises that value and leverage librarian skills, with the eventual goal of creating unique and desirable new opportunities for librarians and library communities. Enterprise startup ideas can run a gamut of possibilities, including not-for-profit enterprises that are socially-conscious in nature, according to Williams.
Fellows in the program will develop strong connections within the iSchool’s Student Sandbox, located in Syracuse’s Tech Garden. In that environment, they will become immersed in a start-up culture, have access to venture prizes, venture funds, a multitude of professional mentors and technical talent, and be co-located with like-minded student entrepreneurs and teams.
The iSchool is renowned for its master’s degree program in library and information science. The program consistently leads the field of librarianship in innovative offerings, according to Williams, and it is ranked #3 in its field by US News & World Report. The iSchool at Syracuse University was just reaffirmed for its # 1 ranking in information systems by US News & World Report.
More information about iSchool courses, research, and initiatives in entrepreneurship are available by contacting igrad@syr.edu. For more information about the scholarship, visit: https://ischool.syr.edu/contact/awards/entrepreneurlib.aspx.