University offer scholarship opportunities to qualified students

The Davis-Michael Scholars Program, established to support the pre-veterinary medical program at West Virginia University, is offering scholarship opportunities to qualifying students to fund its semester-long study abroad programs.The program was founded through a donation from two Morgantown sisters, Gladys Davis and Vivian Michael, to support quality veterinary care in the state of West Virginia. The program awards scholarships to pre-veterinary and veterinary students. Students can be an undergraduate at WVU or have recently received their undergraduate degree from WVU and are committed to a veterinary school, said Tammy Blake, Davis-Michael program associate.

Along with the scholarships our current students receive, after they've graduated from the Davis College with a degree in Animal and Nutritional Sciences and if they get into Veterinary School, we'll get them a scholarship for every year they're in school, which is four years,Blake said.The Takis Chrysanthou Honored Scholar Award is available to any pre-veterinary student or graduate with a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Students must also complete a 600-word essay to receive the $1,500 study-abroad scholarship.The Davis-Michael program also helps students find internships while pursuing their undergraduate degree. The program will help students in the process of choosing a veterinary school by sponsoring a bus tour to various veterinary schools across the country.

The program recently sponsored a trip to Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine to give students an opportunity to interview for admission, and take tours of the facilities.The program also sponsors a free tutoring program in the Kidder Conference Room of the Agricultural Sciences Building Monday through Thursday from 3-7 p.m. Tutors from the program will help students in biology, chemistry, math,Mathematical Modelling, physiology, and animal and veterinary science.The program sponsors an annual 4-H Day, and the 4th annual Davis-Michael 4-H Day will be held Saturday, March 10 at the Davis College. According to Blake, 4-H members from all throughout the state come to this event.We also have a veterinary career day every fall that is for high school students to come and find out what veterinary careers they can have in the future and what they can do with that veterinary degree, Blake said.The Davis-Michael Scholars Program provides scholarships, current news and opportunities through the program including internships, updates to the tutoring schedule, and more information on the undergraduate degrees in the field.