“What do you need? An extra file cabinet?” In the early nineties, when I first broached the subject of an office focused on nationally competitive scholarships, I did not receive a hoped for response. There were few such offices in the country to serve as persuasive examples. With limited resources, a staff carved out of an overburdened honors office, and a willingness to work on weekends, I continued to provide needed, but makeshift support to University of Arkansas students applying for competitive awards and grants.

Such a story is not unusual. But luck was on my side. We had good students, enjoying at least modest successes at the national level. And more importantly, in 1997, the University hired John White, a chancellor who had national ambitions for our institution. He branded the University instantly as “a nationally competitive student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world.” Every faculty member on the campus soon adopted this mantra as did the state and regional media.

An Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships was created in short order with funding and staff support. The institution saw immediate rewards with an increase in students winning competitive scholarships and grants. Support from the upper administration was critical. University relations joined the effort, making sure stories about our students were a priority. Faculty members became more involved—sending top students to our office, volunteering to serve on selection committees, and participating in practice interviews. Soon our students were a focal point in a development campaign that resulted in a $200 million endowment for the Honors College (where the Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships is housed).

But this was not a “money for nothing, great students for free” deal. Much has been expected in return. The Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships has been asked, appropriately I think, to understand its mission in the largest possible sense. We are involved at every level of student development—high school AP teacher training, high ability student recruitment, campus scholarships and fellowships, undergraduate research, service learning, course development, and more.

What this means, of course, is carving out additional staff from a busy Honors College Office and being willing to work on weekends. But now it’s a team effort that begins in the highest office and extends throughout our campus, generating excitement for everyone. And the chancellor continues to do his part, setting a good example for the rest of us, writing letters of recommendation, taking finalists as well as recipients to lunch, writing letters to families before we know if the student will be recognized, sharing in the ups and downs of the process. He understands that he has an important role to play if our students are going to be successful. Because he is so actively involved, he knows many of the students very well and sees that very little separates the Scholar from the scholar. He has thoroughly adopted the NAFA beyond winning message, and he reinforces that message on our campus regularly.

Presidents, chancellors, and provosts set priorities for their institutions that greatly affect offices charged with supporting students applying for nationally competitive awards. Partnerships are critically important. Building them can be a rewarding learning process for all the parties involved; and the students, who are being challenged to reach higher and achieve more, invariably win.