Jay W. Boersma Scholarship

The Jay W. Boersma Scholarship application is available online through your OASIS portal. Only complete scholarship applications submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the scholarship committee,

Please follow all directions carefully. Students must submit the following materials to make a complete Jay W. Boersma Scholarship application - there are four parts to the application:

Provide a 250-word biography that tells the committee something about you, your background, and your life goals.

In a 500-word essay, illustrate the importance of the liberal arts and sciences to your educational and life goals. Describe your work and interest in your major, and how this scholarship will allow you to continue that work at Columbia.

One letter of recommendation is required from a Columbia College Chicago faculty member who is familiar with your academic achievements or how you have applied yourself in your major.

Note: Remember to contact your recommender directly before providing his/her information on the application. Be sure to give faculty members as much time as possible to write the letters. Requests made at the last minute are often difficult for faculty to fulfill by the deadline.

A current Student Aid Report (SAR) must be on file. To receive an SAR, students must complete a financial aid application (FAFSA), available after January 1st of each year.

Access online application form through OASIS portal:

1. Applicant Portal: You may scroll through the list of scholarship programs until you locate the Jay W. Boersma Scholarship Fund, and then select the "Start Application" link.


2. Scholarship Search: Select the "Search Scholarships" link in the navigation on the left-hand side of the page. You may search for the Jay W. Boersma Scholarship Fund by using category, keyword, or description/name search. Once you locate the program, select the "More Info" link to be taken to the application form.

• Go to OASIS portal

The Jay W. Boersma Scholarship was established by Dr. Deborah Holdstein, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, in honor of Jay Boersma.

Jay Boersma graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 1974 with a degree focusing on fine art photography and went on to complete his M.F.A. in Photography at the Rhode Island School of Design, eventually becoming a tenured professor of art at Governors State University.

Because of his early interest in emerging technologies and his skills as a photographer, graphic designer, and web designer—and because of his early and ongoing innovations in those areas—he was lured from a tenured academic position in 1996 to become Senior Creative Director at Playboy.com. He and Dr. Holdstein married in 2007.

An artist whose work is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, Boersma’s interest in the liberal arts was amplified by his responsibilities as a manager: hiring artists to work for him at Playboy.com. While there were many people who had the technical skills needed to create competent design, Boersma found that broadly educated artists were more able to produce interesting and sophisticated art and to better problem solve when challenges arose. His marriage to Dr. Holdstein, dyed-in-the wool academic and Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Columbia College Chicago, further solidified his interests.

• Applications must be submitted by February 15, 2012 (11:59 pm) for review by the committee;
• Maximum award of this one-year scholarship is $2,200 (half awarded Fall 2012 and half awarded Spring 2013);
• The award is applied toward tuition and fee costs only;
• Students must be enrolled full-time at the time of application and must maintain full-time enrollment during the 2012-13 academic year;
• Students who are not selected to receive the award may compete in subsequent years;
• Scholarship may not be used toward independent study abroad programs;
• Recipients of the scholarship will be asked to submit a short biography describing their background, life goals, and the relevance of the liberal arts and sciences to their work. This biography will be shared with donors, and a portion of the biography may also be used in various internal and external, college-produced communications; 
• The rules and regulations governing other sources of financial aid (federal, state, institutional and other grants, gifts, or loans) will apply;
• Columbia College Chicago reserves the right to withhold the award in any year in which, at the sole discretion of the scholarship committee, suitable candidates cannot be found among applicants.