Cheyenne Marlin, Assistant Director for University of Michigan's U.P. Scholars Program

David Haynes sits down with Cheyenne Marlin, Assistant Director for the University of Michigan's U.P. Scholars Program. The program provides "substantial scholarship aid for four years of undergraduate study at U-M exclusively to incoming students from Michigan's Upper Peninsula." In her position at U-M, Marlin helps "develop, implement, and evaluate targeted programs and strategies to enhance student success for undergraduate students from Michigan's Upper Peninsula."

From the U.P. Scholars website: "Cheyenne Marlin is an enrolled member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, Cheyenne held positions at the American Indian College Fund and the University of Minnesota, Morris, serving Native American and Alaska Native students in academic student success. Cheyenne earned a BA from Northern Michigan University and a Masters of Education from Grand Valley State University.

In this episode, David and Cheyenne discuss the U.P. Scholars Program scholarship, what it covers, how students can apply, what the experience is like for the students who are selected to be U.P. Scholars, and how this program relates to other scholarships available to students.

Transcript

David Haynes:

Welcome to this edition of Rural Insights Podcasts. We're delighted you're with us again, and we are delighted to have a Wildcat, an NMU graduate on with us today. Cheyenne Marlin is the Assistant Director of U.P. Scholars at the great University of Michigan, and she's going to talk about more than basketball, she's going to talk about the academic program called U.P. Scholars and why it is so important to young people in the U.P. Just from my wonderful view this is important, because it's another option for young people in U.P. to have, and this is an amazing opportunity especially for young people whose family might not be able to afford for them to go to U-M or somewhere else, or people like me who are first-generation college students who might not have anybody to help them think this through, and so you're going to hear more about that. So Cheyenne, thank you for being with us, it's really a pleasure and honor that you would give us some time. Tell us about U.P. Scholars.

Cheyenne Marlin:

Thank you for having me today. So I am thrilled to be able to talk about this new scholarship program at the University of Michigan. The U.P. Scholars program is getting ready to go into its third year of having students at the University of Michigan. But what is the U.P. Scholars program? This is a cohort-based scholarship program, which means we're awarding a group of students to come in and study here at the University of Michigan. It's a four-year renewable scholarship, so we are awarding students for their full academic career here at the University of Michigan, and it is for students of the U.P.

So we're looking for you first to come join us and be a part of this new scholarship option, and that's exactly what it is, it's another option for students from the Upper Peninsula to explore as they are making their college decisions and looking at different educational opportunities, as they are vast. We just want to be able to provide this opportunity in this space and let you know that you are absolutely welcome here at the University of Michigan, we want to have you. The University of Michigan is pleased to be able to really create this distinct and special U.P. community here in Ann Arbor.

David Haynes:

What does the scholarship cover? What does it cover?

Cheyenne Marlin:

The total scholarship goes towards the total cost of attendance. We are awarding students for that full cost here. It goes towards tuition and fees and everything that... We are considered a last dollar scholarship, so we're not taking away from any other awards that you're getting, and it does go towards a student's total cost of attendance at U-M.

David Haynes:

When it...it'll cover their tuition plus room and board?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep.

David Haynes:

Cover. So a student who from Iron Mountain, or Marquette, or Sault Ste. Marie, anywhere in the U.P. could apply and they wouldn't have the expenses covered. I mean, excuse me, they wouldn't have additional expenses, they'd have their expenses covered. What kind of students have you gotten so far to come to [crosstalk 00:03:37] ?

Cheyenne Marlin:

We have 24 students in the program right now, of first and second year students, getting ready to, again, recruit our third class to start this fall. We have students from all over the Upper Peninsula all the way from the east to the west side, all the way up to the top of the Keweenaw, and they're fantastic students sitting all across the university. So we are branded as LSA, but we do award scholarships across the university. So we have 19 schools and colleges here and students can study anywhere at the University of Michigan to be a part of the U.P. Scholars Program.

David Haynes:

Do the 24 students in the U.P. get to see each other, know who each other is, there is sort of a community of U.P. students in Ann Arbor?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Absolutely. We really try and hone in on that cohort based scholarship program. We do monthly programming for the students to come together. We do monthly seminars, we do social activities all throughout the year, and we also do activities for the full U.P. Scholars, not U.P. Scholars, but for the full U.P. community. We really are trying to build out that full U.P. community here in Ann Arbor and the scholarship program is helping to support some of that.

David Haynes:

How many students a year are accepted into the program?

Cheyenne Marlin:

We average anywhere from right now, like 10 to 15 students.

David Haynes:

A year get covered by the scholarship?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep.

David Haynes:

10 to 15 from the U.P. that get their full expenses covered, tuition, room and board. What...

Cheyenne Marlin:

... Not full expenses. We are not a full scholarship, but the awards are up to $15,000.

David Haynes:

Up to $15,000. So per student?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep.

David Haynes:

So a student who comes, that would cover most of their tuition, wouldn't it? $15,000.

Cheyenne Marlin:

It would.

David Haynes:

Then they'd have their room and board?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep. And we also, again, that last dollar is important because students are getting a lot of other funding here. We have a lot of Pell scholars, they're getting Michigan grants. So we're not taking away from any of the other funding on your package, we are just coming in on top of that.

David Haynes:

So, they get up to $15,000 and then they could be eligible for a Pell Grant?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep, absolutely.

David Haynes:

They could be eligible for another scholarship at the University of Michigan for all sorts of levels of students?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep.

David Haynes:

How does a student in the U.P. apply for this? How do they do this?

Cheyenne Marlin:

It's going to be dependent on the college or school that you are applying to at the University of Michigan. For LSA students, they get contacted after they've been admitted, but for students in some of the other schools, the interest is different and the application process is different. So I always tell students, if you're interested in the U.P. Scholars program to reach out to me directly, send me an email and let me know that you are interested in being a part of the next cohort, and then we can take the next steps from there.

David Haynes:

What email would they send that to?

Cheyenne Marlin:

My email is cmarlin@umich.edu. We'd love to hear from you.

David Haynes:

Okay. So cmarlin@umich.edu. What about student who just wants to talk about it? A first generation student like me, which is for those who don't know, is somebody, is the first time anybody in their family, they're the first person ever to go to college, and they're sort of sitting in their high school, they don't know who to talk to, they want to think this through, can they call, can they email you if they just want to talk about it?

Cheyenne Marlin:

A hundred percent.

David Haynes:

And you'll guide them through the application process?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep. I'm happy to meet with students individually at anytime I'm also a first-gen student, so I absolutely want to be able to help navigate anything that comes up and it can be for any school. If you just have questions about college or the scholarship process, how a financially package works, what it encompasses, please contact me, I would love to be able to help you navigate that process.

David Haynes:

And again, this U.P. Scholars Program gives you $15,000 and unlike a lot of other scholarships, it doesn't exclude or disqualify you from accepting other scholarships to the University of Michigan. And this $15,000 can be used if you want to go to the Ross School of Business, Literature and Arts, all the other colleges at the University of Michigan, it doesn't matter, if you're from the U.P., graduate from a U.P. high school, you can go there?

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep, and we have students right now in five different colleges across the university. So we have students in engineering, kinesiology, the Ross School of Business, LSA. So we have students all over the place who are studying and are part of the scholarship program.

David Haynes:

The other important thing here is that a student who comes from the U.P., who may come from a very small high school, when they get to University of Michigan, you're going to have someone like you and other people supporting them, and they're going to meet and have access to the other U.P. Scholars. So they won't be thrown into the mix of, if you will, a large university like the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, they're going to have fellow U.P. students, former high school students with them, and you are going to keep somebody assigned to them through the whole time they're at the university to be able to get...

Cheyenne Marlin:

Yep, they're stuck with me and they're stuck with the other students. We do monthly check-ins with the students every month to make sure that they are transitioning well and they have all of their needs covered, and we also do these great community events so they can meet the other U.P. scholars. We hosted a fantastic 906 day. We did our very own 906 day down here in Ann Arbor to welcome everybody to campus, and that was for any student from the Upper Peninsula where we also invite faculty and staff, and alumni, and it's really just a chance to show you that you have a community here. And it's just a...we're really trying to make sure it's a really warm place that you can have as you're coming down here.

David Haynes:

So, the only requirement here is that you graduate from a U.P. high school, and for that, you can get a $15,000 amount, up to $15,000 to help you get through the University of Michigan and its tuition or whatever else to spend on, and you can be eligible for Pell Grants and other scholarships at the university, correct? All that?

Cheyenne Marlin:

All that... We are a need based scholarship, so we do ask that students complete the FAFSA as they are working on their college applications, that opens October 1st as well. So, the University of Michigan is going through all of that, the CSS profile, but again, we can talk through all of that individually if you have questions on that process, but yep, just be from the U.P. and have an interest in being a part of the program. We really want students who want to be a part of the U.P. Scholar program. So that's...

David Haynes:

U.P. Scholars Program at a great university in a great community called Ann Arbor. This is a really wonderful opportunity, and I love that it reaches out to people of all levels and experiences and family backgrounds, and from big towns and little towns and really teeny communities in the U.P., everybody in the U.P. who's a high school graduate can step up. Well, Cheyenne, thank you very much. Is there anything in closing you'd like to say in closing?

Cheyenne Marlin:

No. I just want to thank you so much for the opportunity to share about the scholarship program, and I hope anyone who's interested in exploring the University of Michigan or exploring the U.P. Scholars Program reaches out because we would love to hear from you.

David Haynes:

Well, thank you very much, and to all our listeners, please spread the word at your high school, tell high school counselors and your fellow students and parents all about this. This is an incredible opportunity. Saying again, thank you very much, and thank you to all our listeners at the Rural Insights Podcast.