STUDENT WEEKEND

Sometimes trustees or host families for GRSP get really lucky and have the opportunity to spend time with students at a student weekend. There are five student weekends this year that Rotary Clubs around Georgia arrange for the students. Our district hosts the students for three of these weekends and most involve many clubs. Each one is special for very different reasons. Over the years the students have given their opinions about the weekends and these weekends have evolved over the years into some extraordinary experiences for the students. If you are fortunate enough to be a driver for a student taking them to one of these weekends, you are invited to participate as much as you would like.

The GRSP Leadership Weekend, also known as MLK Leadership Weekend, is always interesting and this year was no exception. This is a weekend that the students really find out what the Rotary motto of Service Above Self and Four-Way Test is all about. Over the last couple of years, students start in downtown Atlanta at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which is probably one of the best museums in Atlanta. The students are always fascinated by our civil rights history, but are learning about civil rights issues around the world, while in this museum. This year,

The weekend continued with an interactive workshop on Courageous Leadership, a service project to pack 10,000 meals for Rise Against Hunger, and a "shark tank" competition where students were charged with developing a creative idea for service projects.

Because of the expense of the weekend, Dunwoody has enlisted partner clubs over the years to help keep it going (thanks this year to North Atlanta, Gainesville and Brookhaven and Buckhead for support in funding and/or hosting students for the weekend). I am very happy to report that the Rotary Club of Dunwoody, who is the mastermind behind this, has voted to continue the weekend and is already working on additional funding to keep it going.

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PILOT PROGRAM

The Strategic Planning Committee is working very hard to improve the Program:

We have organized six goals - 1. Explore changes to the program cost structure. 2. Build organizational structure and operational capacity. 3. Expand marketing and communications. 4. Improve training to all stakeholders, 5. Ensure diverse, qualified student engagement and 6. Enhance student and club experience.

In order to protect the Endowment from operations, the Strategic Planning Committee had recommended and the Board voted to organize a separate corporate entity for the Endowment. We are hopeful that this will be accomplished quickly. To give more depth to the existing corporate structure, we approved two additional officer positions, i.e., Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. These positions are not voting positions, but will allow training and back-ups in the event a position is suddenly vacated. We will also be developing an alumni relations program. The nominating committee will be encouraged to rotate officer positions among districts when qualified ca,ndidates are available. We are working on an updated logo and will be working on an RFP for the website. Cyber security has become a real issue, so we are working on that. There continues to be much work left and everyone knew this would not be easy. Many hours have already been expended to try to improve the Program and many more will be required.

As part of the strategic planning effort, the Committee has asked the Rotary Club of Dunwoody (RCD) to participate in a test program for 2018-19 and the club has agreed to do this. The pilot addresses two issues: The diversity of the countries represented each year has become an increasingly difficult issue and we are looking at ways to give clubs more flexibility in the cost of sponsoring a GRSP student. Dunwoody has had a great relationship with Oglethorpe University for many many years and as it turns out, Oglethorpe is making a particular effort to attract international students this coming year. It is hoped that Oglethorpe may be able to provide a more diverse selection of countries than what we have seen lately. RCD will be making a selection from students that are new to the United States, but who have applied directly to Oglethorpe and who are already accepted by the University. Dunwoody will work with the college to set the scholarship level. This will be a GRSP scholarship and the student must agree to abide by the program requirements. Dunwoody will assess the viability of this option and try to work out any problems they encounter and it is hoped that perhaps some additional Clubs who have good working relationship with their universities may also try this option the following Rotary year.

SELECTION FOR THE CLASS OF 2018-2019

Each year trustees and the executive committee meet in January in Savannah for a semi-annual meeting which culminates in selection of students for the following academic year. Your fellow Rotarians who serve GRSP are some of the most generous of Rotarians, along with the host families who open their homes to total strangers, who then end up becoming family members after only a few weeks. Rotarians who have agreed to be GRSP Trustees travel to Savannah on their own dime to discuss ways of improving the experience for both the student and the clubs and it’s always so wonderful to see the dedication of these very special people. As always, selection was interesting. And yes, the blue eraser is still being used! Our own Court Dowis was witness to the event this year!!

We are happy to report that we have one new trustee in training. Michael Stimpert from the Buckhead Rotary Club has been approved by two of our incoming governors (we didn’t know who the DGEN was at the time) and will take office on July 1, 2019. We are very excited to have Michael on board as he has good experience as a host family. Our new trustees from July 1, 2018 did very well and we believe that the Selection Process went well. It looks like we will be offering 41 scholarships this year, including the Pilot Program scholarship. The mix is the normal 1/3 male and 2/3 female. The scholarship offering process will take awhile and trustees and host families are discouraged from trying to contact their student until they are accepted by the university chosen by the club.