Author: Winnick, Maria

Bastow and Binnie Scholarship 2025 Information

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About the Bastow and Binnie Award in Urban Studies

The Bastow and Binnie Award in Urban Studies is a scholarship awarded to Urban & Community Studies (UCS) majors from the University of Connecticut who seek to pursue a future related to urban studies. This year’s award(s) is for $1,500.

Marc Bastow, an Urban Studies graduate, generously established this award for Urban and Community Studies students. The award(s) will be granted to students pursuing their undergraduate degree. The selection of the award will be based on academic merit, community involvement and need.

Accepting Applications as of: February 13, 2025

Deadline: Thursday, March 13, 2025 – on or before 12pm noon.

Scholarship Guidelines:

  • Students must be a declared Urban & Community Studies major.
  • Students must be enrolled full time at UConn pursuing an undergraduate degree.
  • Preference will be given to students currently in their junior year, but all UCS majors are encouraged to apply, including previous applicants.

    Application Process:

    Page 1: Fill out your personal contact and academic information.

    Page 2: Please provide thoughtful answers to the following four questions.

    • Why did you choose Urban and Community Studies as your major?
    • How has your academic merit and/or community involvement made you a stronger candidate for this scholarship?
    • What are your career plans as it relates to urban studies?
    • Please explain your financial need as well as what impact this scholarship would have on your education.

    Finally, submit your completed application electronically to maria.winnick@uconn.edu on or before this year’s deadline.

    Applicants will be sent an e-mail acknowledgement in approximately two business days, confirming that the program has received their application. The UCS major will announce the winners of the Bastow and Binnie Award before the end of April. Scholarship funds are credited toward the recipient’s Fall 2025 semester undergraduate full-time tuition bill.

    If you have any questions regarding the scholarship or run into any issues with the application, please contact Maria Winnick at maria.winnick@uconn.edu.

    Helpful Hints:

    • The application is a Microsoft Word template. In some versions of Microsoft Word, you may have to press the “Enable Editing” button on the light yellow ribbon above the document before it will allow you to fill in the application fields. Please note, this application needs to be submitted in its original format as a .dotx or as a .pdf. Do not submit your application using Google Docs.
    • Don’t forget to save a copy of your application on your computer before submitting it to our office.
    • Don’t forget to proofread your application.

    Letter from Ken Foote: Announcement of New Department Home for UCS

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    Urban and Community Studies is now part of a new Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community and Urban Studies.

    Over the last three years, our program, the Department of Geography, and the Environmental Studies Program have had very productive talks about bringing our programs together under one roof. The time seemed right to bring these programs together in ways that will strengthen all three.

    As we wrote in our proposal to the UConn Board of Trustees that was approved last week, the new department will conduct “community-engaged research and teaching on the urgent environmental, social, and geographical challenges and opportunities faced by communities around the globe in the twenty-first century. Our world class faculty address questions related to sustainability, resilience, health, and social inequities from local to global scales under the converging impacts of rapid climate change and increasing global urbanization,” and that the new department will be “deeply committed to cultivating an inclusive environment for our diverse community of faculty, staff, and students. As part of this commitment, our vision and initiatives are centered around values of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion…to identify pressing environmental and social justice issues facing societies today.”

    The creation of this new department will not alter the degree plan you are currently following in our program.  Your degree requirements are governed by the catalog year in which you declared the major or minor.

    The name of the program will change on July 1st, but the majors and minors we support will continue to be offered as you move toward graduation.

    Over the next 2-3 years the faculty and staff of the new department will work to create new course offerings, perhaps also new or revised majors, minors, and graduate programs, but these changes won’t happen immediately. For now, I just wanted to share this good news and what it shows about UConn’s commitment to our program.

    Please let me know if you have questions about these changes. I can be reached by email at ken.foote@uconn.edu

    Ken Foote, Director

    Urban and Community Studies Program