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Southern Miss Luckyday Program Director Voted Board President for National Scholarship Providers Association
Dr. Larry A. Sparkman, director of the Luckyday Citizenship Program at The University of Southern Mississippi, has been voted President of the Board of Directors for the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA). Sparkman has been a board member for the past three years serving on various national committees.
The National Scholarship Providers Association is a nonprofit, member association that advances the collective impact of scholarship providers and the scholarships they award. It was established in 1999 by Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Fastweb.com, Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and Scholarship America to facilitate the creation of scholarship best practices, encourage professional development, and establish cooperative relationships among scholarship providers.
Today, NSPA is the only national organization dedicated solely to the needs of professionals administering scholarships in post-secondary institutions, private and community foundations, public charities, as well as corporate and government programs. NSPA’s 370-plus member organizations from the United States, Canada, and the Bahamas give more than 350,000 scholarships amounting to over $1 billion each year.
“I am humbled and excited to serve as NSPA board president,” said Sparkman, who was nominated by the board and elected by the association’s membership. “Serving in this capacity puts me in a position to advocate for students and universities on a national level with regard to policy issues, collaboration with private foundations, family foundations, community foundations and government agencies that work with student access and success in higher education.”
Sparkman notes that he is uniquely positioned to be active in this broad conversation through the support of Southern Miss, the USM Foundation and the Luckyday Foundation. “It is indeed an honor to be asked to lead in this capacity from all of these perspectives,” he said.
Duties that Sparkman will assume as board president include:
Chair all meetings
Act as a spokesperson for the membership at large
Set the agenda for board meetings
Be responsible for the enforcement of the bylaws
Appoint members of committees or authorizes other Board members to make these appointments
Act as an ex-officio, non-voting member of all committees managed by the Board
Deliver to his/her successor in office all pertinent materials for which he/she is responsible
Appoint a Governance and Nominations Committee Chair each year.
Sparkman has served as the Director of the Luckyday Foundation Citizenship Scholars Program since 2006. The program began in 2001 when the Luckyday Foundation, founded by the late Frank R. Day of Jackson, Miss., announced that it would fund 400 scholarships worth $1,600,000 annually to Southern Miss.
The foundation’s gift funds scholarships for Mississippi high school seniors who demonstrate leadership skills, who are exemplary students, who are involved in their communities, and need financial assistance to pursue a higher education at The University of Southern Mississippi.
For more information about the Luckyday Program, call 601.266.5981 or visit: https://www.usm.edu/luckyday
