WildCats Supporting WildCats

WildCats Supporting WildCats is a way for students, staff, and faculty to support students who are experiencing emergencies that may impact their overall well-being and ability to be successful in college.

Provided below is information on the WildCat Emergency Microgrants program and the Randolph College Food Pantry facilitated by the Community Fellows and supported by Parkview Community Mission.

WildCat Emergency Microgrants

The WildCat Emergency Microgrants program is designed to provide assistance to students experiencing immediate financial hardships resulting from emergency situations such as accidents, illness or death of a family member, fire damage, or other unexpected critical incident. This fund is meant to promote goodwill among students and the broader campus community by providing awards to students in one-time increments (typically $500 or less) based on need. This funding is not intended to reimburse for expenses that have already been paid, to replace or supplement existing financial aid, or to serve as a debt diversion program.

Please note that students are expected to exhaust all other available resources (payment plans, additional aid, assistance from family/friends, other personal resources) prior to submitting a microgrant fund request. If you have a financial aid question, please contact the Financial Aid Office, financialaid@randolphcollege.edu or 434-947-8128.

Only currently enrolled students qualify to receive this award, and grants are only available once per academic year. As this is not a loan, students are not expected to repay any award they qualify to receive. This fund will not provide ongoing relief for recurring expenses.  An Emergency Fund Committee, made up of staff members from the Dean of Students Office, Business Office, and Financial Aid Office, reviews the submitted applications and determines the appropriate funding amount.

Examples of expenses generally covered:

• Assistance due to loss of employment
• Emergency medical expenses (cannot cover outstanding balances)
• Bereavement travel
• Safety needs (changing of locks, temporary housing changes)
• Food/groceries
• Child care
• Personal automobile/travel (when needed for classes and/or internship)requirements
• Other emergency or unforeseen circumstances

Examples of expenses the Microgrants do NOT cover:

• Tuition and fees
• Anything that would show up on your College bill/tuition account
• Tickets/fines
• Credit card bills
• Non-essential utilities
• Regularly anticipated fixed expenses
• Non-emergency travel
• Entertainment and recreation

Students must be able to provide sufficient documentation of financial need (e.g. billing statements, receipts, repair estimates, etc.).

Apply Here

If you have questions about the Emergency Microgrant program or application process, contact Donna Burckhard in the Office of the Dean of Students at dburckhard@randolphcollege.edu or 434.947.8895.

Application Process

A student can be considered for an Emergency Microgrant by filling out an online application. The online application is confidential but does require disclosure for verification of information. For questions about the process, email dburckhard@randolphcollege.edu.

Applications are reviewed weekly by a team with members from the Dean of Students Office, Business Office, and Financial Aid Office. The decision of the awarding of the grants will happen on a rolling basis. If students have a firm date for needed assistance, they should include that in the application. If the application is approved, the student will receive an email to Randolph account.

Awarded students will have the money deposited in their bank account. If they do not have direct deposit, they should sign up at the time of application (EFT authorization form). If students do not have a bank account, talk with the DOS contact above to explore other options. Payments by direct deposit are processed no later than the Friday following the approved request and receipt of a Form W-9 from the student.

International Students: 14% of the awarded amount may be deducted for income tax withholding. Assessment is based on the student’s residency status for tax purposes and provisions of any tax treaty between the U.S. and the student’s country of residence.

Food Pantry

The food pantry is located in Moore Hall Room 107.  Please be aware that the Food Pantry is stocked through an agreement with Parkview Community Mission and is typically restocked every Thursday afternoon.

In order to make sure that we are maintaining an adequate inventory, please ensure the following whenever you use the food pantry:

1. Remember that the amount we receive from Parkview is proportional to what the logbook in the Food Pantry says has been utilized.  If the logbook is not filled out every time someone uses the pantry, it can impact the amount of food that we receive.  Please make sure to fill out the logbook if you use the pantry
2. The Food Pantry is available to our entire campus community including students, faculty, and staff and is intended to combat food insecurity across all these constituencies.  Please remember that you should only take what you need in order to ensure that we are able to spread our resources as far as possible to the members of our campus community who need it the most.
3. The Food Pantry is open to all students, faculty, and staff 24/7 and is completely anonymous but we do need an accurate record of how many members of our campus community access the pantry.

Please reach out to the Dean of Students Office if you have any questions, comments, or concerns and Go WildCats!