MURA endowed scholarship and prize

In May 2007, MURA and McMaster University signed an agreement to establish an endowment fund to provide ongoing funding for the academic awards that had been supported by the Association since 1991.

The current awards are:

• The McMaster University Retirees Association In-Course Scholarship, given to to a full-time student enrolled in Level 2 or above of a program in Aging and Society, and
• The McMaster University Retirees Association Graduand Prize, given to students graduating from a program in Aging and Society

The in-course Scholarship is presented at Fall Convocation. The graduand award is given at the end of the academic year. The recipients are recognized and honoured at the MURA Holiday Lunch.

History of the Awards

In 1991, MURA decided to give a $300 annual scholarship to a full-time gerontology student starting in fiscal year 1992/93. In 1992, MURA established a $100 annual prize for a part-time gerontology student. The amounts were later increased to a $1,000 scholarship and a $250 prize. These original awards were funded from MURA's operating budget.

In 2005-2006 MURA no longer had to ask for voluntary membership fees since we were able to negotiate with the McMaster University Faculty Association, the McMaster Staff Association (now Unifor Local 5555) and the University President's Office for financial support of the MURA budget. We have since been able to renew these funding agreements, making us among the better financially supported retiree associations in Canada.

In lieu of membership fees, MURA started a campaign to raise money for an academic awards endowment fund, with great success. The original fundraising goal of $32,000 was met by the fall of 2009, which permanently endowed the $1,000 scholarship and $250 prize. By 2012, a new funding goal of $50,000 had been reached, increasing the scholarship to $1,250 and the prize to $350.

In order to increase the amounts further – the scholarship to $2,000 and the prize to $550 - we upped our goal to $64,000. We not only reached that, but surpassed it, so that by August 2015 the fund stood at $69,000.

In 2018, the terms of the awards were changed to reflect the incorporation of gerontological studies into the new department of Health, Aging and Society.

In the spring of 2019, the part-time student prize was changed to a graduand award, available to both full and part-time students.

MURA’s most recent fundraising goal of $85,000 was reached in December 2018. With this goal reached and the availability of a one-time fund surplus, the graduand prize increased to $750 as of May 2019. The scholarship amount increased to $2,500 as of fall 2019.

New academic awards initiative

MURA’s new academic awards initiative will provide a $1,000 annual scholarship to a graduate student researching technological advances related to seniors. The goal is to establish a $25,000 endowed fund to support this scholarship as soon as possible.

The fundraising drive was launched in November of 2020. As of January 2021 the fund had already reached $9,850, thanks to the retirees and friends of MURA who made year-end gifts.

Support the Awards

As the fund continues to grow, we will be able to continue to increase the amount of the scholarship and prize to help keep up with the rising cost of education.

Donations from MURA members and friends continue to be welcome and encouraged on a continuing basis. Extra funding will enable MURA to increase the value of our annual scholarship and prize.