FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — More and more universities are seeking ways to determine the wider usefulness of what students are learning and then to expand that learning by putting that knowledge to work in the community. This is especially true for students who are competing for the highly competitive national awards, such as a Rhodes or Marshall scholarship.

Suzanne McCray, associate dean of the Honors College at the University of Arkansas, has just edited a collection of essays, Nationally Competitive Scholarships: Serving Students and the Public Good, published by the University of Arkansas Press (paperback, $14.95), which explores this topic in depth. McCray says that many of these “scholarships do not require or even specifically inquire about service, but they repeatedly select students who have made special contributions beyond the classroom.”

Nationally competitive scholarship programs attract thousands of applicants every year for a relatively small number of awards. Providing informed and dedicated support to applicants is the critical and fundamental goal of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors. The essays in this book are a direct result of the 2005 NAFA conference held in Louisville, Ky. The contributors include both scholarship advisors and representatives of the Truman and Marshall foundations as well as the former executive director of the U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission.

The authors seek to provide practical information ranging from helping faculty write persuasive letters of recommendation to serving international students effectively to negotiating the British and Irish high-educational systems. In addition to providing the students with useful tips, these essays also reflect on the broader impact of the application process. They address the successes of students who do not win as well as the public-service involvement of those who do as they give back to their campus, local, and global communities.

In her foreword to the book, Beth Powers, current president of NAFA, writes that when she meets “intelligent students with ambitious goals and work(s) with them through application processes, I am reminded that our work can help reinforce student commitment to contributing to the public good as they continue their education and eventually embrace careers.”

McCray is associate dean of the Honors College, director of the Office of Post-Graduate Fellowships at the University of Arkansas, and a past president and vice-president of the National Association of Fellowships Advisors.