By Vinny Reda Ten nontraditional women transfer students who show superior academic potential will have the chance to attend UAlbany full-time in order to complete four-year degrees, thanks to a $100,000, two-year grant from the Avon Products Foundation. The grant, earmarked for the Life Impact Scholarship Program of the University�s Initiatives For Women (IFW), will provide resources for tuition and other educational expenses for women transferring from regional community colleges in the years 2001–2002. Criteria for �nontraditional� status include such factors as being 25 or older, having children, and having work experience. The recipients must also have great financial need. IFW supports the aspirations and economic empowerment of women through financial awards that underwrite their academic and professional development. With the Avon grant, IFW will undertake an outreach to local community colleges — including Hudson Valley, Schenectady County and Adirondack community colleges — to identify students who would qualify for IFW scholarships. Kathleen Walas, president of the Avon Products Foundation, Inc. said, �Avon is especially pleased that the grant to UAlbany�s Life Impact program will empower women by providing direct scholarship aid for nontraditional women students, as well as allow the University to identify models that can be replicated at other institutions to help integrate mature women into four-year colleges upon completion of a two-year community college degree.� Nontraditional transfer students often lack the financial resources to attend college full-time, and prolonged part-time study sometimes results in their dropping out. The Avon grant offers them the chance to complete their degrees and, in the process, enhance their ability to compete in the marketplace. �Since transfer students comprise nearly one third of our student population, and nontraditional students are a growing percentage of that population, it is fitting that the University at Albany is now focusing greater care and resources on these students� unique challenges,� said President Karen R. Hitchcock. �The Avon grant paves the way for their success and their future economic empowerment.� In addition, noted Carol F. Bullard, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at UAlbany and chair of the IFW Steering Committee, �the data gathered in time from this program will enable us to better target our financial assistance, design our advisory services, and share key findings with our community college partners.