Scholarship Archives - SMART Union

Thirty-one of the scholarship recipients, as well as Local 219 Recording Secretary Mike Sneed, President Todd Whitlock and Business Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer Joseph Cook (right to left, to the left of the podium).

On Tuesday, July 26, SM Local 219 (Rockford, Ill.) awarded $1,500 academic scholarships to 38 local students — amounting to a total of $57,000.

“It means a lot to me, it means a lot that they were able to give out that amount of money, and I know it’s helping a lot of people — including me,” local student Brennen Cook told Rockford NBC affiliate WREX 13.

Tags Charity, community service, Local 219, Scholarship

Creighton University is developing a program to aid those who will lose their jobs in the wake of ConAgra’s recent announcement that it will slash expenses by eliminating salaried positions and relocating its global headquarters from Omaha to Chicago.

ConAgra announced Thursday that it would uproot its Omaha headquarters next year. About 1,000 people are expected to be laid off in the coming weeks.

Those who lost their jobs at Union Pacific, which announced layoffs in August, also will be eligible for the program.

Click here for more information on the scholarship being offered by Creighton University.

Read more from Omaha World-Herald.

Tags Creighton University, furloughed, Scholarship, Union Pacific, UP

The Union Plus Scholarship Program is once again offering up scholarships ranging from $500 to $4,000 to help union members and their children attend college. These one-time cash awards are for study beginning in the Fall each year and students may re-apply every year that they are enrolled in school. The deadline to apply for the 2015 scholarship is Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015, at 12 p.m. (eastern time).

Since 1992, the program has awarded more than $3.6 million to students of union families. Applicants are evaluated according to academic ability, social awareness, financial need and appreciation of labor. It is recommended that students have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

To apply, students, their parents or spouses must have been a union member for at least one year and this minimum must be satisfied by May 31, 2015. The applicant must also be accepted into a U.S. accredited college or university, community college or technical or trade school at the time the award is issued. The scholarship must be used for the 2015-2016 school year.

Scholarships will be awarded by May 31. During the first two weeks of June, award recipients will be individually notified by mail. To learn more or to apply for the scholarship, click here.

Tags AFL-CIO, Scholarship, Union Plus, Union Plus Scholarship

A Penn State alumnus has created a scholarship that will support students enrolled in the college’s rail transportation engineering (RTE) program, a groundbreaking academic initiative designed to prepare students for placement and career advancement within the rail industry.

Gerhard Thelen’s scholarship fund for Penn State Altoona will be given to a student who is a child or grandchild of a current or former employee of Norfolk Southern Corp. or Consolidated Rail Corp., organizations in which Thelen worked during his 36-year career in the rail industry.

“I have had an interesting and fulfilling career with both Conrail and Norfolk Southern, and I would like to help both students and the rail industry alike by ensuring the continued availability of qualified employees,” Thelen said. “The RTE program is exactly what the railroad industry needs to continue to grow and flourish.”