Minutes of Scholarship Committee Meeting
February 26, 2009
S-221
3:30 pm- 5:10 pm
In attendance:
MaryPat Takacs, Sarah Acunzo, Ellie Buitron, Chris Haney, Linda Puleo, Kathy Burger, Elisa
Mancuso and Eleanor McCormick.

Committee members, Kevin Reilly, Sarah Acunzo, Ellie Buitron, Ken Wishnia and
Eleanor McCormick, were recognized for the presentation of the Grant Campus
Scholarship Awards Ceremony on Feb. 17, 2009. The ceremony went very well.

MaryPat Takacs updated the Committee on the final scholarships awarded to the students
for the Spring 2009 semester. There had been confusion about the Frank Pullara
Scholarship, the Harold & Louise Perkal Scholarship, the Nursing Club Scholarship and
the Sean Coffey Scholarship.

The minutes of the meeting on Jan. 17, 2009 were approved. The minutes of the meeting
on Jan. 22, 2009 were amended to include the winner of the Sean Coffey scholarship,
Regina Ruiz, and the 3 Nursing Club Scholarship winners, Regina Ruiz, Janice Nolan
and Ed Paradiso. The amended minutes for Jan. 22 were approved.
A. Problems and Solutions to the Scholarship Application Process.
1. The Committee voted unanimously to change the application deadline from Dec.
15 to Dec. 1. Because the issue impacts the other campuses, MaryPat Takacs will
follow up with a meeting with Dean Meryl Rogers.
2. Missing letters of recommendation are the student’s responsibility. Students
should be instructed when they receive the booklet and application to read all
directions carefully and to confirm that letters of recommendation have been
written and received. If a faculty member needs to document participation in a
campus activity, clinical skills etc., the student is responsible for providing the
specific requirements to the faculty member at least 2 weeks in advance of the
deadline.
3. It is the student’s responsibility to clearly state in a personal statement how they
meet the requirements for each scholarship, such as age, credits in major, personal
circumstances, community activities etc.
4. Ellie Buitron volunteered to prepare a spreadsheet for applications due on April
15, 2009. Linda Puleo will request that a script be prepared to upload grades and
the cumulative GPA on to spreadsheet. If necessary, Linda will print out the
transcript for each applicant so they can be uploaded by hand again. The
Committee agreed to meet again on Friday, May 8 at 10 am to compare
applications with the requirements for each scholarship. The final meeting
of the year was scheduled for Friday, June 5 at 10 am to decide the winners.
Elisa Mancuso will represent the Grant Campus on the College-Wide Scholarship
Committee. MaryPat Takacs will represent the Grant Campus on the Get There
From Here Scholarship Committee.
Linda Puleo volunteered to make a list of clerical tasks to be completed for each
scholarship review cycle. The Committee requested that the Office of Student
Services separate scholarship applications by the title of the scholarship, not the
name of the applicant.
A Committee Coordinator for the Scholarship Review Process for applications
due in on April 15, 2009 is still needed.
5. Spreadsheet:
For each scholarship, the spreadsheet should include the student name and
identification number, as well as the date when the application was received in the
Office of Student Services.
A checklist / cover sheet should be given to students who request a paper
application or scholarship booklet. The coversheet should outline the items to
include in the application and the applicable deadlines.
The spreadsheet should include all the specific criteria for each scholarship.
B. Update on the Sean Coffey Scholarship:
After the meeting on Jan. 22, 2009, John Pryputniewicz offered to investigate how the
requirement to be a full time third semester student in nursing could be adjusted to
include the actual enrollment status of students enrolled during the day. After much
discussion with Financial Aid and the SCC Foundation, the criteria were changed and a
winner was selected.
C. Kathy Burger and Elisa Mancuso will follow up to determine who is responsible for
scholarships for nursing students. The scholarships in question were the Nursing Club
and the Nursing Pin. It was noted that the Reckenbeil scholarship is now open to
applications college-wide.
D. Sarah Acunzo volunteered to be the Coordinator of the Spring 2009 Book Sale. Eleanor
McCormick volunteered to work an extra week selling books and possibly eliminate the
Mums Sale in the Fall 2009. The Committee agreed to support Eleanor for whichever
fundraiser she would like to run. The tentative dates for the Book Sale- subject to
administrative approval- are April 27-30 in Sagtikos and sometime between April 31 and
May 7 in the HSEC building.
E. Topics to be discussed at the March meeting with Dean Meryl Rogers:
1. Change the application Deadline to Dec. 1
2. Arrange for a “script” to be written to upload grades from Banner.
The Next Meetings are scheduled for May 8, 2009 at 10 am and June 5, 2009 at 10 am.
Notification about a location will be forthcoming.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:10 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
MaryPat Takacs, Chair