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Empire State College Selects First Morton Bahr Scholars
Empire State College of the State University of New York has selected 10 individuals to receive the first Morton Bahr Scholarships, named in honor of CWA’s president, who is an alumnus of the school.
The special “distance learning” scholarship program was first announced in March 2001. Geared to help adult workers with full-time jobs pursue college studies, the program is intended to “honor the commitment to educational opportunity and the farseeing vision of Morton Bahr,” college officials said in announcing the scholarship endowment, funded by several CWA employers.
Priority in selection is given to CWA members and their family members and domestic partners, although it is open to other workers as well.
The program was initially funded at $600,000. Initial contributions of at least $100,000 were provided by the SBC Foundation, AT&T, and Verizon Foundation, as well as by the TASK Foundation headed by Theodore Kheel. Plans call for expansion to as many as 40 scholarships when the endowment is fully funded at $1 million.
The Bahr Scholars will receive full scholarships covering tuition, fees and up to $130 for books, as part of the endowed scholarship program. They will begin studies through SUNY Empire State College’s Center for Distance Learning this fall.
Through distance learning, Bahr Scholars may reside anywhere in the world. Studies can be completed entirely over the Internet, or students can opt for a traditional correspondence approach using print materials and regular mail.
Students are assigned a faculty mentor and instructor for each course. Help is offered for using networking technologies, finding library resources, sharpening study skills and career counseling. In addition, an online Bahr Scholars Roundtable will allow students to exchange information and pursue collaborative projects.
Full tuition funding toward either two-year or four-year degrees will be continued as long as the recipients make satisfactory progress in their studies. Many students will receive a boost toward their degrees through academic credit for previous education and training.
Empire State offers a wide range of study courses in the liberal arts, including business, technology and labor studies, through its Special Studies Programs for Distance Learning.
The first Bahr Scholars are:
• Laurie Elizabeth Bailey, New York City Police Dept., CWA Local 1182. Bailey is a traffic control officer and mother who interrupted her education to raise children. Through the Morton Bahr Scholarship Program, she hopes to increase her job opportunities and chances for career advancement.
• Phong Huynh, SBC Advanced Solutions Inc., CWA Local 6222. Huynh, of Houston, Texas, progressed from electronics technician to system technician. He became interested in computers and networking, switching careers prior to emigrating to the United States from Vietnam. He says one can never stop learning.
• Bernhard W. Jonas, New York City Law Department., CWA Local 1180. Jonas, of Ozone Park, N.Y., is an office manager with the New York City Law Department. Although Jonas has 19 years of management and administrative experience, his goal for the last 12 years has been to earn a college degree. He hopes gaining a degree will open up further career opportunities.
• Kathleen E. Kicinski, US Airways, CWA Local 3640. Kicinski, of Winston-Salem, N.C., is a customer service representative with US Airways. She is a single mom with five children and is hoping to fulfill a dream of earning a degree in crime scene investigation in order to begin a community service career in law enforcement.
• Pamela C. Kirby, Sprague Library, Montclair State University, CWA Local 1031. Kirby, of North Brunswick, N.J., is a secretarial assistant II. She also serves on the President’s Commission for Affirmative Action, representing Local 1031. Immediately after high school, she studied at Virginia State University. However, working and assisting her family became a priority. She put college on hold but managed to take a few courses at Montclair State University. She looks forward to the “new and interesting approach to higher education through distance learning."
• Debora Mento, State of New Jersey Department of Labor, CWA Local 1034. Mento, of Hammonton, N.J., is a senior claims examiner. Her goal is to earn a degree in community and human services. She brings 21 credits from community college, and hopes to use her degree for career advancement.
• Mary F. Refermat, clerk typist, attendance office, Lancaster School District; member of Lancaster Association of Service Personnel, NYSUT/AFL-CIO; husband member of CWA Local IUE 326. Refermat, of Lancaster, N.Y., a mother of five who works full time, realized that she would not be able to break out of the ranks of blue-collar work without a degree. She earned a certificate of completion in labor studies from Cornell University’s Labor Studies Program. Her goal is to earn a two- or four-year degree.
• Averil Robinson, Johnson Controls, husband member of CWA Local 6222. Robinson, of Houston, Texas, is a customer services representative with Johnson Controls. Her goal is to complete a degree in labor and industrial relations, and go on to law school. She desires to “assist people in obtaining and maintaining a grounded experience in the workplace.”
• Willette Slocumb-Martin, Health and Hospitals Corp., CWA Local 1180. Slocumb-Martin, of New York City, is an assistant coordinating manager with Health and Hospital Corp. of Lincoln Hospital. She earned an associate of arts degree in marketing from Florida Junior College. She wants to balance work, family and profession, and reach her educational, as well as career goals.
• Eileen Kearney Westler, U.S. Postal Service Law Department; husband member of CWA Local 1103. Westler, of Scarsdale, N.Y., is an information systems coordinator. She began her career with the Postal Service in 1989 as a craft employee. In 1999, she was promoted to her current position after years of seeking a computer-related job. She likes her job but would like a college degree to help her advance in her field.
Empire State College is an arts and sciences college of the State University of New York, and a national leader in adult higher education, with more than 45 locations statewide. Through a combination of individualized study, flexible programming and credit earned for prior college-level learning, the college meets the educational needs of working and professional adult students. With more than 36,000 graduates since its founding in 1971, Empire State College currently enrolls over 13,000 students in its varied associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.
For further information on the Bahr Scholarship program or to request application materials, call (800) 867-5941 or e-mail Linda.Frank@esc.edu.
The special “distance learning” scholarship program was first announced in March 2001. Geared to help adult workers with full-time jobs pursue college studies, the program is intended to “honor the commitment to educational opportunity and the farseeing vision of Morton Bahr,” college officials said in announcing the scholarship endowment, funded by several CWA employers.
Priority in selection is given to CWA members and their family members and domestic partners, although it is open to other workers as well.
The program was initially funded at $600,000. Initial contributions of at least $100,000 were provided by the SBC Foundation, AT&T, and Verizon Foundation, as well as by the TASK Foundation headed by Theodore Kheel. Plans call for expansion to as many as 40 scholarships when the endowment is fully funded at $1 million.
The Bahr Scholars will receive full scholarships covering tuition, fees and up to $130 for books, as part of the endowed scholarship program. They will begin studies through SUNY Empire State College’s Center for Distance Learning this fall.
Through distance learning, Bahr Scholars may reside anywhere in the world. Studies can be completed entirely over the Internet, or students can opt for a traditional correspondence approach using print materials and regular mail.
Students are assigned a faculty mentor and instructor for each course. Help is offered for using networking technologies, finding library resources, sharpening study skills and career counseling. In addition, an online Bahr Scholars Roundtable will allow students to exchange information and pursue collaborative projects.
Full tuition funding toward either two-year or four-year degrees will be continued as long as the recipients make satisfactory progress in their studies. Many students will receive a boost toward their degrees through academic credit for previous education and training.
Empire State offers a wide range of study courses in the liberal arts, including business, technology and labor studies, through its Special Studies Programs for Distance Learning.
The first Bahr Scholars are:
• Laurie Elizabeth Bailey, New York City Police Dept., CWA Local 1182. Bailey is a traffic control officer and mother who interrupted her education to raise children. Through the Morton Bahr Scholarship Program, she hopes to increase her job opportunities and chances for career advancement.
• Phong Huynh, SBC Advanced Solutions Inc., CWA Local 6222. Huynh, of Houston, Texas, progressed from electronics technician to system technician. He became interested in computers and networking, switching careers prior to emigrating to the United States from Vietnam. He says one can never stop learning.
• Bernhard W. Jonas, New York City Law Department., CWA Local 1180. Jonas, of Ozone Park, N.Y., is an office manager with the New York City Law Department. Although Jonas has 19 years of management and administrative experience, his goal for the last 12 years has been to earn a college degree. He hopes gaining a degree will open up further career opportunities.
• Kathleen E. Kicinski, US Airways, CWA Local 3640. Kicinski, of Winston-Salem, N.C., is a customer service representative with US Airways. She is a single mom with five children and is hoping to fulfill a dream of earning a degree in crime scene investigation in order to begin a community service career in law enforcement.
• Pamela C. Kirby, Sprague Library, Montclair State University, CWA Local 1031. Kirby, of North Brunswick, N.J., is a secretarial assistant II. She also serves on the President’s Commission for Affirmative Action, representing Local 1031. Immediately after high school, she studied at Virginia State University. However, working and assisting her family became a priority. She put college on hold but managed to take a few courses at Montclair State University. She looks forward to the “new and interesting approach to higher education through distance learning."
• Debora Mento, State of New Jersey Department of Labor, CWA Local 1034. Mento, of Hammonton, N.J., is a senior claims examiner. Her goal is to earn a degree in community and human services. She brings 21 credits from community college, and hopes to use her degree for career advancement.
• Mary F. Refermat, clerk typist, attendance office, Lancaster School District; member of Lancaster Association of Service Personnel, NYSUT/AFL-CIO; husband member of CWA Local IUE 326. Refermat, of Lancaster, N.Y., a mother of five who works full time, realized that she would not be able to break out of the ranks of blue-collar work without a degree. She earned a certificate of completion in labor studies from Cornell University’s Labor Studies Program. Her goal is to earn a two- or four-year degree.
• Averil Robinson, Johnson Controls, husband member of CWA Local 6222. Robinson, of Houston, Texas, is a customer services representative with Johnson Controls. Her goal is to complete a degree in labor and industrial relations, and go on to law school. She desires to “assist people in obtaining and maintaining a grounded experience in the workplace.”
• Willette Slocumb-Martin, Health and Hospitals Corp., CWA Local 1180. Slocumb-Martin, of New York City, is an assistant coordinating manager with Health and Hospital Corp. of Lincoln Hospital. She earned an associate of arts degree in marketing from Florida Junior College. She wants to balance work, family and profession, and reach her educational, as well as career goals.
• Eileen Kearney Westler, U.S. Postal Service Law Department; husband member of CWA Local 1103. Westler, of Scarsdale, N.Y., is an information systems coordinator. She began her career with the Postal Service in 1989 as a craft employee. In 1999, she was promoted to her current position after years of seeking a computer-related job. She likes her job but would like a college degree to help her advance in her field.
Empire State College is an arts and sciences college of the State University of New York, and a national leader in adult higher education, with more than 45 locations statewide. Through a combination of individualized study, flexible programming and credit earned for prior college-level learning, the college meets the educational needs of working and professional adult students. With more than 36,000 graduates since its founding in 1971, Empire State College currently enrolls over 13,000 students in its varied associate, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.
For further information on the Bahr Scholarship program or to request application materials, call (800) 867-5941 or e-mail Linda.Frank@esc.edu.