Kronos Incorporated, a global leader in workforce management, and the AME Institute have partnered to provide a new scholarship program for college students interested in pursuing careers in manufacturing. The Dr. Sherrie Ford Manufacturing as a Career Path Scholarship, which aims to support and promote manufacturing as a career path, will award $1,500 each to 15 students. In addition, a $500 signing bonus will be awarded to each recipient who successfully completes an academic program and lands a position in the manufacturing industry.
“It is difficult to remember a time when manufacturing and education shared as many headlines as they do today. In fact, the continued success of one — manufacturing — is inextricably related to the quality of the other,” said Nancy Wajler, AME director of education and training. “Thus, AME has initiated a scholarship program that creates the opportunity to inspire, support and prepare the young people who will shape and lead manufacturing in the future.”
The scholarship is named after Sherrie Ford, a prominent consultant in the field of change and lean manufacturing, who died in 2011. She dedicated her life to changing the lives of workers in plants throughout the country. An educator at Athens Technical College, in Georgia, she founded Change Partners and later was a co-owner of Power Partners, a transformer manufacturing company.
To be eligible, applicants graduate from a high school in spring 2014 or seek a college education after a period of working following high school. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, be accepted in an accredited college or trade school and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5 for the duration of the program. Throughout the program, scholarship recipients will be sponsored and mentored by an AME Board member, Champions Club member or manufacturing professional in the area.
“Today, the manufacturing profession requires increased productivity and specialized solutions,” Wajler said. “We offer not just a scholarship program but an opportunity to cultivate mentoring relationships that could create employment opportunities for the scholarship recipients.”
Scholarship funds can be used for college tuition and/or books associated with the program of study. Tuition coverage may include any or all manufacturing-related coursework and/or general education coursework mandated to complete a certificate or degree only in a manufacturing curriculum.
Those interested in applying for the scholarship can download the form . The fall term scholarship deadline is June 13. The winter/spring term scholarship deadline is Nov. 7.
