Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JUNE 10, 2020 Page 5 PSAI Announces 2020 Scholarship Winners For the past 16 years, the PSAI scholarship program has helped more than 100 students to advance their education through financial awards totaling $357,500. The program is open to incoming freshmen and college undergraduates who are PSAI Member company employees or the employees' immediate family members. This issue we are delighted to introduce this year's five newest scholarship winners. Like those who came before them, these five standouts have proven themselves to be worthy of PSAI's support. Three are students who won awards last year, as well. Two have earned their very first awards. History of the Program The PSAI Scholarship Program got its start in 1997. That year, the Board of Directors announced that they would begin awarding two $500 scholarships each year—one to an incoming college freshman, and the other to a current undergraduate student. Most of the criteria for applicants is the same as today, but they also required that students major in Business, Environment Studies, Waste Treatment, or a related field tied closely to portable sanitation. Between 1997 and 2003, the PSAI's Image and Education Committee selected two $500 scholarship winners each year. In 2004, the PSAI decided to overhaul the program, and began awarding up to eight scholarships per year at a minimum of $2,500 each—a total potential outlay 20 times larger than the previous year. To accommodate the expansion in the program, the PSAI had to re-invision the scholarship system. Thus, the PSAI created the current Scholarship Program. The Current Scholarship Program Since 2015, the PSAI has been offering five $5,000 awards with help from Scholarship America—the nation's largest private sector scholarship and educational support organization. This partnership was established to help manage the award process in a way that guarantees an unbiased selection process. The PSAI avoids contact with the applications and with scholarship donation funding to maintain its impartiality. The PSAI Scholarship Commission informs Scholarship America about our criteria for awards. Scholarship America receives all the applications and any donations at their office. Based on the stated criteria, staff there screen and review all the applications, and select the winners. Since the PSAI does not select the winners or collect donations, Member company's relationship with the PSAI has no bearing on the outcome of the scholarship process. Each of the five awardees earns his or her scholarship due to academic achievements and the essay submitted to Scholarship America with their scholarship application. Each scholarship winner is either an employee or the son or daughter of a full-time employee who has worked for a PSAI Member company for at least two years. All applicants must be enrolled full-time at a four-year college or university, or a two-year program offered through a college, vocational school, or technical school. Continued on page 20

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