All scholarship applicants shall submit an application, which shall include:

• A biographical record and supporting material,
• A personal essay from the applicant and the conclusions that the selection committee might draw from a personal interview as to the individual’s motivation, character, ability, and potential.
• At least one letter of recommendation from an instructor, teacher or administrator from the High School or business leader of your community
• Grade transcripts, and special awards.
• Unless specified otherwise, applicant must include relative financial need.
• Application for funding must be made in writing and must include each recipient’s name, home address, telephone number, institution that the students will attend, institutional address to which scholarship checks should be sent, and tuition amount for the first and second year of study.
• Recipient must maintain a minimum grade of C+.
• Upon graduation, you will be required to work within your field of study within the state of Ohio for a period of not less than four (4) years. Those who do not meet this criteria will be subject to repayment of part of all of the scholarship funds. More can be found within the "Diploma to Work" section.
• The Foundation shall have ultimate approval authority over all application forms used by Scholarship Funds established at the Foundation, in order to ensure consistency and continuity in administration of scholarship awards.

Each applicant must be ranked according to stated selection criteria. The selection criteria must also be reasonably related to the purposes of the grant. Criteria may include, but need not be limited to: prior academic performance, performance on tests designed to measure ability and aptitude for college work, financial need. The Foundation retains the right to alter the criteria of a scholarship to meet any regulatory requirements consistent with the charitable objectives of scholarship funds and to uphold the donor’s intent.

Application Procedures
A uniform, consolidated application form is required for all scholarship funds unless special circumstances (as determined by staff) merit use of a separate form. Application forms will be provided on this website for download and submittal for consideration.

Applications with accompanying documentation will be reviewed by an independent committee who shall serve as an advisory committee which shall be managed by the Foundation.

The selection process for all Foundation scholarship grants, awards, and prizes must be objective, non-discriminatory and meet the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of section 4945 of the IRS. This includes scholarship grants to students to attend various educational programs and to other individuals for vocational or other training; or, as was as for individual achievement awards; or, awards and prizes to achieve a specific objective.

The group from which grantees are selected shall be chosen on the basis of criteria reasonably related to the purposes of the grant or award. No donor or related party may receive a scholarship or award from the fund. The group must be sufficiently broad so the making of grants to members of the group will be considered as furthering a charitable purpose and not merely benefiting private interests. The potential applicants must be “indefinite.” Selection of a recipient within the group must be objective and nondiscriminatory.

Documentation of the use of selection criteria, relative ranking of each applicant, and the total number of applications received by the committee must be reported to the Foundation. The Foundation retains the right to alter the criteria of a scholarship to meet any regulatory requirements consistent with the charitable objectives of scholarship funds and to uphold the donor’s intent.

Unless specified otherwise in the fund agreement, advisory committees must include relative financial need of applicants. Recommendations on award recipients must be made to the Foundation in writing and must include each recipient’s name, home address, telephone number, institution that the students will attend, institutional address to which scholarship checks should be sent, and scholarship amount.

Foundation Approval of Recipients

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees will give careful and thoughtful consideration to the recommendations of all advisory committees. Donors and committee members should understand that their recommendations are advisory and will not be binding on the Board of Trustees, which by law must retain final responsibility for all distributions made from the Foundation.

The names of scholarship funds, as well as all component funds, are listed in reports periodically published such as the annual report or report to the region about its services to donors and to community, its grant making activities. Unless they request anonymity, all donors to funds are listed in the year the gift was made. As is true of all funds of the Foundation, scholarship funds are considered components of the Foundation. They are subject to the terms and conditions of the Foundation’s Articles of Incorporation

Time Period For Accepting Grants And Awards

Shortly after the recipient has been selected, the Foundation staff will officially contact and notify the recipient of the award in writing. After the recipient has been selected and contacted, the intended recipient must respond within a time period deemed appropriate by the Foundation to accept the award and must meet the required criteria to spend the award within a 12 month period from the date of the initial award, or it will remain in the fund endowment.

Scholarship grants and awards may be deferred up to one year from the date of the initial award at the written request of the recipient and upon approval of the Foundation staff and any appropriate Foundation committees.

If the selected recipient cannot or does not accept the grant award, it may be awarded to a designated alternate within this time period at the discretion of the Foundation staff and appropriate Foundation committees.

Acceptance periods for individual achievement grants, and awards and prizes to achieve a specific objective will be set on a frame as deemed appropriate by staff and/or appropriate committees.

Payment and Reporting Procedures

Once recipients are selected, an award letter outlining the amount of the grant, the purpose for which it may be used; proof of enrollment, and/or other requirements that must be met before receiving the award is sent to each recipient by the Foundation. Other forms may include a scholarship payment form for the student to submit to receive payment of the scholarship. Checks will be made out directly to the recipient’s institution of post-secondary education where they have been accepted as students.

Upon completion of the undertaking for which the grant was made, the grantee is requested to submit a final report, transcript or other verification describing the grantee’s accomplishments with the grant and accounting for the funds received under the grant, as deemed appropriate by the Foundation.

The Foundation shall send scholarship checks directly to the educational institution selected by the recipient which he or she shall attend, and shall instruct the institution to deposit the check into the recipient’s school account upon verification of the student’s enrollment status.

Individual achievement grants cannot require a particular use of the funds, and no report shall be required of the recipient.

Recipients of awards and prizes to achieve a specific objective, or if appropriate, the organization supervising the grantee’s work, will be required to provide a written report to the Foundation about their activities and use of the funds at the end of the grant period. Any funds not expended for the purpose of the award must be returned to the Foundation’s fund that such award was made.

Withdrawals, Transfers And Unused Funds

It is the policy of the Foundation to require the educational institutions that have received funds on behalf of the scholarship recipients to return unused funds to the Foundation if the student transfers, withdraws, or otherwise ceases to be enrolled at the institution, or if the funds cannot be used on behalf of the student for academic purposes. The Foundation does not issue scholarship grants directly to students; and, the Foundation does not intend that scholarship grants be made available directly to students.

Withdrawals/Transfers - If the recipient withdraws and transfers to another educational institution, the award balance may be reissued provided it is received back from the educational institution and that the recipient submits a written request to the Foundation. A copy of the current acceptance letter and current tuition bill or class schedule from the new educational institution must be included with the written request. If the scholarship criteria stipulate attendance at a specific educational institution, but the recipient elects to attend a different educational institution, the award cannot be reissued. The scholarship recipient is responsible to alert the Foundation of his/her transfer and for taking the necessary steps to ensure that the educational institution returns the award balance to the Foundation.

If the scholarship recipient withdraws from school during his/her first year for purposes other than disciplinary or academic reasons and does not enroll in another educational institution during the same academic year, the award balance returned by the educational institution may be held for up to one year from the date of the initial award provided the recipient submits a written request to the Foundation requesting deferment of the award. If no request is made, the refunded amount will be returned to the fund endowment. If the scholarship criteria stipulate attendance at a specific educational institution but the recipient elects to attend a different educational institution after deferment, the award balance cannot be reissued.

If the recipient withdraws from school for disciplinary or academic reasons, further entitlement to the award will be evaluated on individual merit provided the recipient submits a written request to the Foundation within three months of his/her withdrawal. Staff, along with any appropriate committees, will make a determination to approve or deny the request based upon their evaluation of the facts and circumstances presented.

Returning Unused Funds -The educational institution is responsible for refunding any award balance to the Foundation; however, if a recipient receives a refund from his/her education institution resulting from the Foundation scholarship, the student is expected to return that amount to the Foundation.