Community Involvement
Annual College Scholarship Program
The WMSALSA Annual Scholarship Program began in 1999 and is available to graduating seniors from the following high schools: Burbank, East Central, Harlandale, Highlands, John Jay, Kennedy, McCollum, Southside, Southwest and South San. The WMSALSA Board of Directors does not, nor does any Waste Management employee play a role in selecting scholarship recipients. All scholarship recipients are selected by the various high school counselors.
Who is eligible?
Students who attend any of the 9 schools are eligible to participate in the WMSALSA Annual College Scholarship Program. Each year, school counselors identify three (3) scholarship recipients at each school. WMSALSA does not specify fields of study, colleges/universities, attendance or any other restrictions for recipients. WMSALSA has no role in the decision process.
How to apply?
To be considered for the WMSALSA Annual College Scholarship, contact your school counselor for more information and to receive the WMSALSA standard application.
Distribution of Scholarship Awards:
All scholarship monies will be distributed by WMSALSA to the high school head counselor's office before the next school year begins. Counselors must provide information to WMSALSA as to the entity to which WMSALSA will distribute checks (school district, foundation, etc.).
Recipients are required to provide proof of college registration to their high school counselor's office at which time the counselor will distribute a portion of the scholarship award to cover the tuition fees. The process is repeated for each semester with proof of registration for the upcoming semester and proof of passing grades from the previous semester.
Should a recipient be unable to attend college, leaves college or cannot continue withoutinterruption (i.e. consecutive semesters, notwithstanding summer breaks) before the award amount is depleted, the remainder will be held by the high school for distribution to other past or present WMSALSA scholarship recipients.
Pooling of Scholarship Funds:
In the event a recipient does withdraw from college with an outstanding balance of funds, the unused funds shall be "pooled" by the counselor's office for distribution to other WMSALSA recipients who are still in college. It is important that the counselors communicate to the students that additional funds may be available to them as a result of the pooling process.
Progress Reports:
For purposes of tracking the students' performance and distribution of the scholarship awards, WMSALSA requires counselors to submit progress reports for each student following the completion of each semester. The progress report shall include the following information.
- Student name and college/university
- GPA
- Original amount of funds awarded and amount distributed to date
- Notice if a student withdraws and reason for withdrawal
- Remaining total funds available in the WMSALSA scholarship pool
This requirement shall be applicable for the 2006 WMSALSA Scholarships and in future years going forward. A standardized Progress Report is provided by WMSALSA.