First students receive Milestone Stipends

Scholarships delivered at their workplaces

 

Trine University’s first Milestone Stipend recipients received their experiential learning scholarships at a site most relevant to the funds—their workplaces.

The Trine Office of Career Services went to the workplaces of Alaina Cowgill, a senior marketing, management, and entrepreneur major, and Cody Wolfle, a junior mechanical engineering major, to present $2,500 scholarships funded by the Lilly Endowment to cover the cost of for-credit experiential learning experiences. Cowgill works for Project Help, Steuben County’s food and clothing bank, and Wolfle works for Zimmer in Warsaw, Ind., a manufacturer of prosthetics.

 

Trine senior management major Alaina Cowgill, front, works with Project Help officials as part of an experiential learning opportunity funded by the Lilly Endowment.

Cowgill applies her management skills to the maintenance of Project Help’s various charitable operations, including a resale store, community room and beauty shop. Donated clothing and furniture are sold to the public at a very reasonable price to support the organization’s programs for the underprivileged. Food donations are distributed to clients through a voucher system, and cash donations are processed and used to support the effort.

 

Junior mechanical engineering major Cody Wolfle received his Milestone Stipend at Zimmer, where he is engaged in an experiential learning opportunity.

Wolfle uses his engineering skills to take a review of prototype instruments from a lab and incorporate them into a revision of instrument concepts. “My assignment is showing me what real engineering is like,” he said. “The lab has shown me the stressful side of engineering in regard to obtaining prototypes in time and making changes to plans quickly. The lab is also a good example of my progressing responsibilities, as I was in charge of organizing the layout and instrument flow for it.”

To make internships and co-op education more affordable, Trine’s Office of Career Services offers the scholarships to full-time main campus students like Cowgill and Wolfle over the next three years. Thirty-seven scholarships of $2,500 will be awarded to eligible students to cover relocation, housing, travel, books, supplies, equipment and other living expenses associated with experiential learning opportunities arranged by Employer Outreach Coordinator David McDonald. McDonald’s position and the scholarships derive from the Lilly grant, which funds initiatives leading to employment in Indiana.

To be eligible, students must be registered for an internship of three or more credits, or a full-time co-op. The experiential learning experience must encompass at least 112 work hours with an Indiana employer located outside a 50-mile radius of the students’ permanent homes. Students must maintain a minimum 2.7 grade point average and be enrolled at Trine the session following the internship or co-op session. Scholarship recipients cannot receive a housing allowance from the employer.

The scholarships will be offered to returning Trine students all semesters each year. For application deadlines and details, contact McDonald mcdonaldd@trine.edu or 260.665.4558.