2015 Scholarship FAQ
Schwan Scholarship Program FAQ 11 December 2014
Important enhancements have been made to the Schwan Scholarship Program.
Scholarships will be two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars. Applicants who win a scholarship but don’t demonstrate financial need will win a one-time honorarium of one thousand ($1,000) dollars instead. No more than 40 scholarships will be awarded. Students who won the scholarship in 2014 will renew at two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars.
The mission of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation is to improve the quality of life in the communities where employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company live and work by striving to end hunger, promote youth education and leadership development, and provide essential services that advance healthier communities. The Schwan Scholarship Program is intended for the children of full-time employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company. Scholarships will be awarded to recognize and encourage academic achievement to worthy students seeking post-secondary education at an accredited four-year, two-year, vocational or technical school. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation will utilize selection procedures set by Scholarship Management Services, which will be based on uniform, objective, and nondiscriminatory standards. Such criteria will include consideration of: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Past academic performance; Participation in school and community activities; Work experience; Career and educational aspirations and goals; Unusual or family circumstances; An outside appraisal from a teacher, counselor, work supervisor or other professional familiar with the applicant; and 7. Financial need. Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and selection criteria will be eligible for a two thousand five hundred ($2,500.00) dollar scholarship. Assuming students satisfy renewal criteria, scholarships in the amount of two thousand five hundred ($2,500.00) dollars will be renewable for up to three (3) additional years or the completion of an undergraduate degree, whichever comes first. In no case will scholarships be available for post-graduate education. Applicants who meet all the eligibility and selection criteria except financial need (item number 7 above) will be eligible for a one-time honorarium of one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars. This award is not renewable. In no event will an applicant, who would otherwise have been ineligible for a scholarship, be eligible for an honorarium. Both the honorarium and the scholarship may be adjusted for inflation.
Students who won new one thousand ($1,000) dollar scholarship in 2014 will renew – assuming they continue to meet eligibility guidelines outlined below – at two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars. The program run by Total Rewards for The Schwan Food Company is ending. Q. What is happening with the program run by The Schwan Food Company? A. No additional employee-related scholarships will be awarded by The Schwan Food Company or its subsidiaries. Q. What do I do if my student is in the company program? A. Students who are in the company program will remain in that program so long as they continue to meet the program’s eligibility requirements (grades, full-time status, timely communication with the scholarship administrator and continued employment of the student’s parent or grandparent by a subsidiary of The Schwan Food Company). They should continue to work with Scholarship Management Services and respond directly to them. The program from Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation Q. What are the eligibility requirements? A.
To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must be the son or daughter of a current full-time employee of a subsidiary of The Schwan Food Company. “Son” and “daughter” will be defined to include natural children, adopted children, and stepchildren who are legal dependents of an employee. A child for whom an employee of a subsidiary of The Schwan Food Company is a legal guardian will also be considered a “son” or “daughter.” The following categories of employee family members will not be eligible for scholarships: 1. The children of officers and board members of The Schwan Food Company and its subsidiaries; 2. The children of officers and directors of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation; 3. The children of subsidiary employees who hold the title of “Vice President” and above; 4. Employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company; 5. Spouses of employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company; and 6. Employees or children/spouses of employees of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation. In addition, the applicant’s parent or legal guardian must have been an employee for at least six (6) months at the end of the application deadline. Eligibility will not be related to any other employment-related factor such as the employee’s position, services, or duties.
Q. What are the expectation(s) of employees if their child receives a scholarship? A. There are no expectations. The Schwan Scholarship Program will not be used by The Schwan Food Company, its subsidiaries, Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, Scholarship Management Services, or their officers, directors or any others to recruit employees or to
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induce employees to continue their employment or otherwise follow any course of action sought by the employer. Q. Who selects scholarship winners? A. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation is contracting with Scholarship Management Services to administer the program, including the selection of recipients of the awards. Other than the contract, Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation has no connection to this administrator. The selection committee is separate from Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, The Schwan Food Company, and subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company. No member of the selection committee is a shareholder, officer, employee, or employee dependent of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, The Schwan Food Company, or its subsidiaries. Beyond verifying eligibility of applicants, no one associated with or employed by Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, The Schwan Food Company, or its subsidiaries will have any role in selecting recipients. Q. What happens if a scholarship winner’s parent(s) leave(s) the company? A. No scholarship or honorarium will be terminated because the recipient’s parent terminates employment subsequent to the awarding of the scholarship or honorarium regardless of the reason for the termination. Renewal of the scholarship (honorariums are NOT renewable) will be based solely on academic criteria defined by Scholarship Management Services including fulltime status and GPA at an accredited school. A recipient who elects to change schools will maintain eligibility for the scholarship so long as he or she maintains full-time status, GPA and continues to attend an accredited school as determined by Scholarship Management Services. Q. Is the scholarship applicant’s or winner’s course of study limited? A. No. The scholarship recipient is free to choose the course of study, change their course of study and otherwise have a free choice as to which classes and courses they will take. Recipients will have no obligation to undertake a course of study that is beneficial to subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company or Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation. Q. Does the scholarship recipient have any obligation to The Schwan Food Company, its subsidiaries or Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation? A. Beyond providing verification to Scholarship Management Services that he or she continues to meet eligibility requirements for the scholarship, the recipient has no obligation – express or implied- to The Schwan Food Company, its subsidiaries or Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation. Q. How many scholarships will be awarded? A. This award will be competitive. Under IRS regulations, no more than 25% of eligible applicants will be able receive an award. Notwithstanding the IRS rule, no more than 40 new scholarships will be awarded each year.
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Q. How will scholarship winners receive their funds? A. Scholarship Management Services will confirm the recipient’s full-time school enrollment and mail a check, payable to the school, to the recipient at the address the recipient provided in their initial application (or to any updated address provided by the recipient to Scholarship Management Services). Q. What information will Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation receive regarding scholarship winners? A. Scholarship Management Services will submit annual reports to Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation that include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Updates on the number of applications received during the application period; Verification reports to ensure recipients used the awards for educational purposes; Renewal reports; Applicant/recipient location summary; Applicant/recipient statistical summary; Program history; Program summary; and Credit reports of awards not used.
Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation will maintain all records relating to individual scholarship awards including (i) names, addresses, and amounts awarded to recipients; (ii) information obtained to evaluate scholarship and honorarium winners; (iii) the amount and purpose of each scholarship or honorarium; and (iv) information related to the supervision and investigation of the scholarships and honorariums to ensure compliance with the Internal Revenue Code. Q. What happens if a scholarship winner does not use the scholarship/stipend as planned? A. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, through Scholarship Management Services, will do the following to ensure the proper use of scholarships and honorariums awarded: 1. Receive and review scholarship and honorarium awardee reports annually; 2. Investigate diversion of funds from their intended purpose when notified by Scholarship Management Services that such a diversion may have occurred; 3. Take all reasonable and appropriate steps to recover the diverted funds and ensure other scholarship or honorarium funds held by an award winner are used for the intended purpose; 4. Withhold further payments to scholarship winners until Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation obtains the scholarship winner’s assurance that future diversions will not occur and that scholarship winner will take extraordinary precautions to prevent future diversion from occurring. Q. How will employees find out about the scholarship opportunity? A. Multiple means will be used to share the scholarship opportunity with employees.
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1. E-mails to corporate e-mail addresses. 2. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation will mail a postcard to employee homes using addresses provided by the company. 3. Cygnet article(s). 4. HR managers and generalists will be asked to share information about Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation’s scholarship program as appropriate at their facilities. 5. Scholarship winners will be notified in writing of their scholarship and their obligations by Scholarship Management Services. Q. How should students apply? What’s the web site address and when will it be available? A. The application will be made available by Scholarship Management Services on a dedicated website. The application period will begin January 5, 2015 and end March 15, 2015. The web site is: http://sms.scholarshipamerica.org/schwans It will go live on January 5, 2015.
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Important enhancements have been made to the Schwan Scholarship Program.
Scholarships will be two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars. Applicants who win a scholarship but don’t demonstrate financial need will win a one-time honorarium of one thousand ($1,000) dollars instead. No more than 40 scholarships will be awarded. Students who won the scholarship in 2014 will renew at two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars.
The mission of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation is to improve the quality of life in the communities where employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company live and work by striving to end hunger, promote youth education and leadership development, and provide essential services that advance healthier communities. The Schwan Scholarship Program is intended for the children of full-time employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company. Scholarships will be awarded to recognize and encourage academic achievement to worthy students seeking post-secondary education at an accredited four-year, two-year, vocational or technical school. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation will utilize selection procedures set by Scholarship Management Services, which will be based on uniform, objective, and nondiscriminatory standards. Such criteria will include consideration of: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Past academic performance; Participation in school and community activities; Work experience; Career and educational aspirations and goals; Unusual or family circumstances; An outside appraisal from a teacher, counselor, work supervisor or other professional familiar with the applicant; and 7. Financial need. Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and selection criteria will be eligible for a two thousand five hundred ($2,500.00) dollar scholarship. Assuming students satisfy renewal criteria, scholarships in the amount of two thousand five hundred ($2,500.00) dollars will be renewable for up to three (3) additional years or the completion of an undergraduate degree, whichever comes first. In no case will scholarships be available for post-graduate education. Applicants who meet all the eligibility and selection criteria except financial need (item number 7 above) will be eligible for a one-time honorarium of one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars. This award is not renewable. In no event will an applicant, who would otherwise have been ineligible for a scholarship, be eligible for an honorarium. Both the honorarium and the scholarship may be adjusted for inflation.
Students who won new one thousand ($1,000) dollar scholarship in 2014 will renew – assuming they continue to meet eligibility guidelines outlined below – at two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars. The program run by Total Rewards for The Schwan Food Company is ending. Q. What is happening with the program run by The Schwan Food Company? A. No additional employee-related scholarships will be awarded by The Schwan Food Company or its subsidiaries. Q. What do I do if my student is in the company program? A. Students who are in the company program will remain in that program so long as they continue to meet the program’s eligibility requirements (grades, full-time status, timely communication with the scholarship administrator and continued employment of the student’s parent or grandparent by a subsidiary of The Schwan Food Company). They should continue to work with Scholarship Management Services and respond directly to them. The program from Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation Q. What are the eligibility requirements? A.
To be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must be the son or daughter of a current full-time employee of a subsidiary of The Schwan Food Company. “Son” and “daughter” will be defined to include natural children, adopted children, and stepchildren who are legal dependents of an employee. A child for whom an employee of a subsidiary of The Schwan Food Company is a legal guardian will also be considered a “son” or “daughter.” The following categories of employee family members will not be eligible for scholarships: 1. The children of officers and board members of The Schwan Food Company and its subsidiaries; 2. The children of officers and directors of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation; 3. The children of subsidiary employees who hold the title of “Vice President” and above; 4. Employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company; 5. Spouses of employees of subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company; and 6. Employees or children/spouses of employees of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation. In addition, the applicant’s parent or legal guardian must have been an employee for at least six (6) months at the end of the application deadline. Eligibility will not be related to any other employment-related factor such as the employee’s position, services, or duties.
Q. What are the expectation(s) of employees if their child receives a scholarship? A. There are no expectations. The Schwan Scholarship Program will not be used by The Schwan Food Company, its subsidiaries, Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, Scholarship Management Services, or their officers, directors or any others to recruit employees or to
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induce employees to continue their employment or otherwise follow any course of action sought by the employer. Q. Who selects scholarship winners? A. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation is contracting with Scholarship Management Services to administer the program, including the selection of recipients of the awards. Other than the contract, Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation has no connection to this administrator. The selection committee is separate from Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, The Schwan Food Company, and subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company. No member of the selection committee is a shareholder, officer, employee, or employee dependent of Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, The Schwan Food Company, or its subsidiaries. Beyond verifying eligibility of applicants, no one associated with or employed by Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, The Schwan Food Company, or its subsidiaries will have any role in selecting recipients. Q. What happens if a scholarship winner’s parent(s) leave(s) the company? A. No scholarship or honorarium will be terminated because the recipient’s parent terminates employment subsequent to the awarding of the scholarship or honorarium regardless of the reason for the termination. Renewal of the scholarship (honorariums are NOT renewable) will be based solely on academic criteria defined by Scholarship Management Services including fulltime status and GPA at an accredited school. A recipient who elects to change schools will maintain eligibility for the scholarship so long as he or she maintains full-time status, GPA and continues to attend an accredited school as determined by Scholarship Management Services. Q. Is the scholarship applicant’s or winner’s course of study limited? A. No. The scholarship recipient is free to choose the course of study, change their course of study and otherwise have a free choice as to which classes and courses they will take. Recipients will have no obligation to undertake a course of study that is beneficial to subsidiaries of The Schwan Food Company or Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation. Q. Does the scholarship recipient have any obligation to The Schwan Food Company, its subsidiaries or Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation? A. Beyond providing verification to Scholarship Management Services that he or she continues to meet eligibility requirements for the scholarship, the recipient has no obligation – express or implied- to The Schwan Food Company, its subsidiaries or Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation. Q. How many scholarships will be awarded? A. This award will be competitive. Under IRS regulations, no more than 25% of eligible applicants will be able receive an award. Notwithstanding the IRS rule, no more than 40 new scholarships will be awarded each year.
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Q. How will scholarship winners receive their funds? A. Scholarship Management Services will confirm the recipient’s full-time school enrollment and mail a check, payable to the school, to the recipient at the address the recipient provided in their initial application (or to any updated address provided by the recipient to Scholarship Management Services). Q. What information will Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation receive regarding scholarship winners? A. Scholarship Management Services will submit annual reports to Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation that include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Updates on the number of applications received during the application period; Verification reports to ensure recipients used the awards for educational purposes; Renewal reports; Applicant/recipient location summary; Applicant/recipient statistical summary; Program history; Program summary; and Credit reports of awards not used.
Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation will maintain all records relating to individual scholarship awards including (i) names, addresses, and amounts awarded to recipients; (ii) information obtained to evaluate scholarship and honorarium winners; (iii) the amount and purpose of each scholarship or honorarium; and (iv) information related to the supervision and investigation of the scholarships and honorariums to ensure compliance with the Internal Revenue Code. Q. What happens if a scholarship winner does not use the scholarship/stipend as planned? A. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation, through Scholarship Management Services, will do the following to ensure the proper use of scholarships and honorariums awarded: 1. Receive and review scholarship and honorarium awardee reports annually; 2. Investigate diversion of funds from their intended purpose when notified by Scholarship Management Services that such a diversion may have occurred; 3. Take all reasonable and appropriate steps to recover the diverted funds and ensure other scholarship or honorarium funds held by an award winner are used for the intended purpose; 4. Withhold further payments to scholarship winners until Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation obtains the scholarship winner’s assurance that future diversions will not occur and that scholarship winner will take extraordinary precautions to prevent future diversion from occurring. Q. How will employees find out about the scholarship opportunity? A. Multiple means will be used to share the scholarship opportunity with employees.
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1. E-mails to corporate e-mail addresses. 2. Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation will mail a postcard to employee homes using addresses provided by the company. 3. Cygnet article(s). 4. HR managers and generalists will be asked to share information about Schwan’s Corporate Giving Foundation’s scholarship program as appropriate at their facilities. 5. Scholarship winners will be notified in writing of their scholarship and their obligations by Scholarship Management Services. Q. How should students apply? What’s the web site address and when will it be available? A. The application will be made available by Scholarship Management Services on a dedicated website. The application period will begin January 5, 2015 and end March 15, 2015. The web site is: http://sms.scholarshipamerica.org/schwans It will go live on January 5, 2015.
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