At the Nov. 1, 2016, Union County College Board of Trustees Reorganization Meeting, Gianella Salinas was nominated to serve as the Student Representative to the Board. She will serve as a nonvoting member of the Board of Trustees for the term of one year. Ms. Salinas is a May 2016 graduate of the College and is from Elizabeth.

Ms. Salinas is currently studying psychology at Rutgers University-Newark. She graduated from Union with an Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts and graduated with high honors with a cumulative 3.9 grade point average. She was an American Honors student; served as Vice President and Secretary for the American Honors Council; and was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, the two-year international community college honor society.

Vic Richel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees said, “I am very happy to have Gianella join the Board as the Student Representative. As a recent graduate of the College, she will bring the student perspective to issues before the Board.”

In addition to achieving excellent grades at Union, she worked as a tutor in the Academic Learning Center in English, History, Psychology, and Spanish. She also is the recipient of the American Honors Scholarship, the Legacy Scholarship, and the Kellogg Scholarship from the Union County College Foundation.

Student Chosen as 2016 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar

Union County College student and Phi Theta Kappa member, Jason Stefanik, of Union, has been selected as a 2016 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar. The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise scholarship program provides new Phi Theta Kappa members with financial resources to help defray educational expenses while enrolled in a two-year college to develop leadership potential through participation in Phi Theta Kappa programs. Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society for two-year colleges. This year’s recipients were selected by a panel of independent judges from more than 1,100 applicants. Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholars are selected based on outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership.

The Leaders of Promise Scholarship is sponsored by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. This Program awards 200 scholars with scholarships of $1,000 each, totaling $200,000. Twenty-five of the additional scholarships, a total of $25,000, are earmarked for Society members who are active personnel or veterans of the U.S. Military. J. Mark Davis, President of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, said their organization feels strongly about supporting engaged community college students, and active-duty service members and veterans in their educational quest.

The Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program was launched by Phi Theta Kappa International Officers in 2001. The program is part of the Society’s long-range plan, The Alpha Project, to provide scholarships to new Phi Theta Kappa members to assist in their obtaining an associate degree, and encourage participation in Society programs. This is the first scholarship program available to members to be used during the time they are enrolled in their community colleges. Today, the Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship is more relevant than ever as Phi Theta Kappa, colleges, and communities are actively encouraging completion of an associate degree or certificate, among students enrolled in community college.