Future generations of deserving students who want to study engineering at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC) will soon be able to reap the benefits of a newly endowed scholarship fund.
Thanks to a $50,000 gift from Columbus residents Tom and Christine (Tina) Vujovich, which has been matched by a $50,000 gift from the Community Education Coalition, a $100,000 total endowment for IUPUC engineering students has been established.
Preference for the Vujovich Scholarship in Engineering will be given to women who live in Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland counties.
“Tina and I believe that a quality education leads to opportunity and success in life,” said Tom Vujovich of why the couple made the gift. “For many students, especially in south central Indiana, access to a quality education is limited. Our hope is that this support will enable talented individuals to both elevate their level of educational attainment and pursue their dreams of an engineering career.”
Vujovich noted that he hopes the endowment will inspire others to support IUPUC students as they work toward earning degrees in other fields. “We can think of no better way to benefit the community than to help educate the next generation of young professionals who will become future business and civic leaders. We also feel it’s especially important to encourage women to enter the engineering field,” he said, adding the couple is “encouraged that IUPUC and CEC are working in collaboration to identify opportunities for other academic programs that directly meet local employment needs in our market.”
John Burnett, president and CEO of the Community Education Coalition (CEC), said the matching support was donated to the university because an engineering program in Columbus “greatly enhances our ability to help young people throughout the area become educated in a well-paying profession.”
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, there are more mechanical engineers per 1,000 workers in Columbus (22) than in any other metropolitan area in the U.S.
“Graduates of IUPUC’s mechanical engineering program will find they are highly employable,” Burnett reported. “Companies throughout the area—including Cummins, Toyota, NTN, Enkei, Honda, and others—employ thousands of mechanical engineers. They engage in national and international employment searches to find them because there aren’t enough professional engineers among the local workforce to meet the demand.”
Dr. Marwan Wafa, vice chancellor and dean at IUPUC, noted that although IUPUC currently offers just one engineering program (the Purdue University Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering or BSME degree), “We hope, in time, to offer courses in other engineering disciplines and that new degree programs will eventually come to fruition in Columbus,” he said.
The endowment will fund a single annual scholarship award of $5,000, which will be renewable each year for a total of four years if recipients maintain a strong GPA and good academic standing. The first full award of $5,000 will be made in January of 2013, although a partial award may be made as early as August of 2012.
Wafa added that the university and donors plan to seek internship opportunities for future scholarship recipients at top advanced manufacturing operations, such Cummins Inc. and others, throughout the region. He advocates that IUPUC graduates need to experience real-world work environments and participate as contributing team members in a professional setting before graduation.
“We express our sincere thanks and gratitude to both the Vujovich family and the Community Education Coalition for this tremendous support,” Wafa said. “Having a scholarship endowed in perpetuity for future generations of engineers is a wonderful gift that will yield many benefits, both for IUPUC students and for Hoosiers who live and work throughout south central Indiana.”
For more information about IUPUC’s mechanical engineering program, visit www.iupuc.edu.