This scholarship was established through the Casper Wenninger Feline Welfare Fund of the Portage Foundation for the educational benefit of individuals seeking careers in veterinary services, either as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or as a Certified Veterinary Technician.
While the number of scholarships offered yearly may vary along with the amount, the minimum scholarship award will be $2,500.
Eligibility
- Completion of online application during the Portage Foundation’s regular application process open from January 1 – March 1
- Eligibility requirements:
- Be a current graduating HS senior or have received a HS diploma while a resident of Portage County, Ohio;
- OR demonstrate a meaningful tie to Portage County, such as those who attend(ed) college/university/tech school in the county;
- OR currently working in the animal care industry (vet clinic, animal shelter, etc.) in Portage County and looking to further their education;
- AND currently enrolled in OR planning to register with an American Veterinary Medical Association accredited program for Veterinary Medicine or Veterinary Technology within the United States during the next academic calendar year. [Note: scholarship funds are sent to the program directly for student tuition and fees]
Previous recipient of scholarship award in good standing within an AVMA accredited program may complete subsequent annual application for selection of additional award.
Criteria
- Completion of online application during the Portage Foundation’s regular application process open from January 1 – March 1
- Submission of brief (250-500 word) essay stating why you have chosen a career in veterinary services
- One letter of recommendation from current teacher/professor/professional contact
About Cheryl Casper
Cheryl Casper (nee, Brown) graduated from Euclid Senior High School in 1965. Awarded significant advanced placement, Cheryl entered College as a sophomore and earned full scholarships and fellowships so that she was able to complete her education at Case Western Reserve University: B.A. History and Economics with Honors in History, cum laude (1968); M.A. Economics (1970); Ph.D. in Economics (1975).
She had a long and successful career at Kent State University, starting as an Assistant Professor of Economics in 1973. Cheryl had not anticipated becoming a University faculty member but Karl, her husband at the time, had convinced her of the merits of this career path. She had usually been the only woman in her Economics classes at CWRU but had generally had the top grades in her courses. Yet, she struggled to find a full time faculty position and, while looking for one, was told by at least one academic department head that they already had their token woman. However, luck emerged when Kent State got a late faculty authorization to hire and her dissertation advisor was a class mate of the then Economics department chair.
Cheryl completed her dissertation in the Economics of Information in 1976. It had been a challenging and nontraditional dissertation on the demand for information but it culminated a few years later in Cheryl being awarded one of the first National Science Foundation grants to the College of Business Administration at KSU in 1977. She was subsequently promoted and tenured as an Associate Professor of Economics in 1979. After tenure and promotion, Cheryl decided to try academic administration. She served as Assistant Dean of the College of Administration (1979-81); Acting Dean of the College of Business Administration and Graduate of Management (1981-1982). In 1982, she joined the office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, initially serving as Assistant Vice President but eventually becoming the senior Associate Provost with primary responsibilities for academic panning, staffing and budgeting.
In 1996, she returned to the faculty but was soon recruited to run for chair of Faculty Senate. She served two one-year terms as Senate Chair (1998-2000) and then was recruited to become Chief Negotiator for the Kent State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. She subsequently became the KSU AAUP Chapter President (2002- 2006), served on the Ohio AAUP Board (2002-2008), and the National Council of AAUP in Washington (2002-2008). She negotiated two faculty contracts at Kent State University and assisted in the establishment of AAUP chapters at Akron University and Bowling State University.
While she had continued to serve as an at-large faculty representative on the Faculty Senate while AAUP Chapter president, two years prior to her retirement from Kent State she returned to serve two more one-year terms as Faculty Senate Chair (2006-2008) and assist in the transition of University administrations from Carol Cartwright to Lester Lefton. She retired from Kent State in 2008.
