Each year our NC Endowment Fund offers thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants to deserving students and educators.
Pardon our Progress!
Our scholarship program is currently undergoing a reimagination by our NC Safewater Endowment Committee. In 2025 we hope to bring bigger and better options for our students and educators.
The One AWWA Operator Scholarship is being offered in 2024 and can be used by operations professionals to be used for education, certification or professional development purposes.
Are you a college or graduate student pursuing a career in the water industry or the water environment? Are you attending a college or university in North Carolina?
Apply for scholarships available for engineering, water studies, environmental disciplines, and other water-related fields such as construction, architecture, environmental finance, management, and technology.
Scholarships range from $1,000 - $3,000 for the 2023-24 academic year. Students may apply for and receive multiple scholarships as determined by our Scholarship Selection Committee. See full scholarship requirements below.
Student must be pursuing a degree in environmental sciences or environmental education at a community college in
North Carolina during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Student must have a minimum GPA of 2.75.
Student must be a US citizen.
The scholarship will be awarded for one year only. A recipient is eligible to apply for the scholarship for each subsequent year until they graduate.
Student must be a rising junior in an ABET accredited engineering curriculum at any of the Campuses of the UNC system in the 2023-2024 academic year maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Scholarship may be renewed through two years of post-graduate degree study as long as the student maintains a GPA greater than or equal to 3.0.
Student must reside in any of the 35 counties located northeast of the following NC counties, inclusive: Warren, Franklin, Wake, Johnston, Wayne, Duplin, Pender, and New Hanover.
Student must be a US citizen.
The Environmental Manufacturer’s Representative Scholarship Fund Scholarship FULL SCHOLARSHIP DETAILS HERE APPLY HERE
Student must be studying engineering with a concentration in the water/wastewater environment at one of the UNC campuses during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Candidates for scholarships shall be required to show interest in the Manufacturer’s Representative role in the water industry by requiring them to visit with a NC Manufacturer’s Rep firm for one 8-hour day and demonstrate an interest in environmental sales and marketing by taking electives in that area and/or performing an internship with a Manufacturer’s Rep Firm in their Junior and/or Senior year.
Student must maintain a GPA of 2.75 or greater.
This is a multi-year scholarship that can be renewed through their senior year if the student continues to meet the qualifications stipulated.
Student must be a US citizen and a resident of North Carolina.
Student must be pursuing a degree in a curriculum that emphasizes the protection of public health by providing healthful drinking water and/or protecting the quality and integrity of the water environment at an institution of higher education located in North Carolina during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Student must maintain a GPA of 3.0.
Student must be a United States citizen.
Once the scholarship is awarded to a student, they are eligible to receive it annually, for a maximum of four years to complete their undergraduate degree and/or for a maximum of two years to complete their graduate degree as long as they continue to meet the qualifications stipulated in the initial award.
The scholarship program focuses on funding competitive financial awards to elementary or middle school educators that have as a major objective, educating elementary or middle school students on clean water and environmental preservation.
The amount of the scholarship will depend on the cost of the project(s) selected.
The recipient may qualify for more than one year but must reapply for each year.
The scholarship may be applied toward expenses for educational materials (books & videos), travel for field trips, building materials specific to a project, enrollment fees for water related short courses for educators or prizes for competitions.
The scholarship program focuses on funding competitive financial awards to middle school or high school educators that have as a major objective, educating middle school or high school students on clean water and environmental preservation.
The amount of the scholarship will depend on the cost of the project(s) selected.
Scholarships are also available for water operators to assist with expenses related to certification, licensure, water-related degree programs, and other professional training and materials. Your contributions and growth in the water industry are vital for public health! Two $1,000 One AWWA Operator Scholarships will be awarded this year. See full scholarship requirements below.
Applicant must be a current water operator or seeking to enter the water operator profession.
Applicant must be pursuing an Operator’s License or Certification, two or four-year degree related to the water operator profession, or professional development.
Applicant must reside or work within the geographical boundaries covered by the sponsoring Section.
Scholarship awards can be used for certification/licensure, two-year water related associate degree, technical school program, professional training program, books and manuals, and operator related conferences.
Each scholarship recipient will receive a one-year AWWA Operator membership.
The Endowment Committee oversees creation and management of an endowment fund, named the NC Safewater Endowment Program, that will help fulfill NC One Water's objectives.
NC One WaterSafewater General Endowment Fund Details The NC Safewater Fund is the NC One Water
Endowment Program’s primary fund that all undesignated donations are applied toward. The NC Safewater Fund was created by the NC One Water Board to serve as the primary funding mechanism that more broadly supports the objectives outlined above.
Use of Safewater Funds The
primary use of the NC Safewater Fund is intended to support the objectives of scholarships for future industry members and environmental education. The NC Safewater Fund awards and grants are directed by the
NC One Water Board of Trustees and fall into the following two focus areas:
NC Safewater Educational support to attract and retain industry professionals
Environmental Education that serve to enhance overall safe water knowledge of the public.
How are scholarship recipients selected? The Endowment Committee annually establishes applications and criteria for review and selection (consistent with any specifics of named funds). A Scholarship Selection Committee of knowledgeable community leaders (a majority of whom shall not be members or employees of NC One Water) who are committed to environmental and water resource education, will evaluate applications. Eligibility and awards are determined by the Scholarship Selection Committee. All decisions made by the Committee are final and are not subject to appeal.
Selection Criteria
The quality and completeness of the application
The applicant’s qualifications
Content of the essay, if required
Recommendation of instructors
Other information required with the application
Scholarships will be awarded without regard to race, creed, color, sex, age or national origin.
Who is eligible to apply for a scholarship? This depends on the specific requirements of individual funds, but generally, as all funds are limited to educators and/or students in North Carolina educational facilities, students or teachers in North Carolina are those eligible to apply, if they meet specific requirements for any fund. There is a grant for activities related to appropriate elementary education programs as well.
What are the criteria by which applicants are judged? Each specific scholarship has specific criteria established and applicants will be matched against those specific requirements of the NC Safewater Fund or other named funds. In general, students and/or educators will need to be engaged in studying or teaching in the field of environmental, water and/or wastewater science.
Who manages the endowment funds? Triangle Community Foundation is the designated fund manager. The Board has established an Endowment Policy, which requires that all funds be managed in compliance with State and Federal laws (UPMIFA) and the Endowment Committee meets at least quarterly, to review all financial reports. Additionally, the Association has an annual audit, performed by an outside audit firm specializing in non profit accounting, and the endowment funds are included in the audit review and report
What are the typical scholarship amounts given? The amount of funds available to be awarded will depend on the earnings received from investing the endowment funds. The amount of a specific scholarship or grant will vary depending on the criteria stipulated in each “Named Fund”. For example, the current goal of The Carol Bond Fund is to award two $1,000 scholarships to four-year university students, four $500 scholarships to Community College students and two $500 grants to outstanding environmental educators annually.
What schools will students be able to attend? North Carolina educational institutions. See Scholarships Descriptions.
What if an applicant has a degree but wants to go back for a graduate degree? That might be possible, depending on the requirements of individual named funds and annual criteria established by the joint Committees. Some of the scholarship funds include provisions for graduate-level studies.
There appear to be several different funds—what differentiates them? Presently, the endowment program has 11 funds. The NC Safewater Fund is the overall fund established with the Triangle Community Foundation. The other “named funds” are described in detail in the Endowment Donor Program Sheet.
Will the scholarships be available to anyone, or just to students whose parents are NC One Water members? Any student who meets the qualifications of eligibility can apply for a scholarship
How many scholarships will be awarded each year? The number of scholarships and grants awarded each year will depend on the amount of earnings received from the investment of “the corpus”. As “the corpus” is increased by new donations, the earnings will increase and therefore, we will be able to increase the number and /or the amount of scholarships and grants we award. Typically a “corpus” of $100,000 should generate between $4,000 and $5,000 to be distributed per year on a sustainable basis.
Is the fund limited to NC residents? These scholarships are not limited to NC residents. Distribution of funds from The NC Safewater Fund is limited to students who are attending colleges and community colleges located in North Carolina and are completing a course of study emphasizing the protection of public health by providing healthful drinking water and/or protecting the quality and integrity of the water environment and to educators who are providing enhanced water environment education to registered students and/or the public. Some of the “Named Funds” may have additional limitations on the distribution of funds
Are there restrictions on the fund’s distribution? Yes. In general, scholarship disbursements are limited to educational activities in the field of environment, water and wastewater in the form of awards for scholarships and grants to educators. The Board of Trustees of NC One Water established the NC Safewater Endowment for the purpose of promoting safe water, increasing knowledge and understanding of safe water, and preserving and enhancing the water environment. The primary means for accomplishing this purpose is to provide scholarship funds to individuals who seek assistance in order to complete a course of study emphasizing the protection of public health by providing healthful drinking water and/or protecting the quality and integrity of the water environment. In addition, the NC Safewater Endowment will award funds to assist educators in providing enhanced water environment education to registered students and/or the public. Any distribution of grants or scholarships must comply with this purpose. In additional to this general compliance, donors establishing “Named Funds” may stipulate additional restrictions on distribution of funds generated by that fund. These restrictions and conditions have to be approved by the NC One Water Board of Trustees and are expected to comply with the general purpose of the endowment
NC Safewater Endowment Program: Looking Back/Looking Ahead As we humans age and mature from infancy through senior citizen, we pass through several stages of development. Many times along this continuum of life, we may pause to reflect on our experiences and the events that have influenced the development of the person we have become at that stage in life. We may also take time to ponder our vision for our future and how we may achieve that vision. This concept of human development is very applicable to the creation and growing of the NC Safewater Endowment Program. In this article, I will provide information on the establishment of the Endowment Program, events and individuals that have influenced the growth of the Endowment Program from its infancy to its pre-adolescence stage (three years old) and a vision of what a more matured and well funded Endowment Program could accomplish.
Establishment of NC Safewater Endowment Program In 2008, Steve Shoaf, Chair of NC AWWA-WEA, appointed an Endowment Task Force to evaluate the feasibility of developing a sustainable funding source for:
Increasing water environment education in schools, and
Expanding the Association’s support of scholarships for students attending four-year universities and community colleges.
The members of the Endowment Task Force were Doug Bean, Glendon Fetterolf, Don Francisco, George Raftelis, Joe Stowe, and Darin Thomas. Darin was elected chair of the task force. Steve Shoaf appointed Les Hall as the Board Liaison with the task force. Over a period of about eighteen months, the Task Force met with several individuals who had expertise working with funding programs that provided financial assistance to individuals similar to our target recipients. After reviewing the information gleamed from these meetings, the Task Force decided to hire a consultant to determine the level of support our members may have for an endowment program. He conducted an electronic survey of all of our members and a person to person survey of more than 30 leaders of corporations and utilities. Based on his findings, he concluded that the members would support an endowment program. After reviewing the consultant’s report and evaluating other information its member had collected, the Endowment Task Force agreed that it was feasible to establish an endowment for the purpose of promoting safe water, increasing knowledge and understanding of safe water, and preserving and enhancing the water environment. The Board of Trustees of NC AWWA-WEA approved the recommendations of the Endowment Task Force in September, 2009. These recommendations included:
Allocation of $25,000.00 from NC AWWA-WEA reserve fund for the initial funding of The NC Safewater Fund
Approval of the Public Education Committee donation of $25,000.00 to establish The Carol Bond Fund.
Adoption of Policies and Procedures Endowment
Approval of an Endowment Committee and appointment of the members of the Endowment Task Force as its initial members.
Approval of establishing an agency fund with Triangle Community Foundation.
In the opening paragraph of the Policies and Procedures Endowment document, the Board of Trustees of NC One Water states that it “establishes the NC Safewater Endowment as a permanent Board-designated agency fund for the purpose of promoting safe water, increasing knowledge and understanding of safe water, preserving and enhancing the water environment. The primary means for accomplishing this purpose is to provide scholarship funds to individuals who seek assistance in order to complete a course of study emphasizing the protection of public health by providing healthful drinking water and/or protecting the quality and integrity of the water environment. In addition, the NC Safewater Endowment Fund will award funds to assist educators in providing enhanced water environment education to registered students and/or the public.” The Board of Trustees has continued to support the Endowment Program from its inception to its present stage of development.
Growth of the Endowment Program From its inception, the NC Safewater Endowment Program’s growth has been fueled by pledges and donations from individuals and firms. Highfill Infrastructure Engineering, P. C. made the first major pledge of $10.000.00 in March, 2010. In July, 2010, George and Eva Raftelis founded the first “Named Fund”; Raftelis Foundation Elementary Education Scholarship through a donation from their Raftelis Foundation. In December, 2010, Les and Elaine Hall made a pledge of $25,000.00 to fund “The Les and Elaine Hall Water Environment Stewardship Fund” as the second “Named Fund” created from donations other than NC AWWA-WEA two initial “Named Funds” In the spring of 2011, the Endowment Committee decided to launch its first organized fund raiser: “NC Safewater Fund Raising Initiative of 2011”. Each of the more than 30 members of NC AWWA-WEA who volunteered to participate agreed to contact 10 to 20 potential donors that he/she had selected. In addition to several smaller donations, six of the individuals/firms contacted during the fund raising initiative agreed to pledge $25,000.00 each in order to fund the six new “Named Funds”. In June, 2012, an anonymous donor made a pledge of $25,000.00 to fund the eleventh “Named Fund”. All eleven of these “Named Funds” along with the name of the donor are listed below. We are very thankful for the individuals and firms that have given at this level.
Vision for the Future of NC Safewater Endowment Program One of the findings that the consultant presented in his report was that after he had reviewed all the data collected in his surveys, he had concluded that a philanthropic culture did not exist in NC AWWA-WEA. In organizations that do have a philanthropic culture, almost all of their members feel a commitment to support causes sponsored by their organization with their time and resources every year. If a philanthropic culture existed at NC AWWA-WEA we would expect that almost all or our 3300 members would contribute time and/or resources to support and help grow the assets of the NC Safewater Endowment Program. For example, if each of our 3300 members contributed $2.00 per month ($24.00 per year) to the Endowment Program, we could grow the assets by $79,000.00 each year. The earnings from this increase in assets would generate over $3,000.00 to fund scholarships and grants each year in perpetuity. This means that each year, NC Safewater Endowment could increase the number of students and teachers who are awarded scholarships and grants. The Endowment Committee has a vision that one day, a philanthropic culture will exist in NC AWWA-WEA and that all of our members will contribute to the Endowment Program. We also think that NC Safewater Endowment Program will continue and improve the legacy that NC AWWA-WEA has related to providing education to water professionals. If we sustained a growth of assets of $100,000 per year, the Endowment Program would have assets of over $1,000,000.00 within the next seven years. (NC Safewater Endowment Program has received pledges of over $344,000 as of June 30, 2012). With assets at this level, NC Safewater Endowment Program would be a significant provided of scholarships and grants to students and teachers.We envision that NC AWWA-WEA would receive recognition of its support of education and training of water professionals from outside entities such as universities, school systems, governmental agencies and the public.
CMT Gives Back-Bova Family Scholarship-$1,000 Kelsey Sikon-UNC Charlotte The Environmental Manufacturer's Representative Scholarship Fund-$1,000 Lindsey Pegram-UNC Chapel Hill Raftelis
Financial Consultants Environmental Finance and Management Scholarship-$1,000 Lindsey Pegram-UNC Chapel Hill Clearwater, Inc.-Robert M. Wilkinson Scholarship-$1,500 Kelsey
Sikon-UNC Charlotte Crowder Construction Co. Scholarship-$2,000 Julie Lyons, NC State University NC Safewater Fund Scholarship/Carol Bond Scholarship-$3,000 Julie Lyons, NC State University The Carol Bond Fund/NC Safewater Community College Students Scholarship-$1,000 Maya Cruz, Cape
Fear Community College NC Safewater Fund Scholarship-$3,000 Savanna Smith, NC State University
2020 Scholarship Recipients
NC Safewater/Carol Bond Scholarship-$2,000 Heather Oakes-NCSU Charlotte NC Safewater Scholarship-$2500 Savanna Smith-NC State University NC Safewater/GHD Scholarship-$1000 Heather Oakes-NCSU Charlotte Les & Elaine Hall Scholarship-$1,000 Jeremy Lowe-NC State University Raftelis Financial Consultants Scholarship-$1,000 Lindsey Pegram-NCSU Chapel
Hill
Environmental Manufacturers’ Scholarship-$1,000 Lindsey Pegram-NCSU Chapel Hill Clearwater/Robert M. Wilkinson Scholarship-$1,000 Heather Oakes-NCSU
Charlotte
CMT-Bova Family Scholarship-$1,000 Kelsey Sikon-NCSU Charlotte Carol Bond Educator Scholarship-$1,500 Janis Brannon-Summit Charter School
Frank & Susan Stephenson Scholarship-$1,250 Mitchell Blalock-NCSU Charlotte
