Scholarship Opportunities

RSI Scholarships Now Available

RSI was awarded a grant from the State of MN Home and Community Based Services (HCBS). The purpose of this grant is to support training opportunities for employees in the field of long-term care or nursing that will encourage professional growth and development.

This grant allows RSI to provide money for additional training opportunities to employees above and beyond the training already offered by RSI. It provides money for employees to further their professional growth through formal credit and non-credit courses, university classes and external workshops and conferences.

All employees who have direct care responsibilities as part of their regular job and are regularly scheduled an average of 20 hours per week are eligible to apply for the scholarship dollars. All scholarship applications will be reviewed by an internal selection committee. Scholarships will be awarded based on availability of grant dollars, employee eligibility and relevance of the professional knowledge and skills to be acquired.

For an application and further details, contact Brandon Hendrickson, Staff Development Director via email, RCT messaging, or call 218-727-2696 x126.

Congratulations!

RSI would like to congratulate the following Scholarship winners:

Summer 2008

Wendy Olson from Hunters Park was awarded $700. She is entering a masters of Social Work program at UMD.
Gia DeYoung, an LPN working with several programs, was awarded $700. She is pursuing an RN degree from Lake Region State College.
Emily Dahl works at our Carriage Hills program. She was awarded $700 to study for her BA in Human Services from the University of Phoenix.

Fall 2008

Joe Nosan is a PTA that works several RSI programs. He was awarded $198.95 for a workshop on Bariatric Ergonomics.
Amanda Cook from Taylors Falls was awarded $750 to further her pursuit of an RN degree from Pine Technical College.
Angela Ritacco works in RSI's ARMHS program based in Virginia. She was awarded $750 for use in the AAS of Human Services program at Messabi Community College.
Ellen Braddock from Oregon Creek was awarded $750 and is pursuing an RN Associates degree from Lake Superior College.
Kristine Wahl from RSI's ARMHS program, based out of North Branch, was awarded $750. She is in the Registered Nursing program at Anoka Ramsey Community College.
Tesse Korf works at our Pine City and Apple Ridge programs. She was awarded $750 to use in her pursuit of a BAS in Psychology.
Jennifer Gorder works at Silver Lake, and was awarded $750. She is studying for an AA degree in Human Services at Messabi Range Community College.

Eligibility:

Applicant must have been employed by RSI for 6 months or more.
Applicant must have acceptable work performance which includes satisfactory attendance record and performance evaluation and be approved by their supervisor.
Applicant must have successfully completed all of RSI's Initial Trainings as specified in the Staff Training policy.
Applicant must perform direct care duties as specified in their job description.
Applicant must work an average of 20 hours per week.
Training or course work must be related to the field of long-term health care, nursing or human services.
Money awarded must only be used for qualified educational expenses including tuition, books and required fees.

Application Procedure:

Eligible employees must submit a written application to the Staff Development Director. This application is available either from the Staff Development Director, or can be downloaded by clicking the following link: Scholarship Application. Please note that you may need Adobe Reader to view the PDF document.
The Staff Development Director, with input from the review committee, will determine the actual amount of scholarship dollars awarded to each employee.
Applicants may be asked to meet with the review committee for a personal interview following the committee's review of the application if needed.
Applicant agrees to provide grades and progress reports and accountability of funds.
Applicant will sign a scholarship agreement if a scholarship is granted.

Scholarships applications for traditional programs are due:

April 10, 2009 for the Summer Semester
July 10, 2009 for the Fall Semester

The scholarship committee will review requests for non-traditional programs on an as-needed basis.

Next round of scholarship applications are due to Brandon by April, 2009

Expected Outcome for Employee Scholarship Recipients:

Employees receiving scholarship funds for college coursework or attendance at a workshop, in-service or conference or for books or other related expenses, will receive or be working towards some sort of career advancement as a direct result of the course of study. Examples include a degree or certification, a promotion, wage increase or one time bonus.

Residential Services of NE MN, Inc.

A non-profit organization providing innovative supports to individuals with disabilities since 1978.