Kornafel Appeals for Industry Collaboration to Make Scholarship Applications Easier for Students

Pete Kornafel is on a mission — to organize a website that would serve as a one-stop application portal for aftermarket scholarships, and he is appealing to the industry to help make the site a comprehensive reality. Kornafel, who is CARQUEST vice chairman, is passionate about the topic of automotive education. He currently serves as chairman of the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) Scholarship Selection Committee, which has provided more than $1 million in scholarships over the last dozen years. In 2007, GAAS awarded 142 U.S. and 12 Canadian scholarships. He points out, however, that there were some 400 qualified applicants. Kornafel strongly believes that getting more organizations involved will increase students’ chances of getting awards, or multiple awards from different organizations or companies, all based on just one application. And of course, more students mean more technicians, which is good for the entire industry.

By Brian Cruickshank, AAP

Kornafel, who is CARQUEST vice chairman, is passionate about the topic of automotive education. He currently serves as chairman of the Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) Scholarship Selection Committee, which has provided more than $1 million in scholarships over the last dozen years. In 2007, GAAS awarded 142 U.S. and 12 Canadian scholarships. He points out, however, that there were some 400 qualified applicants. Kornafel strongly believes that getting more organizations involved will increase students’ chances of getting awards, or multiple awards from different organizations or companies, all based on just one application. And of course, more students mean more technicians, which is good for the entire industry.

Kornafel hopes the program can be fully operational by the time GAAS begins accepting 2008 scholarship applications in September. In order to move the project along, he is appealing to the industry for assistance. For 2008, the committee will modify the website (www.automotivescholarships.com) to reflect that this it is a single site for multiple scholarship applications. The committee will add additional pages for each scholarship, showing each organization and its individual award requirements.

Kornafel hopes the industry will collaborate with the GAAS Scholarship Committee in making the site as comprehensive as possible. There have been past collaborations with aftermarket companies and organizations that have netted positive results. For example, earlier this year, Wendy and Eric Breslow of the Breslow Foundation reviewed applications on-line and awarded scholarships to those applicants that met the Breslow Scholarship’s requirements.

Also in 2007, GAAS collaborated with the (Texas) Automotive Parts and Service Association (APSA) by pooling all the applications received by both GAAS and APSA. Approximately 30 students from the area APSA represents applied just to the GAAS scholarship, 15 applied only to the APSA scholarship and 15 applied to both. With the help of APSA’s Carol Rackers, the GAAS scholarship committee pooled all the applications, so that all 60 students got a shot at both scholarships. Each committee made its own selections and in the end, APSA awarded 14 scholarships, four of whom were also awarded GAAS Scholarships.

ASC Industries, R.L. Polk and the University of the Aftermarket Foundation made contributions to the GAAS scholarship fund, and allowed the GAAS committee to select their award recipients. Several students heading to University of Northwestern Ohio, near ASC’s headquarters in Canton, OH, were awarded GAAS Scholarships funded by the donation from ASC. Two students received GAAS Scholarships funded by R.L. Polk and 25 students were awarded GAAS Scholarships funded by a University of the Aftermarket Foundation grant.

Kornafel says each of these examples of collaboration worked very smoothly and he encourages more of this sort of educational cooperation.

Moving forward, Breslow and APSA will repeat the program in 2008. In addition, APSA, as well the Automotive Aftermarket Association of the Carolinas and Tennessee, will help Kornafel solicit 2008 participation from several other Alliance of State Automotive Aftermarket Associations regional groups that award scholarships.

Kornafel has listed some of the things GAAS can do to collaborate with additional organizations:

• Combine GAAS applications with those turned in at other organizations.

• Create a pool of all applicants, and sort the applications to meet each group’s requirements.

• GAAS and other organizations can review all applications from the combined pool that meet each organization’s qualifications, and make own selections.

• Or, the GAAS selection committee can make the selections, and designate those scholarships as coming from another organization.

• GAAS has a very simple online process for reviewers to view, rate and enter comments on applications. It can establish reviewers for other organizations, and those reviewers will have visibility and access to the selected subset of applications that meet their organization’s qualifications.

• For awards funded by or through GAAS, the committee can do the follow up after the award. This includes communicating with the recipients, confirming their post-secondary school enrollment and sending the scholarships directly to that school for the recipient’s account.

Kornafel notes that this process will require that each organization agree to use the current, comprehensive application and synchronize fairly closely with the GAAS Scholarship calendar. Kornafel says the form can amended if needed.

Companies or aftermarket associations that would like to collaborate with the GAAS Scholarship committee are invited to email Kornafel at [email protected].