This summer, four New Haven Promise Scholars worked with EHS, gaining valuable on-the-job training as part of the Biosafety Stewardship Project-Cold Storage Inventory Project. With their help, EHS was able to successfully implement this inventory program.
The New Haven Promise scholarship program was created in 2010 as a way to help qualified New Haven students afford college. It has since grown into a program that also helps these students gain valuable skills for post-graduation.
“One of biggest hurdles for college graduates is they don’t have enough work experience,” said Chris Brown, Yale’s Director of New Haven Hiring Initiatives. “Although they go to school and get good grades, it’s still difficult to get that initial job.”
The students, under the supervision of EHS Safety Advisor Shumin Bian, personally labeled over 3,500 cold storage units with unique identification numbers in laboratories around campus to create an online inventory system. They also supported EHS staff in assisting laboratory personnel with creating their own inventory system to identify all of the contents of their cold storage units.
“These students did a great job and really alleviated a lot of stress from the EHS staff,” said Ben Fontes, Yale’s Biosafety Officer. “They came along at a time when EHS really needed this support and every one of our staff members is grateful for the time and effort they put in.”
The New Haven Promise scholarship is an annual award that covers tuition expenses remaining after federal and state government grants at a Connecticut public 2 or 4-year college or university, up to $10,000 a year over four years.
To qualify, students must be a New Haven resident and attend New Haven public schools or an approved charter school in New Haven, have a positive disciplinary record during high school, complete 40 hours of community service over their four years in high school, have a 90 percent attendance record or better in high school and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher at graduation. To maintain the scholarship in college, they must keep a GPA of 2.0 or higher each semester.
For more information on New Haven Promise, visit newhavenpromise.org.