NWAAAE Scholarship Program
The Northwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives (NWAAAE) is dedicated to supporting student efforts in their desire to become aviation management professionals.

To further this objective, NWAAAE, through a cooperative effort with the International Northwest Aviation Council (INAC) offers a Scholarship for students who are pursuing aviation management majors from an accredited aviation college or university. This scholarship will be awarded annually by the NWAAAE in the amount of $1000.00. Two scholarships will go to students attending a college or university in the United States, and two will go towards students in Canada and will be redeemable under the conditions established by NWAAAE.

United States scholarship recipients must be pursuing an undergraduate degree in Aviation/Airport Management at one of the following colleges or universities: Metropolitan State College of Denver, Central Washington University and Westminster College. In addition, recipients must be a resident of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado or Utah. Canadian scholarship recipients must be enrolled in Airport Operations Diploma Program at British Columbia Institute of Technology.

We are currently seeking applicants for this year’s round of scholarships, which has a deadline of June 30th, 2008. Recipients will be notified by July 30, 2008. To obtain a scholarship application packet in pdf format, please click here.  This Scholarship is one of several scholarships offered by the NWAAAE to promote professional development aviation careers. Please contact me, Al Stuart, for further information.

NWAAAE Internship Program
The Northwest Chapter has an Internship Program in place which offers member airports in our region financial incentives to support the concept of internship programs. The guidelines for this program are:

• The Chapter will consider awarding $1000 per intern with a maximum of $2,000/airport/year.

• The airport’s internship program design should be structured to provide significant benefit to both the airport and the intern. Six months of full-time employment is optimal, with shorter periods considered if the airport has a good program laid out for the intern.

• It is expected that the airport will use the Chapter’s contribution as matching funds for salary or training, rather than as the only salary for an otherwise unpaid intern.

• Airports interested in obtaining money from the program should fill out the Internship Application Form and submit it to the Internship Committee Chairperson. The Internship Committee will evaluate all requests and notify the airport if the internship has been approved for funds.

As always, I would encourage each of your organizations to look at hiring an intern as they can be a valuable resource of new ideas to you, and it provides them with much needed experience into the daily life of an airport. For more information, or to send your requests to receive NWAAAE intern program funds please contact:

Al Stuart, A.A.E. 
Superintendent Airport Operations, SLC Dept of Airports
Salt Lake City Dept. of Airports
P O Box 145550
SLC, UT 84114-5550

Kristin Schuman, Operations Supervisor with the Burbank-Glendale- Pasadena Airport, and former Airport Management Intern for the Cheyenne Airport, shares her views of the Internship Program:

A Former Intern's Perspective
by Kristin A Schuman

As a former Airport Management Intern for the Cheyenne Airport, I look back on my experiences and realize the importance for the existence of such programs. The knowledge I gained as an intern provided the "real world" experience I needed to move ahead in the aviation industry which is saturated with eager graduates, all with the hopes of obtaining an entry-level position with an airport. It seems the only way to have the advantage over other candidates is through an internship. Airports now seem to be seeking applicants that are not only aviation graduates, but someone that has had the opprotunity to apply their edication in an actual airport setting.

Following my internship at the Cheyenne Airport, I was offered an Operations Agent position with the Midland International Airport. I held this position for three years and recently accepted a position as an Operations Supervisor with the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. I believe that the experience and knowledge I received as an intern has played a significant role in my career growth in aviation. As an intern, I was exposed to both operational and administrative functions. I participated in airfield operations, construction and public relations. This knowledge has been applied in both of the positions I have held since my internship and will be utilized throughout my aviation career. It is my view that the continued existence of internship programs is imperative in this fast paced and competitive industry. These programs are invaluable!!