By Kandy Slack
MSU-APA Membership Chair

As membership chair of my local MEA unit at Michigan State University, I love talking with new employees about the value of belonging—and I make sure to include a benefit of membership that is sometimes overlooked: the MEA Scholarship.

Since 1997 the MEA Scholarship Fund has distributed $955,000 in post-secondary scholarships to eligible dependents of MEA members. These awards can be renewed for multiple years, and every dollar adds up when it comes to paying for college.

My own child, Ren, is an MEA Scholarship recipient for the third time this year, so this subject touches me personally—and deeply. Higher education helped me find a post-divorce foothold when I needed to provide for me and my then two-year-old, and the union has shown me the power of community.

Years ago I didn’t know how I would manage as a single mom with no college degree and a low-paying retail job with no benefits. But I followed my interests toward technology and into a full-time, 18-week IT training program at Grand Rapids Community College and becoming CompTIA A+ certified.

What I learned got me into technical support roles at Comcast and later a public school district. I worked full-time while raising Ren and taking classes part-time at Kellogg Community College toward degrees in computer networking and computer engineering technology and earning Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certification.

I couldn’t have done it without my family’s help, but I finished at KCC and worked my way to technical support jobs at MSU starting a decade ago—first at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams and later at the Clinical and Translational Sciences Department.

Working in support of global science and research fed my inner science geek. Earning good pay and benefits fed my family. Eventually buying a house on my own fed my sense of accomplishment.

I’ve always shared my love of STEM with Ren and taught them to follow their interests, which in high school included band, track, cross country, reading, and learning about science.

For college, Ren found a fit in the Honors program at Saginaw Valley State University. Now a third-year SVSU student majoring in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Ren hopes to become a science professor—and the MEA Scholarship helped launch that journey.

I’ve also taught Ren about the difference unions make for hard-working people like my father, a tool and die maker, and my mother, a rural postal carrier. That’s why I’ve always been active in the MSU Administrative Professionals Association (MSU-APA).

I’ve been union rep, board member, MEA/NEA delegate, and now membership chair. Our contract covers 3,000 employees across 350 job classifications at MSU campuses in East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Flint and Detroit. Each month I meet with 25-75 new hires, whom I urge to join MSU-APA.

We discuss the contract, their probationary period, Weingarten rights, and the power of our collective voice which has secured us benefits such as fully funded health care and paid parental leave. I share MEA and NEA member benefits and discounts, and I talk about the MEA Scholarship.

The application is now open at mea.org/mea-scholarship, and the deadline to apply is Feb. 10, 2025. If you’re a golfer, sign up (after Jan. 1) for the Scholarship Fund’s annual golf-outing fundraiser on June 16, 2025, at mea.org/golfouting or email meascholarship@mea.org with any questions or to make a tax-deductible contribution.

Helping young people access high-quality education through our collective action and ongoing advocacy is in our DNA as members and leaders of MEA and NEA!