Chattanooga State Community College students Shalyn Landes and Gary Satin were named as two of 456 semifinalists for the highly selective Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The pool contained 1,500 applicants attending 311 community colleges in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Selected scholars will be announced this month.

Cooke Transfer Scholars are selected based on their exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, service to others, and leadership. Students must be currently enrolled community college students or recent graduates residing in the United States.

Shalyn, a Rossville resident, graduated in December 2019 with an associate of applied science in General Engineering. She expressed disappointment that Chattanooga State’s graduation ceremony had to be postponed; but she knows that the steps were taken to keep everyone safe. “I appreciate all of the leaders who have had to make these very hard decisions,” acknowledges Landes.

Gary is a Chattanooga resident and a Tennessee Reconnect student who will graduate this year with an associate of science in Pre-Health Professions. Social distancing practices combined with the recent campus closure impacted Gary’s participation in his Biology Undergraduate Research course and the semiannual Research Symposium. “We created custom double-stranded DNA promoters that we were going to clone into an E. coli plasmid using the Golden Gate assembly method. And, I was ecstatic about conducting a CRISPR-Cas9 experiment at the end of the course,” shares Gary.

“Both of these students earned the Global Scholars distinction, which is the highest academic achievement at Chattanooga State. Less than one percent of the student body earns this recognition, which demonstrates the commitment these students have for their education,” shares Amanda Bennett, Global Scholars director.

This prestigious Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship awards up to $40,000 per year, for up to three years, to attend a four-year accredited undergraduate school. It honors top community college students seeking to complete their bachelor’s degrees at four-year colleges or universities of their choice in any area of study.

As part of the Global Scholars program, Shalyn and Gary took an honors Global Leadership course that required them to study abroad in Greece and design service projects to assist with refugee relief efforts. “Both Shalyn and Gary emerged as strong leaders within the course, and their commitment to serve others was impressive. These characteristics exemplify what it means to be a Global Scholar and a Cooke Transfer Scholar,” states Bennett.

Chattanooga State’s Global Scholars academic honors program is a learning community that includes students from all academic majors who share intellectual curiosity and academic achievement, take classes, participate in co-curricular activities, and engage in service learning projects together helping to make the community and the world a better place in which to live. For more information on Global Scholars, contact Amanda Bennett at (423) 697- 2577, Amanda.bennett@chattanoogastate.edu, or visit the Global Scholars Virtual Office at https://library.chattanoogastate.edu/GS.