{"id":16923,"date":"2026-08-15T04:38:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T04:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bellezeller.org\/website\/?page_id=16923"},"modified":"2026-09-15T13:31:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:31:05","slug":"the-cuny-graduate-center-application","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bellezeller.org\/website\/the-cuny-graduate-center-application\/","title":{"rendered":"The CUNY Graduate Center Application"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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THE CUNY GRADUATE CENTER
APPLICATION GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE IRWIN POLISHOOK
SCHOLARSHIP<\/h1>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n \r\nThe Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund was established in 1979 by the Professional Staff \r\nCongress\/CUNY, the instructional staff union of The City University of New York. This scholarship honors \r\nDr. Irwin Polishook, a longtime CUNY leader and advocate. As President of the Professional Staff \r\nCongress (PSC), Dr. Polishook was deeply committed to supporting CUNY\u2019s faculty and staff.

\r\n\r\nIn keeping with his dedication to academic excellence, this scholarship is awarded on the basis of merit \r\nand is not need-based.

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GENERAL INFORMATION<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n1. Application Deadline: Completed applications must be received no later than midnight on February 26, 2027.

\r\n2. The Board of Trustees of the Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund (Trustees) will review all applications \r\nand select candidates to be interviewed.

\r\n3. Applicants must be full-time CUNY Graduate Center students with a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher.

\r\n4. The scholarship is a one-year award of $5,000, payable in two installments of $2,500, provided the \r\nstudent remains enrolled full-time at CUNY and continues to meet the academic and community service \r\nrequirements.

\r\n5. Recipients must maintain a GPA of 3.75 or higher and provide evidence of continued community service \r\nduring both semesters in which they receive the scholarship. \r\n6. The Trustees shall be the sole judges of whether a recipient continues to meet the scholarship \r\nrequirements.

\r\n7. Scholarship recipients may not defer the award. All awards must be used during the Fall semester of the \r\nacademic year for which they are awarded.

\r\n8. Scholarship recipients may not reapply for the scholarship in the future.

\r\n9. Applicants must provide evidence of significant volunteer service to CUNY, the community, or both, as \r\ndocumented through a letter of recommendation.

\r\n10. Candidates selected for an interview by a panel of the Trustees must be available to participate in an \r\ninterview when requested.

\r\n11. All applicants will receive an automated response confirming submission of their application.

\r\n12. Receipt of an application does not constitute assurance of its acceptance. It confirms only that the \r\napplication has been received. It is the applicant\u2019s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete \r\nand includes all required documentation. Applicants will not be notified if an application is incomplete or if \r\nrequired information or documentation is missing.

\r\n13. All successful scholarship recipients will be notified by email.

\r\n14. Decisions of the Board of Trustees are final. \r\n\r\n\r\n \t\r\n

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LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\nTwo letters of recommendation are required.
\r\n1. Community Service Recommendation
\r\nOne letter must be from an individual in a leadership or supervisory role who can personally attest to and \r\nevaluate the applicant\u2019s volunteer social commitment to the college, the university, and\/or the larger \r\ncommunity. The recommender must have personal knowledge of the applicant\u2019s volunteer community \r\nservice activities.

\r\n2. Academic Recommendation
\r\nBelle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund | CUNY Graduate Center Application \r\nOne letter must be written by an instructor who has taught the applicant in a graduate-level course during \r\nthe current or previous academic year. This letter must address the applicant\u2019s academic performance.

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Submission Requirements<\/h3>\r\n3. Applicants are strongly advised to request letters of recommendation at least six weeks before the \r\napplication deadline to allow sufficient time for recommenders to prepare and submit the required letters.

\r\n4. Applicants are responsible for providing recommenders with the email address for submission of letters \r\nand for instructing recommenders to use the applicant\u2019s full name, last name first, as the subject line.
\r\nExample: Re: Smith, John

\r\n5. Letters of recommendation must be submitted on official letterhead that includes the recommender\u2019s \r\ncontact information; signed by the recommender; emailed as PDF attachments to \r\nrecommend@bellezeller.org; and include the recommender\u2019s daytime telephone number and email \r\naddress.

\r\n6. Letters submitted in the body of an email, as Microsoft Word documents, JPEG files, or as scanned or \r\nhard copies will not be accepted.

\r\n7. Letters must include the recommender\u2019s daytime contact information, including telephone number and \r\nemail address.

\r\n8. Letters of recommendation will not be accepted if submitted by the applicant.

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APPLICANT\u2019S PERSONAL STATEMENT<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

STATEMENT DESCRIBING YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE<\/h3>\r\n\r\nIn a MAXIMUM OF 600 WORDS, applicants must write a personal statement discussing their life \r\nexperiences as they relate to their goals and social commitment.

\r\nThe personal statement must:
\r\nInclude evidence of the applicant\u2019s most significant and recent volunteer community service within the past \r\ntwo years; and \r\nComment on the applicant\u2019s recent academic work.

\r\nPersonal Statement Requirements
\r\nThe applicant\u2019s first and last name must appear at the top of every page.

\r\nThe personal statement must be submitted in PDF format.
\r\nThe personal statement may not exceed 600 words. \r\nMicrosoft Word documents will not be accepted.
\r\nAuthenticity and Use of AI \r\nYour personal statement should be an authentic reflection of your experiences, accomplishments and \r\ngoals written in your own voice.

\r\nThe Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund expects the personal statement to reflect the applicant\u2019s own \r\nexperiences, ideas, voice, and writing. Applicants may use artificial intelligence tools only for limited \r\nassistance, such as proofreading, spelling, grammar, or formatting. AI tools may not be used to write, \r\ngenerate, substantially rewrite, or otherwise create the personal statement or any portion of it.

\r\nSubmitting work generated or substantially written by artificial intelligence as the applicant\u2019s own work may \r\nresult in disqualification. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all submitted materials accurately \r\nrepresent their own experiences, accomplishments, and ideas.

\r\n

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION<\/h3> \r\n1. All applicants are entitled to equal consideration under the terms of applicable equal opportunity and \r\naffirmative action provisions in accordance with Internal Revenue Service stipulations.

\r\n2. Belle Zeller Scholars may be required to authorize the release of their college records to verify continued \r\nfull-time enrollment and eligibility. \r\n

\r\n3. Belle Zeller Scholars who do not comply with the stated scholarship conditions will forfeit the remainder \r\nof their scholarship.
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IMPORTANT REMINDER<\/h3>\r\n \r\n<\/div>\r\nBefore submitting your application, please carefully review all requirements and ensure that all required \r\ninformation and documentation have been submitted. An application will be considered complete only \r\nwhen all required materials have been received in the required format.
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READY TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION?<\/h3>\r\n After reviewing all application guidelines and requirements above, click the button below to complete and \r\nsubmit your application. \r\n \r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/font>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\tCOMPLETE AND SUBMIT THE APPLICATION BY THE FEBRUARY 26, 2027 DEADLINE\n<\/a>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE CUNY GRADUATE CENTER APPLICATION GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE IRWIN POLISHOOK SCHOLARSHIP The Belle Zeller Scholarship Trust Fund was established in 1979 by the Professional Staff Congress\/CUNY, the instructional staff union of The City University of New York. This scholarship honors Dr. Irwin Polishook, a longtime CUNY leader and advocate. As President of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16923","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t