Elliott/Upitis/Bamji Travel Fellowships

Eligibility for these awards is based in part on student need. Applicants will be required to demonstrate this need in accordance with Queen’s policies on student assistance. The province of Ontario matches the funds disbursed and therefore student applicants must be residents of Ontario. Residents are those who themselves, their spouses, or their parents have resided in Ontario for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the beginning of full-time study.

International Students are not eligible to apply. In order to be considered a resident of Ontario, you must be either a Canadian citizen or a Permanent Resident. The 12 months rule applies to Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents who have been living in Ontario for 12 consecutive months. If you are here on a Student Visa, you are not considered to be a resident of the province of Ontario.

• Practicum Office: This office maintains a directory of alternative practicum placements in recent years, a binder organized by focus course and an on-line directory searchable by focus course and other variables. For instructions on how to access this directory, see Alternative Practicum Placements.
• Education Careers Services: Staff members in the ECS office are available to brainstorm international opportunities with a particular emphasis on international schools worldwide, and public school systems in the UK, USA and Australia.
• Focus Course Instructors: Instructors have networks and suggestions regarding placement opportunities related to their course.

* Please note: all placements in an international school specifically must be cleared by Education Career Services. Please check with the office before confirming any such arrangement.

Step 1

• Complete the Financial Eligibility Form and submit it directly to the Student Awards Office in Gordon Hall, 74 Union Street.
• Deadline: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 @ 4:30pm

Please note: it is not necessary to alternative practicum arrangements in place for Step 1 of the application process.

Step 2

• Friday, October 04, 2013: Check with Erin Wicklam(A101C) to see if you qualify to continue with the application process.
• Financial eligibility does not guarantee funding; this simply deems you financially eligible to continue with the application process. Receipt of the award is dependent on the quality of your application package (Step 3).

Please note: it is the student's responsibility to determine financial eligibility before continuing with Step 3 of the application process. 

Step 3

• Assuming financial eligibility, proceed with the application form 
• For this step a specific placement must be proposed along with a budget (see further details below).
• It is important to give yourself ample time to arrange your placement; this process generally takes 1-3 weeks.
• If your placement is not confirmed by the application deadline, you must provide a valid reason, or the committee will not consider your application.
• Deadline: Monday, December 02, 2013 at 8:30am.

Submit a hard copy of the application form, proposal and budget to:

Chair, Elliott/Upitis/Bamji Travel Fellowship Advisory Committee
c/o Erin Wicklam in A101C, Duncan McArthur Hall
Faculty of Education, Queen’s University

Please note: the application deadline is Monday at 8:30 am to ensure applicants do not miss class to complete their applications.

The advisory committee will give preference to projects that show promise of high impact at a reasonable cost.

Proposal

Not all proposals will be funded; therefore it is important to maximize your chances of success by seriously considering the following questions as you prepare your proposal:

• Why you? What specific knowledge, skills and ideas do you bring to the project? How will this specific experience help to make you a better educator?
• Why now? How does this project fit with your short and long term professional development goals?
• Why there? Why is it important that this project be undertaken in this specific place? Could you fulfill these professional development goals without going abroad?

Budget:

• The funds can be used to cover travel and accommodation expenses. Refer to the Terms of Reference for more detail.
• The funds can also be used to cover 25% of program/administrative fees, charged by some agencies. If ineligible expenses (i.e. local transportation, food) are included within this program fee, this portion of the program fee will not covered by the fellowship. Please ask for a breakdown of the Program Fee from the host institution.
• Include 2-3 options for flight costs, including print-outs from web pages or quotes from travel agents as proof. Determine your budgetary needs by averaging these costs. The flight costs you include should be within reasonable limits.
• The same averaging procedure should be followed for accommodation costs should you be responsible for finding your own housing.
• Do not include ineligible expenses in your proposed budget, as they will be removed by the advisory committee from the total amount requested.
• Please be aware that this is only a proposed budget; the actual cost of your trip will vary from the amount of funding granted.
• The Committee reserves the right to adjust your budget.

Please include with your application package documentation that your placement has been confirmed, such as an e-mail from the host school/organization confirming your placement.

If participation in your proposed placement is conditional upon receipt of the fellowship, please ensure that the host school/organization is aware, and that you confirm with them whether or not you have received the award.

How?

The advisory committee is made up of 3 members, appointed by the Dean of Education. Members of the committee evaluate the proposals individually, and then decide as a group who will ultimately receive funding.

All applications are treated equally and assessments are final. Therefore, the committee does not offer an appeal process or provide explanations to any applicants regarding the awards.

If you have been approved you will receive either 60% or 100% of the proposed budget, depending on your financial situation as assessed by the Student Awards Office. Payment is initiated through the Student Award Office, in Gordon Hall, 74 Union Street*.

When?

The advisory committee will assess the applications and, subsequent to approval from the Dean of Education, an email will be sent to individual applicants by Thursday, December 12, 2013, from the Student Awards Office directly.

Please note: barring exceptional circumstances, the money awarded can only be used for the specific project outlined in the approved proposal. Should a previously arranged project fall through for legitimate reasons, the funding might be transferable to a similar project upon approval of the advisory committee.

*Funds will not be released without evidence of completion of the Pre-Departure Orientation Session.  The Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Peter Chin, will be hosting an OCASP (Off-Campus Activity Safety Policy) session in January 2013 to discuss this in more detail.

Following the completion of the project, recipients of an award are required to produce a poster presentation for Wednesday, April 16, 2013, outlining the results of their studies abroad to share with Teacher Candidates and other members of the Faculty of Education community. The format and structure of this poster is flexible.

Any public form of communication and report must maintain the anonymity of people. Thus, on the poster, real names of people must not be disclosed, and information that reveals the identities of specific persons must not be used.

Please retain receipts for all travel and accommodation expenses for auditing purposes.

Please note: the advisory committee will confirm with the Practicum Office that you completed your alternative practicum in the country/region indicated on your application form.