The 2021 AEBC/T-Base Scholarship Program is now accepting applications.

The application deadline for the 2021 AEBC and T-Base Communications scholarship program is Friday, March 26th, 2021. All applications and supporting materials must be received by AEBC by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, March 26th, 2021, in order to be considered.

INTRODUCTION

The Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC) is a grassroots organization that works to improve the lives of blind, deafblind and partially sighted Canadians through education, empowerment, and advocacy.

Each year, the AEBC offers scholarships to recognize outstanding blind, deafblind and partially sighted post-secondary students. This year, we are pleased to offer five awards in total.

The T-Base Communications Scholarships

This year, there will be two T-Base Communications Scholarships, valued at $1,000 each. They are designed to help students pursue their educational endeavours and are not limited to any one discipline. These scholarships will be awarded for the 2021-2022 academic year beginning in the fall semester of 2021.

The AEBC Scholarships

Two AEBC Scholarships (worth $1,000 each) will be offered. We are honoured that, for the fifth year in a row, an anonymous donor has made these two awards possible.

The British Columbia Scholarship

Members of the Metro Vancouver chapter and the BC Affiliate of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC) are pleased to award a $1,000 scholarship for the 2021-2022 school year. This scholarship is dedicated to the advancement of post-secondary education, in memory of Rick Oakes. Rick was a long-time member, committed to furthering the work of AEBC as a National and local board member. He believed in the power of knowledge and positivity and was a mentor to his peers, always promoting their abilities.

In addition to the criteria outlined below, this scholarship will be awarded, if at all possible, to a qualifying student from BC, or a student planning to attend a post-secondary institution in the Province of British Columbia. However, if there are no students who meet these special criteria, it will be awarded to someone from another province. The goal of the Vancouver Chapter and BC Affiliate is to provide financial support to students in need.

AWARD CRITERIA

Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of:

1. Academic performance;
2. Community involvement; and
3. Overcoming adversity.

While each criterion will contribute in the overall evaluation process, equal weight will not be applied when determining a final score. Rather, each criterion will serve to assist in distinguishing the exceptionalities and strengths among the candidates.

The Student and Education Committee reviews all applications and selects all scholarship recipients.

The scholarship winners will be announced on May 15, 2021, or at the 2021 Annual General Meeting, circumstances permitting. During the first week of June 2021, recipients will receive a confirmation email. In September 2021—and following confirmation of enrollment for the 2021-2022 academic year—recipients will receive their awards.

APPLICANT QUALIFICATIONS

To be eligible for this scholarship program, applicants must meet all of the following qualifications:

1. They must be blind, deafblind or partially sighted. For our purposes, one is considered to be “blind” if he/she has no vision or only light perception in the better of the two eyes, and “partially sighted” if he/she has a visual acuity of 20/60 or less (as measured on the Snellan eye chart) in the better eye with best correction, or if the visual field measures less than twenty degrees.
2. They must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
3. They must be attending (or planning to attend) a post-secondary institution during the period between September 2021 and April 2022 on at least a part-time basis (i.e. taking the equivalent of at least two courses per semester).
4. They must be studying at either the undergraduate or graduate level, or in college, vocational, educational upgrading, or performing arts programs.
5. They must be studying (or planning to study) at a post-secondary institution in Canada. However, Canadian citizens or permanent residents studying abroad under an exchange program and paying fees to a Canadian educational institution are also eligible, as are students who choose to study abroad due to a lack of a similar program in Canada, failure to be accepted into a Canadian program, or the clear superiority of a program abroad.

Every payer (AEBC) of a scholarship must issue an information return in prescribed form (T4A Slip) to report the payment. AEBC must report scholarship payments to CRA, even if the recipient may be entitled to exclude all or part of these payments from his or her income. It is the responsibility of the recipient to determine the amount of any exemption available. Therefore, if the applicant is awarded an AEBC Scholarship, they will be asked to provide their Social Insurance Number to the National Bookkeeper. Winners must also provide proof of enrolment.

Eligible applicants will be considered for all scholarships; a separate application for each is not required.

Previous applicants or past recipients are eligible to reapply if qualified.

MEMBERSHIP IN AEBC

Because we in AEBC believe that membership benefits those who are blind, deafblind and partially sighted both collectively and individually, an annual membership in AEBC will be offered to all non-member first-time applicants. This affords these applicants an opportunity to learn about and participate in our organization beyond the scholarship process, should they wish to do so.

COMPLETING THE APPLICATION

Applications may be submitted in either English or French. Please double check that the application is complete before submitting it. A complete application comprises the following four items:

1. The application form. Download the application form in English (as a Microsoft Word document) or Download the application form in French (as a Microsoft Word document)
2. A copy of the applicant’s most recent transcript. This need not be an official copy – a printout from the school’s website is acceptable. We may ask for an official copy at a later date.
3. A personal essay covering the following topics, not to exceed four pages in total (approximately 2000 words):
   (a) A personal statement: This is an opportunity for the applicant to describe him/herself, provide background on his/her visual condition (and any additional medical or disability information that may be relevant), the applicant’s academic goals, interests, school activities, work experience, and so on. In this essay, please answer this question: “What barriers or obstacles have you faced and conquered in your life as a result of your disability?” This may include financial hardship. Please do not simply send a resume.
   (b) “Accessible education”: The applicant should tell us how accessibility in learning makes a difference in his/her education. It should explain which format (e.g. print, large print, Braille, audio, etc.) is most important for his/her success as a student and why. NOTE: We can only know applicants through the information they provide. Please be thorough.
   (c) A reflection on the applicant’s community involvement: The applicant should tell us about the activities he/she has been a part of as a means to give back to the community. In addition, the applicant should briefly explain the role and importance of community involvement in his/her life. NOTE: We can only know applicants through the information they provide. Please be thorough.
4. One letter of reference: Each Applicant must include one letter of reference (must be current—written in the last 12 months) from an individual who can comment in detail on the applicant’s academic progress, personal strengths, and any other aspects of his/her life that support the application. The individual may be an employer or supervisor, clergy member, academic advisor, department head, academic planner, etc. If possible, this reference letter should be forwarded with the application package. If the reference would prefer to send it directly to AEBC, please ensure that he/she clearly indicates in his/her email the student applicant’s name.

SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION

The deadline for submitting an application is 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, March 26th, 2021.

Each part of the application should be submitted as a separate electronic file, preferably in Microsoft Word (.DOC or .DOCX), Rich Text (.RTF), or plain text (.TXT) format. Only the above formats will be accepted. Some members of the scholarship committee are themselves blind, and picture files (.JPG, .GIF, .PNG, etc.) are not accessible. Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) files may or may not be accessible to users who are blind; therefore, if possible, please avoid them. (We understand, however, that some documents, such as transcripts, may only come in one format from an institution.)

Please attach all of these documents to an email message and send them to: scholarship@blindcanadians.ca

Incomplete applications as well as any applications (complete or incomplete) received after 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on March 26th, 2021, will not be considered when awarding the scholarships.

Click here to view a list of the past scholarship winners!