Awards & Scholarships

Two bursaries of $2,250 each have been made available through an endowment established by the family in memory of Andrew Clunas for students in the Okanagan School of Education at The University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. Andrew Clunas (1883-1969) and his wife Ada raised four children while working very hard on a family farm in Lynne Valley during the Great Depression. He spoke highly of the value of an education and always encouraged his children to pursue opportunities to learn.

This bursary, in his honour, will give students in the Okanagan School of Education valuable assistance in their own pursuit of education.

The bursary is adjudicated by the Admissions and Awards Office.

Learn more about the story behind the bursary.

Teacher candidates who complete 55 per cent or more of their coursework in French may qualify to receive up to $1,600 to offset tuition fees from the BC Ministry of Education Bursary.

Recommendations for the bursary are made by the Okanagan School of Education.

Bursary Application

For professional development and other French education course bursaries, visit the BC Ministry of Education website.

Plusieurs bourses sont disponibles lors que vous étudiez en français au BEd à UBCO. Entre autres: 

• Bourse pour études postsecondaires en français langue seconde (si vous n’avez pas fait vos études dans une école secondaire francophone; 3000$); 
• Bourses de voyage pour les stages* (EDUC442) en dehors de la Colombie-Britannique et pour l’Institut de français, UBC à Québec (montant variable); 
• Bourse pour participer à l’Institut de français, UBC à Québec comme cours d’été* (pour les étudiant.es dont le français n’est pas la langue dominante; montant variable); 
• Bourse pour futurs enseignants exerçant en français : Pour toute personne inscrite à un programme de formation d’enseignants à temps plein offert par un établissement postsecondaire accrédité de la Colombie-Britannique (55 % de ses cours en français).  

*Bourses variables en fonction des fonds disponibles.

Bourses externes: 

• Canadian Parents for French – B.C. & Yukon Teacher Awards (jusqu’à 2000$). 

Each year UBC Okanagan faculties award a student with the University of BC Medal for the head of the graduating class. In other faculties, the Head of Graduating Class is determined based on GPA.

As the Bachelor of Education Program is a pass/fail system, nominees will be considered for their overall academic performance while enrolled in the program.

Selection

The Undergraduate Program Committee is responsible for reviewing all nominations and selecting the award recipient(s).

Faculty can send their nomination form to education.ubco@ubc.ca.

A $9,950 major entrance award has been made available through an endowment established by the Central Okanagan Kiwanis Community Service Society to a student entering the Bachelor of Education program in the Okanagan School of Education at The University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus.

Eligibility

The successful candidate is entering the Bachelor of Education program in the Okanagan School of Education at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, will be academically qualified and be pursuing the Teaching Children (Kindergarten to Grade 5+) pathway.

Preferences

Preference is given to a student from the Central Okanagan who has demonstrated volunteer and or leadership skills, significant financial need, and has been a member or related to a member, past or present, of Kiwanis International.

Selection

This award is made on behalf of the Kiwanis Clubs of Kelowna in recognition of their many contributions to the Central Okanagan region. Awards made on the recommendation of the Okanagan School of Education.

Deadlines

Applications will be sent out to Bachelor of Education – teaching children pathway students in the summer.

The selected recipient will be notified before mid-September.

Scholarships totaling $1,900 have been endowed through a bequest by Madeline Betty Korfman to honour her love for teaching. Madeline Korfman taught school in southwestern Saskatchewan before relocating to the Okanagan in the mid-1990s.

Eligibility

The criteria for this award is very broad, “to honour Madeline Korfman’s love for teaching.”

Recipients

Two recipients will share this award sum. An amount of $950 will be awarded to each of the two Bachelor of Education candidates in June, at the end of their candidacy year.

Selection

The scholarships are awarded on the recommendation of Okanagan School of Education faculty to Bachelor of Education candidates.

The Undergraduate Program Committee is responsible for reviewing all nominations and selecting the award recipients. Faculty can request an application from the Undergraduate Programs Assistant by emailing education.ubco@ubc.ca.

Nominations are recommended to be made at the end of every academic term.

The Maxwell A. Cameron Award is given annually by the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation to students completing the final year of the Bachelor of Education degree in elementary and secondary school teaching to be the outstanding student in the graduating class who has:

a. initiated, worked or participated in a project that created positive change globally or in their local community, and or,

b. been actively involved in issues related to poverty, LGBTQ rights, women’s rights, anti-racism, peace, global or environmental issues.

You can learn more about grants and other funding opportunities on their website.

A gift in the amount of $25,000 from Myles McGovern, along with matching funds from the University, will establish an endowment fund to be known as the “Robert and Marie Evans Bursary in Education Endowment Fund” (the “Evans Fund”).

The Evans Fund will support bursaries for students in the Okanagan School of Education at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. Preference will be given to a student who has graduated from a  secondary school in School Districts 22, 23, or 67.

The bursary is adjudicated by the Admissions and Awards Office.

A $1,500 award is offered by Associate Professor Emeritus Sharon McCoubrey to a student completing a bachelor’s degree at the Okanagan School of Education.

Eligibility

Preference is given to a student who also has a fine arts degree in visual arts, and/or has demonstrated leadership and passion for creativity with a commitment to advancing the teaching of visual arts in elementary school.

Selection

Awards are made on the recommendation of the Faculty. The Undergraduate Program Committee is responsible for reviewing all nominations and selecting the award recipient(s).

This $6,000 fellowship is intended to support students who are approaching their final term and are focusing on the completion of their thesis or dissertation. Please refer to the eligibility criteria for complete details.

If you have questions, please email lindsay.cox@ubc.ca.

Application deadline is August 28, 2024.

Apply

We recognize up to eight meritorious students enrolled in programs leading to a graduate degree each year. Awards are made on the basis of applicants’ academic excellence, potential contribution, and relevant interactions and characteristics. Awards are open to students currently enrolled in graduate studies in the Okanagan School of Education and recent graduates within one year of degree completion. Awards will be determined at the conclusion of the Winter Two term on a yearly basis.

Application Form

Please submit the application with supporting documents to lindsay.cox@ubc.ca.

Eligibility
To be eligible for the recognition awards applicants must:

• Be registered as a graduate student or be a recent Master or Doctoral level graduate of the Okanagan School of Education (maximum of one year beyond the receipt of degree).
• Be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or an international student with a valid study permit.
• Have completed at least one term of their graduate degree at UBC’s Okanagan campus.
• Have obtained a first-class standing across completed graduate level coursework to be eligible to receive funding (for UBC courses, first class standing is 80% and higher).

List of Awards

The Education Graduate Student Recognition Awards include a diverse list of achievements for our MA, MEd and PhD students:

• Outstanding Master-Level Graduate Student Award
• Outstanding Doctoral-Level Graduate Student Award
• Master of Education Outstanding Project Award
• Doctoral Studies Outstanding Conference Presentation Award
• Master-Level Outstanding Conference Presentation and/or Publication Award
• Master of Arts Outstanding Thesis Award
• Doctoral Studies Outstanding Publication Award
• Doctoral Studies Outstanding Conference Presentation Award
• Doctoral Studies Outstanding Dissertation Award

Download the list of awards with descriptions.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Academic Excellence
   • Academic records and standing
   • Scholarships and awards
   • Scholarly involvement
2. Potential
   • Applicant’s history and current work in
     • Program of study
     • Depth of scholarship
     • Areas of interest
     • Contribution to the field
3. Relevant Characteristics and Interactions
   • Academic and leadership experiences
   • Project management
   • Organizing conferences/events and meetings
   • Elected positions
   • Committee responsibilities
   • Mentoring
   • Teaching
   • Community engagement and outreach
4. Specific Component Criteria
   • Demonstrations of competency and excellence in the component that identifies the award e.g. project, thesis, presentation or dissertation

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by a three-member subcommittee of the Graduate Program Committee (GPC). Recommendations based on the review will be reported to the GPC for final determinations. The Director of Graduate Programs in Education will inform all applicants of awards and make this information public.

Award 1 and 2 will be judged as follows:

Academic Excellence 50%
Potential 25%
Relevant Characteristics 25%

Award 3 through 8 will be judged as follows:

Quality of Specific Component 50%
Academic Excellence 25%
Relevant Characteristics 25%

This internal grant is intended to subsidize travel to conferences for Okanagan School of Education graduate students in Master’s or Doctoral programs. In order to be eligible, students must present scholarly work based on their graduate studies at a national or international scholarly meeting or conference. Applications will be considered for travel support for up to $500 per request. A total of 4 grants will be available each year (2 in the Spring / 1 Fall / 1 Winter).

Applications should address the following questions:

1) What are the research results to be presented? (Must be described in terms accessible to a lay person)

2) Where is the presentation being made? (What conference/location/society, at the local/national/international level, to what audience?)

3) Why is the selected conference an important venue for presenting the research results? (What are the benefits to the student and to UBC Okanagan to have the applicant’s presentation given at this conference?)

4) What was the Applicant’s role in the development of the graduate inquiry being presented? What is the Applicant’s role in the conference?

5) Why is the Applicant an excellent candidate for the travel award? (Demonstrate excellence of the applicant; please attach a two-page C.V.)

Each of the criteria has equal weight in the ranking of the applications.

ADJUDICATION

Grant applications will be assessed by a sub-committee of the Graduate Programs Committee according to the award eligibility criteria. This sub-committee will be chaired by the Okanagan School of Education’s Director of Graduate Programs.

• Graduate students currently enrolled in the Okanagan School of Education presenting scholarly work at a conference are eligible to apply in the term in which they plan to travel.
• Applicant must be noted in the conference program.
• Travel must occur by March 31st of the current academic year in which funds are received. Only expenses incurred within the terms of the award are eligible for reimbursement.
• The project/research for this presentation must have been done while registered as a student at UBC Okanagan.
• Student must be registered in an Okanagan School of Education graduate program at the time of the application and at the time of the conference.
• Applicants may receive travel funding from this source once during their graduate program.

Complete the Graduate Student Travel Grant Application Form after carefully reviewing the Award criteria and eligibility information.

Application Form

The application must be submitted electronically as a single PDF containing copies of all required documentation, including the following attachments:

• Letter of Invitation/Acceptance that describes the nature of your participation in the conference (with English translation if necessary)
• Abstract and/or Proposal (as submitted to conference organizers)
• Two-page C.V. – please use separate headings to distinguish between conference presentations and written publications
• Please provide budget for requested funding (i.e. airfare, accommodation, confirmation of registration)
• (Optional) Additional details about the conference (brochure, list of plenary speakers, etc.) One page maximum.

Submit the completed application to Lindsay Cox at lindsay.cox@ubc.ca.

Documentation:

• If any of the mandatory documentation is unavailable when submitting the application an explanatory note must be included.
• In the case of an incomplete application, a committee decision to award a travel grant will be made on a provisional basis only, pending receipt and review of the necessary documentation.
• When the documents are available, please submit them to the Okanagan School of Education – Graduate Programs, Lindsay Cox at lindsay.cox@ubc.ca

A $5,000 award is offered by family in memory of Dr. Stephen Daniel Pope to a graduate student in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. Dr. Stephen Daniel Pope is remembered for his passion for education and his significant contributions to the public education system of British Columbia in the 1800s.

Preference is given to a student who shows great promise in the field of education.

Eligibility

All currently registered graduate students in the Okanagan School of Education are considered for this award.

Nomination Procedures

• The Okanagan School of Education will review and evaluate currently registered graduate students and make an award recommendation to the College of Graduate Studies
• Only successful nominees will be notified

An award in the amount of $2,950 has been endowed by Dr. Vicki Green, a member of the Okanagan School of Education. The award is offered to a graduate student in the Okanagan School of Education, studying issues in social, economic, ecological, environmental and/or political sustainability. Candidates for the award are selected based on how their research will implement contemplative, transformational, imaginative, or creative interdisciplinary understandings in sustainability for children, youth, or teachers. The award is made on the recommendation of a selection committee comprised of members of the Okanagan School of Education.

Application Form

Please submit the nomination with supporting documents to lindsay.cox@ubc.ca.

Eligibility

The graduate (Master or Doctoral) student nominee must be a full-time or part-time student enrolled in a graduate degree program with the Okanagan School of Education.

 Evaluation Criteria

• Good academic standing.
• Implementation potential – Candidates for the award are selected based on how their research will implement contemplative, transformational, imaginative, or creative interdisciplinary understandings in sustainability for children, youth or teachers.
• The award is made on the recommendation of a selection committee comprised of members of the Okanagan School of Education.

Application Procedures

• An Okanagan School of Education faculty member must submit a completed application to the Director of Graduate Program by the deadline
• The nomination letter should reveal why the graduate student is a good fit for the award. A sub-committee from the Graduate Program Committee will act as reviewers.
• The graduate student must supply a one-page summary of their research/project.

About the Award

Fly fishing was a source of inspiration for Vicki Green, associate professor of education, in her decision to give a $50,000 endowment to UBC’s Okanagan campus. The endowment will create an annual scholarship for a Faculty of Education graduate student conducting research in social, cultural, political, environmental, or economic sustainability. Read more.