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Scholarship Mission

Section 115.2 of the ChABSA Bylaws authorizes and empowers the Council to use finances in furtherance of the association’s purposes. A primary purpose of the association as defined in section 101.2 is to “foster and promote biological safety as a scientific discipline through education, research, and professional development.” Therefore, ChABSA has created a Scholarship Program available for adult learners who qualify as Student Members and ChABSA Members to be used for ChABSA-sponsored events, including technical seminars, pre-symposium courses, and the annual scientific symposium.

 

In addition, the Mission of the ChABSA Membership Committee is to engage and collaborate with industry representatives, local colleges, and/or universities, and to inform potential professionals about a career in biosafety and biosecurity. To support that mission, ChABSA has created the “ChABSA Biosafety and Biosecurity Scholarship Fund.” This fund is set up to receive tax-deductible donations to the Scholarship Fund and distribute awards as approved by Council.

 

Scholarship SOP

 

  1. 1.The ChABSA council will approve continuance of the scholarship program as well as its SOP each operating year by majority vote.

 

  1. 2.A dedicated informational page on the ChABSA website will include a description of the scholarship programs as well as downloadable application forms.

 

  1. 3.The Scholarship Committee is chaired by a ChABSA Member and a Council Member acts as Mentor, and is composed of at least two other ChABSA Members in good standing not to exceed five members (inclusive of the Chair and Mentor). The Scholarship Committee will review and vote on applications and forward recommendations to ChABSA Council for final review and approval. Committee members are recruited by the Council annually and may be appointed for no more than three consecutive years. There is no limit to the number of appointments during a Member’s lifetime.

 

  1. 4.The Scholarship Committee will manage two distinct scholarship programs for ChABSA-sponsored events.

 

  1. a.Technical Seminar Scholarship

 

  1. b.Symposium/Pre-Symposium Course Scholarship

 

  1. i.One award will be made to a qualifying Student as defined in the application and Bylaws. (Student rates will apply.)

 

  1. ii.One award will be made to a ChABSA Member (non-Student Member) with 5 years or less experience in the biosafety and/or biosecurity profession.

 

In the event a qualifying ChABSA Member does not apply, that award will be made to another qualifying Student.

 

Course awards may cover one or two 4-hour pre-symposium courses, or one 8-hour pre-symposium course, and the full one-day Symposium as requested by the Applicant. Travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of the Awardee. The total award cannot exceed $600.  Applications will be due by April 1st.

  1. c.The Scholarship Committee will review all submissions to verify that they meet eligibility criteria and will selectbased on the professional benefit to the recipient. Note that financial need will not be taken into consideration and will not be accepted. An application can be excluded from the selection process if a majority of the Committee Members agree that the written description is not satisfactory., For example, if it appears that the applicant put no effort into writing the description or omitted required information.

 

  1. d.The Scholarship Committee may select up to four applications for each award and submit them to Council for consideration and approval by majority vote.

 

  1. 5.The Scholarship Committee will also manage academic scholarships to be awarded to qualifying students as that is defined in the Bylaws or by the post-secondary academic or professional organization supporting the awards. The Scholarship Committee shall perform due diligence research to locate qualifying organizations that will assist in recruiting and screening eligible applicants. The Scholarship Committee will make recommendations for scholarship awards and the amounts at the January Council Meeting and thereafter as necessary with the intent to meet funding deadlines for the upcoming academic or professional program year. Application deadlines will be set by the academic or professional organization and nothing in this SOP applies to those organizational deadlines.

 

  1. 6.The Scholarship Committee must meet a minimum of five times per fiscal year to review applications for each deadline (August 1st, October 1st, December 1st, February 1st, and April 1st). The chair should provide committee members at least one week to review materials prior to a meeting. Decisions will be made so that applicants will be notified no later than two weeks following the application deadline.

 

  1. 7.ChABSA Council members and scholarship committee members are not eligible to receive scholarship awards.

 

  1. 8.An individual may only be awarded one scholarship for ChABSA-sponsored programs per ChABSA fiscal year (July 1st – June 30th).

 

Symposium Scholarship

 

Technical Seminar Scholarship

 

Page Last Revised 3-14-24