2018/Scholarships

This page is a draft. Much of it is placeholders, nothing on this is final.

WikiConference North America 2018 will take place in Columbus, Ohio, on October 18-21! We're pleased to be able to offer $500 scholarships to offset the travel and/or lodging expenses of select attendees to this conference.


 * Eligibility: Any Wikimedian who lives in North America and actively contributes to a Wikimedia project.


 * Applications Open: July 13, 2018
 * Application Deadline: August 15, 2018
 * Notification of awards: August 31, 2018
 * Notification of acceptance from recipient: Due September 7, 2018

Scholarship committee

 * User:Another Believer
 * User:Rosiestep
 * User:StaceyEOB

Phase One: Eligibility
Applications will fail Phase One if any of the following apply:


 * 1) The candidate is currently banned by any Wikimedia project and does not have significant contributions to other Wikimedia projects.
 * 2) The candidate has been globally banned from Wikimedia projects.
 * 3) The candidate has been banned from any Wikimedia event under the Safe Space Policy.
 * 4) The application entirely or primarily consists of content which is off-topic or abusive.
 * 5) The application fails the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN) requirement, a provision in the fiscal sponsorship agreement with the WMF for anyone potentially receiving funds from this grant.
 * 6) The applicant has failed to make a reasonable effort to answer the questions on the application form.
 * 7) The applicant has failed to demonstrate any significant Wikimedia contributions or activities which may merit the awarding of a scholarship.

Examples of "significant Wikimedia contributions or activities" are as follows:
 * Active contributor to a Wikimedia project (e.g. Wikipedia, Commons, or Wikisource), with at least 500 contributions (edits)
 * Organizer of Wikimedia events (e.g. Wiki Loves Monuments, edit-a-thons, etc.)
 * Mediawiki code contributor, gadget or other tool-builder for Wikimedia projects
 * Wikimedia Foundation Grantee or Researcher
 * Wikimedia Administrator, CheckUser, Bureaucrat, Steward, or OTRS volunteer

Phase Two: In-depth
Each reviewer will grade the applicants on a scale of 0 to 10 based on Collaboration, Leadership, Impact, and Potential. These will cover many aspects of one's activity as noted below:


 * Contributions to Wikimedia projects
 * Demonstrated collaborative activities (either online and offline) related to Wikimedia projects
 * Offline work related to Wikimedia projects, including contests, weekly collaborations, etc.
 * Blog posts, reports, social media management, etc., that demonstrate a valuable contribution to the community.
 * Event participation (paper, talk, workshop, hackathon, panel, discussion, poster, etc.)
 * Role within most active Wikimedia community (editor, administrator, bureaucrat, etc.)

Phase Three: Final approval for scholarships
There will be an average final score generated for each applicant based on the Phase Two reviews. The final awarding of the scholarships will be to encourage diversity regarding gender, region, language, and Wikimedia projects.

Scholarship universal best practices
The review team will follow the universal best practices adopted by the Wikimedia Foundation Scholarships Program. The following expenses are eligible for reimbursement:
 * Travel (to and from the conference, as well as during the conference)
 * Lodging
 * Transit

Reimbursements will be made after departure from the conference according to the process outlined in the awardee's email. Wikimedia District of Columbia, the conference's Fiscal Sponsor, is disbursing reimbursements. Every reimbursement request that is submitted through the required format is processed and paid individually. WMDC will occasionally cluster multiple requests from a single individual into one payment if the requests are processed at the same time.

Academic scholarships
The Wiki Education Foundation is offering a separate scholarship process for academics submitting presentations under the Academic Peer Review Option. If you have completed a conference submission and checked the academic peer review option, you will automatically be considered for a Wiki Education Foundation academic scholarship. To be considered for a general scholarship, you must apply at this link.