PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE GRANTS

The Professional Development Course Grant was instituted to encourage current active members to enroll in study and research programs relevant to TESOL Arabia. For more information on the Professional Development Course Grant, please read the Guidelines.

To apply for a Professional Development Course Grant, please use the online application. If you have trouble with the online application, please contact the webmaster at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE GRANT: GUIDELINES

1. Overview
   At the 2001 Annual General Meeting, TESOL Arabia voted to begin the Professional Development Course (PDC) Grant. This grant provides limited financial support for individual eligible TESOL Arabia members to enroll in study and research courses relevant to TESOL Arabia. The grant is administered by the Professional Development Course Gant Committee which is composed of the Member at Large, who acts as the Committee Chair, one other member of the TESOL Arabia Executive Council, and three ordinary members of TESOL Arabia in good standing appointed at the discretion of the Chair. This Committee will field all applications.
2. Types of Courses for which Funds may be Requested
   The types of courses to be supported can include but are not limited to:
   
   1. Active participation in special purpose training courses,
   2. Certificate courses, such as local, online and distance learning courses,
   3. TESOL Arabia development courses,
   4. Courses/modules leading to a Bachelor's degree, a Master's degree or a Doctorate or their equivalents.
3. Current Limitations and Constraints
   Given funding limitations, the following constraints are necessary:
   1. Financial support available through the PDC Grant will in many cases be modest and partial in terms of the full costs of the proposed activity. TESOL Arabia expects that the applicants will apply for other funds and use some of their own resources. This enables the allocated resources to benefit more members.
   2. There is no absolute entitlement to money in any given year and when the funds are depleted no further applications will be accepted.
   3. Applicants may only be funded for one PDC Grant per budget year. The budget year runs from 1st October to 30th September.
   4. No PDC Grant shall exceed 2,500AED per year.
4. Eligibility
   All current active members of TESOL Arabia who have been a member of TESOL Arabia for at least one full calendar year are eligible to apply for funding. Current members of TESOL Arabia who have been members for less than one full calendar year are not eligible to apply for funding.
5. Applying for a Professional Development Course Grant
   
   1. Applicants are requested to complete the online application in full. This will automatically be sent to the Chair of the PDC Grant Committee when it is submitted.
   2. Documentation supporting your service to TESOL Arabia should be sent as an e-mail attachment to pdgrants@tesolarabia.org on the same day as you submit your application online. Supporting documentation is required if your service to TESOL Arabia includes possibly undocumented assistance at Chapter or SIG activities, in which case you should submit a recommendation stating your service to TESOL Arabia at these events from the appropriate Chapter Rep or SIG Chair.
   3. Applications should only be submitted in the budget year in which the course of study will be completed. The budget year runs from 1st October to 30th September.
   4. Incomplete documentation will not be considered.
   5. There is no deadline for applications. They will be accepted and voted on at the time received.
6. Criteria for Awarding the Professional Development Course Grant
   Funding is evaluated and awards made based on the following factors:
   1. whether the applicant has previously received money from TESOL Arabia in the form of a PDC Grant, a Travel Grant In or a Travel Grant Out,
   2. the relevance of the course for which money is requested to TESOL Arabia,
   3. the applicant's service to TESOL Arabia.
   In all cases, decisions made by the Committee are final and no correspondence regarding decisions reached will be entered into.
7. Responsibilities of the Grantee
   Before payment of the PDC Grant can be made, the following conditions must be met. The grantee must:
   1. provide proof of registration, acceptance, and payment in the course of study. This would normally be in the form of original receipts.
   2. prove successful course completion. This would normally be in the form of a photocopy of the course certificate.
   3. feed back to TESOL Arabia the knowledge gained from the course of study and its application to teaching English to speakers of other languages by either:
      1. submitting a report of at least 500 words for Perspectives
      2. presenting a session for one of the TESOL Arabia Chapter or SIG events
      3. presenting a session at the TESOL Arabia Annual Conference
      4. completing another activity agreed with the PDC Grant Committee.
   All original receipts, photocopies of certificates, and the written report for Perspectives or proof of a presentation should be sent before the end of the budget year to:

   Sandra Oddy (Member-at-Large)
   Al Ain Women's College
   Higher Colleges of Technology
   P.O. Box 17258
   Al Ain, UAE