Hello fellow Wikimedians<div><br></div><div>As you know, we received 7,070 applications for Scholarships. The Scholarships Team have now finalised <b>100</b> <b>scholarship awards</b> on the basis of merit according to the set criteria, and individual emails are now being sent to the awardees. As you are probably aware, a fixed sum of money has been budgeted for this award, and, as it happens, there will be some money left over.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We Intend to further send out emails to the candidates who are not going to receive scholarships, a process that is also getting underway now. </div>
<div><br></div><div>However, and we request your <b>urgent</b> participation in this process, there have been a number of calls for using the Scholarship Budget for the purpose of evening out potential imbalances in attendance at the Conference on several counts. The remaining money will support a few additional scholarships, perhaps between 15-30. The number is a variable, as the Scholarships cover only travel to and fro Mumbai and lodging for the days of the Conference. The cost of lodging is fixed, but the cost of travel depends on the journey involved. </div>
<div><br></div><div>The potential categories that can be given a little boost are:</div>
<div><br></div><div>1. Gender (the number of present Wikimedians is heavily weighted towards males)</div><div>2. Persons with disabilities (several Wikimedians with disabilities have contributed significantly to improving the accessibility of Wikipages for all persons)</div>
<div>3. Age (very young Wikimedians need to be encouraged to participate, and very old persons also need to be recognised for their youthful spirit, enthusiasm and dedication)</div><div>4. Indic contributors (as a reflection of the need, and also of the worthy performance of localised Wikipage creators and supporters)</div>
<div><br></div><div>Awardees within categories 2 and 3 need attendant caregivers (on request, in some cases, but mandatory for those under 18), and therefore the awarded Scholarships cover 2 persons each, in 2 cases, so the total awards actually cover <b>102 persons</b>. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Separately, we will inform you of the breakup of these categories from the current awardees, but <b>could you please</b> take the trouble to vote (+1 = Yes, -1 = No) in each category, about your own opinion about supporting this endeavour? </div>
<div><br></div><div>Please address your reply to <<b><a href="mailto:wikiconferenceindia@gmail.com">wikiconferenceindia@gmail.com</a></b>> rather than spam the list (or me), if you don't mind, using the words [WCI2011 Scholarship Poll] in square brackets in the subject line, as shown. This poll will close at <b>midnight Thursday Sept 29, 2011</b>. We will collate the votes and advise the lists accordingly. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Your assistance via participating in this poll is highly appreciated, and your patience in wait for this announcement is also much appreciated. We are sorry it has taken us a little longer than planned to complete this phase of the Scholarship awards. </div>
<div><div><br></div>-- </div><div>(on behalf of the Scholarships Team)<br>Vickram<br>
<a href="http://communicall.wordpress.com" target="_blank">Fool On The Hill</a><br>
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