Shirley Gilliver Memorial Fund Grant

Grants from the Shirley Gilliver Memorial Fund shall be open to competition among candidates who:

• are Australian citizens or Australian permanent residents; and
• are a full-time student of JCU enrolled in:
  • a Bachelor of Social Work;
  • a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours;
  • a Masters of Social Work;
  • a Masters of Social Work (PQ)
  • a Masters of Social Policy; or
  • a Doctorate undertaking research in rural communities.
• are or will be undertaking social work field education or research in rural or remote communities.

Note: not exclusive to North Queensland. Inclusive of placements or research in rural and remote communities in Australia. Research applicants need to demonstrate how their projects relate to social welfare policy and problems of rural or remote communities.

The value of the grants shall be determined by your research or placement budget and awarded at the discretion of the Selection Committee. Payments for placements will be paid in one lump sum after acceptance of the grant. Payments for research will be paid into JCU student research account after acceptance of the grant.

Prior to completing an application, you should carefully read the Scholarship Rules below.
Applicants wanting to apply for this scholarship must attach the following documents:

• A copy of your JCU academic record,
• A copy of your resume,
• No more than three written references,
• A budget for use of funds,
• A one page covering letter outlining the circumstances and/or purpose for which the funds are sought:
  • outline where, when and how long you are going on placement in a rural or remote community (if applicable)
  • outline who, what, where your specific research will be conducting in relation to rural or remote communities if applicable).

Students can determine if the location of their placement or research is rural (RA3) or remote (RA4 or RA5) using the following 
ASGS Remoteness Areas locator (2021). When using the locator, please use the following settings:

When applying for a scholarship it is very important that you answer all the questions and include all relevant documents.  Your application and relevant documents must be submitted before the closing date. If an application is incomplete, it will not be considered.

Your application is checked for completeness and eligibility, and you will receive an email confirmation it has been received. After the closing date it will be individually assessed and put forward to a selection committee who will rank your application against others who have applied. Applicants may be required to attend an interview as part of the selection process.

The Fund was established by the Family, friends and colleagues of Shirley Gilliver, a Senior Tutor in the School of Behavioural Sciences, who died in a road accident returning to Townsville from the Cairns campus on 22 April 1991. The Fund was established to promote the study of social welfare policy and problems of rural North Queensland.

Value and Payment of the Grant

The value of the grants shall be determined by your research or placement budget and awarded at the discretion of the Selection Committee. Payments for placements will be paid in one lump sum after acceptance of the grant. Payments for research will be paid into JCU student research account after acceptance of the grant.

Eligibility Criteria

Grants from the Shirley Gilliver Memorial Fund shall be open to competition among candidates who:

• are Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia; and
• are a full-time student of JCU enrolled in
  • a Bachelor of Social Work;
  • a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours;
  • a Masters of Social Work;
  • a Masters of Social Work (PQ)
  • a Masters of Social Policy; or
  • a Doctorate undertaking research in rural communities.
• are or will be undertaking social work field education or research in rural or remote communities

Note: not exclusive to North Queensland. Inclusive of placements or research in rural and remote communities in Australia. Research applicants need to demonstrate how their projects relate to social welfare policy and problems of rural or remote communities.

Selection Criteria

The Selection Committee will, in the exercise of its absolute discretion, afford consideration to the following criteria:

• Written statement (40%);
• Academic merit (20%);
• Budget (20%);
• The character of the candidate for the award (10%);
• The following order of priority (10%):
  • Bachelor of Social Work or Masters of Social Work (PQ) students undertaking fieldwork in rural or remote communities;
  • Masters of Social Work students and Master of Social Policy students undertaking research in rural or remote communities; and
  • Doctorate students undertaking research in rural or remote communities.

Application Procedures

Applicants wanting to apply for this scholarship must attach the following documents:

• A copy of your JCU academic record,
• A copy of your resume,
• No more than three written references,
• A budget for use of funds,
• A one page covering letter outlining the circumstances and/or purpose for which the funds are sought:
  • outline where, when and how long you are going on placement in a rural or remote community (if applicable)
  • outline who, what, where your specific research will be conducting in relation to rural or remote communities if applicable).

Students can determine if the location of their placement or research is rural (RA3) or remote (RA4 or RA5) using the following 
ASGS Remoteness Areas locator (2021). When using the locator, please use the following settings:

When applying for a scholarship it is very important that you answer all the questions and include all relevant documents.  Your application and relevant documents must be submitted before the closing date. If an application is incomplete, it will not be considered.

The applicant authorizes the Selection Committee to make such enquiries as to the applicant’s good character and suitability to receive a grant from the fund, which includes authorization for the Selection Committee to examine the applicant’s academic record, and seek opinions from relevant members of the academic staff of this University, or any other academic institution.

Selection Process

A grant from the fund will be made at the absolute discretion of the Selection Committee which shall comprise:

• Head of Social Work (Chair), or nominee; and
• Fieldwork coordinator for Social Work.

The Selection Committee reserves the right:

• not to award a grant in any year;
• to award a grant for a period of one or more years; and
• to extend a grant for the existing recipient.

The Selection Committee may require applicants to undertake an interview as part of their application.

The Selection Committee will determine all matters relating to the Fund.

Conditions of the Grant

If the holder of an award fails to comply with any of these provisions or any provision relating to a particular award or with any conditions imposed under these provisions or the provisions relating to a particular award, the Council may terminate the award or withhold any further emoluments or take such action as it may deem necessary to enforce compliance with the provision or performance of the condition by the holder.

The recipient of the grant shall continue to receive the award on condition that in the opinion of the Selection Committee, and on advice from the head of the division in which the recipient is undertaking a course of study, that the recipient maintains a satisfactory level of performance. Where it is determined that the level of academic performance is unsatisfactory the Selection Committee may in its absolute discretion cancel the award or suspend the award for such time as it may determine and/or until academic performance is considered satisfactory. Where an award is cancelled pursuant to the provisions to this clause it may, for the remainder of the term for which the original holder would have been entitled to it, be awarded to another suitable candidate.

A student may lodge a request for review of decision in accordance with the provisions of the JCU Student Review and Appeals Policy.

The requirements of the grant shall not make the awarding of the grant conditional upon the recipient providing unremunerated services or products to the donor.

Administration of the Grant

The grant shall be administered by the scholarships office, on behalf of the Selection Committee.

The funds of the grant shall be held in an account in the name of the University and shall be administered by the officer of the University charged with administering the grant.

Where an award provides some benefit to the recipient from a body external to the University, or an obligation upon a body external to the University, the University, its servants and agents, shall not be liable for that benefit or obligation

Please refer to Glossary of Terms.