National Essay Contest Rules
1. CONTEST PERIOD
The Contest begins on Monday September 26, 2011 at 12:00:01 a.m. Eastern Time and ends on Monday January 9, 2012 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time (the “Contest Period”).
2. ELIGIBILITY
This Contest is open to all legal residents of Canada who at the time of entry are enrolled in a Canadian high school in Grade 10, 11 or 12 (Secondary IV, Secondary V, or 1st year CEGEP in the province of Quebec). Employees (and those with whom such employees are domiciled) or agents of Le français pour l’avenir / French for the Future Inc. (“Sponsor”), the University of Ottawa, l’Université Sainte-Anne, the University of Alberta, Laurentian University, or York University, their advertising and promotion agencies and the Contest judges (the “Judges”) are not eligible to enter the Contest.
The Sponsor shall have the right at any time to require proof of identity and/or eligibility to participate in the Contest. Failure to provide such proof may result in disqualification. All personal and other information requested by and supplied to the Sponsor for the purpose of the Contest must be truthful, complete, accurate, and in no way misleading. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant should such an entrant at any stage supply untruthful, incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading personal details and/or information.
3. HOW TO ENTER
No purchase necessary to enter the Contest. To enter the Contest, go to www.french-future.org, click on the Contest link on the home page, then on the entry form link on the Contest page. An entry form will appear. Fully complete the entry form (which requires your name, address, telephone number and email address as well as the grade you are in, the name and address of your high school). You will then be required to submit a 1,000 word original essay that answers the following question: “How do you see the world 15 years from now?” (the “Essay”). Essays must be written in French. Limit one entry per person (or email address) permitted during the Contest Period. If it is discovered that you attempted to enter more than once all your entries will be void. Entries will be rejected if entry form not fully completed and submitted during the Contest Period.
At the time of entry each entrant must indicate on their entry form which of the two categories below he or she best fits into. The entrant’s Essay will be judged against essays of other entrants in the same category, as is explained in more detail in the sections below.
Category 1: French Second Language (“FSL”): students whose first language is not French or students who are currently enrolled in Core French, Extended Core French, Basic French, French Immersion, or any other version or type of FSL program, available in their province or territory of residence.
Category 2: French First Language (“FFL”): students who satisfy one or more of the following criteria:
• whose first language is French;
• who speak, write and comprehend French with native fluency;
• who regularly speak French at home with one or both parents.
• who attends or has attended a French First Language school for more than 3 years.
The Sponsor reserves the right to verify that a selected entrant has categorized themselves in the correct Category.
All selected entrants who has categorized themselves in the FSL Category (Category 1) but who in fact best fit into FFL Category (Category 2) will be disqualified.
In addition, each entrant must rank the available prize scholarships in their order of preference on their entry form with the entrant’s most preferred scholarship ranked as No. 1.
Entrants will receive electronic confirmation of receipt of their essay from the Sponsor within 72 hours of its successful submission.
Essay Requirements: The submitted Essay must never have been previously published, exhibited publicly or selected as a winner in any other Contest and only amateur authors are eligible (defined as a person who has never earned more than $1,000 in any year as a result of having written essays, stories or articles). Essays submitted become the property of the Sponsor.
By entering this Contest, the entrant represents that the Essay is original to him/her and that the entrant has all necessary rights in and to the Essay to enter the Essay in this Contest. Entrants agree that the Essay becomes the sole property of the Sponsor, who shall have the right to publish, display, reproduce, modify, edit or otherwise use the Essay in whole or in part for advertising or promoting the Contest or for any other reason. Entries not complying with these Contest rules will be disqualified.
4. THE PRIZES AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUES
There are a total of 60 prizes to be awarded, each consisting of a scholarship to one of the following Universities: University of Ottawa, l’Université Sainte-Anne, Campus Saint-Jean of the University of Alberta, Laurentian University, and Glendon College of York University. Of the 60 available prizes, 30 will be awarded to entrants in Category 1, and 30 will be awarded to entrants in Category 2.
The number and approximate retail value of each prize is set out in the table below. Prize must be accepted as awarded and is not transferable or convertible to cash. No substitutions except at Sponsor’s option. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the prize or a prize component with one of equal or greater value.
Scholarship
Amount
|
University
|
# of Scholarships
Offered:
French Second
Language (FSL)
(Category 1)
|
# of Scholarships
Offered:
French First
Language (FFL)
(Category 2) |
| $20,000 |
University of Ottawa
|
1 |
1 |
| $10,000 |
Université Saint-Anne
|
2 |
2 |
$5,000
|
University of Ottawa
|
2 |
2 |
| $5,000 |
Université Saint-Anne
|
1 |
1 |
| $5,000 |
Laurentian University
|
1 |
1
|
| $5,000 |
Glendon College, York University
|
1 |
1
|
| $3,000 |
Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta
|
2 |
2 |
| $2,000 |
University of Ottawa
|
20 |
20 |
| |
|
TOTAL: 30
|
TOTAL: 30
|
An entrant whose essay is ranked within the top of his/her Category will be eligible to win the scholarship they have ranked the highest that has not been already awarded to an entrant with a higher ranking Essay within his/her own Category.
For example, the first place winner in each Category will be eligible to win his/her first choice of scholarship. The second place winner in each Category will be eligible to win the scholarship they ranked highest, unless it is unavailable as it is has already been awarded to the first place winner. In such a case, the scholarship that has been ranked second highest by the second place winner may be awarded.
See below for scholarship requirements.
5. SELECTION OF PRIZE WINNERS
Each Essay will be judged by a panel of 4 Judges who will be appointed by the Sponsor. All Essays submitted will be judged on the basis of the following criteria: structure (40 points), style and argument (65 points), documentation (30 points), command of the language (40 points), and text formatting (25 points). Each Essay will receive a score from the judging panel, which will be the average of the scores given to the Essay by each Judge. The evaluation grid the Judges will use to grade each Essay they are assigned is available here.
In each Category, the thirty (30) Essays with the highest scores will be selected as potential winners for the Category. The Essay with the highest score in each Category will be the first place winner, the Essay with the second highest average score will be the second place winner and so on to the thirtieth place winner. Odds of an Essay being selected depend on the number and caliber of Essays received in the Category in which it is entered. In the event of a tie between Essays in the same Category, the Essay that received the highest combined score on Style and Argument from the four Judges will receive the higher ranking. In the event of a further tie the tied Essay will be re-reviewed by a panel of 4 different Judges and ranked using the same criteria as set out above. Essays that are not an original creation of the person submitting it, or which are illegal, defamatory or in any way obscene, all as determined solely by the Sponsor, will be disqualified.
Judging will be completed by February 13, 2012. The Sponsor will contact selected entrants by February 28, 2012 at the email address or the telephone number provided by the entrant at the time of Contest registration. Before being declared a winner, each selected entrant must sign, or have his/her parent or legal guardian sign if the selected entrant is under the age of majority in his/her province or territory of residence, a standard declaration and release form, confirming, among other, that (i) they assign all intellectual property including the copyright in the Essay to the Sponsor and waive their moral rights in the Essay, (ii) they agree to the Contest rules, that they are in conformance with the Contest rules and that they agree, amongst other things, to the use without compensation of their own photographed image, their name and city of residence in all publicity campaigns related to the Contest, (iii) they will accept the prize as awarded, (vi) they release the Sponsor, the University of Ottawa, l’Université Sainte-Anne, the University of Alberta, Laurentian University, and York University, their advertising and promotion agencies, the Contest Judges and their respective officers, directors, agents, representatives, successors and assigns (the “Releasees”) from any liability in connection with this Contest, the entrant’s participation therein and/or the awarding and use of the prize or any portion thereof. The release form must be received by the Sponsor by March 5, 2012 by fax or email failing which the Entrant will be deemed to have forfeited his/her prize with no liability to the Sponsor. Once the release form has been received by the Sponsor, the winner will receive a letter from the Financial Aid and Awards Office of the University offering the applicable scholarship detailing the prize. The winner will be able to redeem their prize when they demonstrate to the satisfaction of the participating University offering the applicable scholarship at issue that (i) they meet the Scholarship Eligibility Criteria applicable to the scholarship which they have won, and (ii) that they will comply with all the terms and conditions applicable to the scholarship being awarded as the prize.
By accepting a prize consisting of a scholarship of any amount at any participating institution within the National Essay Contest does not oblige the Contest winner to use the scholarship money and attend its corresponding university.
In the event a prize cannot be awarded for any reason, or is forfeited by a potential winner, the Sponsor shall not be under any obligation to award the prize to alternate entrant.
If you have not been contacted by February 28, 2012, you may assume that your Essay is not a selected entry.
On March 12, 2012, the official winners of the Contest will be announced on the French for the Future website.
6. SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA
a) $20,000 Scholarships ($5,000 per year for 4 years) – University of Ottawa
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $20,000 University of Ottawa scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least nine credits per semester taught in French and/or in French as a second language.
Renewal criteria:
• These scholarships may be awarded for four years provided that the award holder obtains and maintains a cumulative grade point average of 8.5 or higher and is registered full-time and takes at least nine credits per semester taught in French or in French as a Second Language (FSL) in one of the direct-entry faculties or the Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section.
• Recipients who do not meet the renewal criteria in any given year will be able to renew their admission scholarship if their CGPA is between 8.0 and 8.4 or increases to 8.0. The scholarship will be renewed at a minimum of $2,000. Moreover, recipients who increase their CGPA to 8.5 in subsequent years will be able to renew this scholarship.
Notes:
• This is an admission scholarship. The first instalment of the scholarship must be used during the recipient’s first year of university.
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with the Renewable Admission Scholarship, the Nortel Networks Admission Scholarship, the President's Scholarship, the Chancellor's Scholarship, the Canada’s University Scholarships, the Bourse de la francophonie or the Immersion Study Scholarship at the University of Ottawa.
b) $5,000 Scholarships – University of Ottawa
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $5,000 University of Ottawa scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least six credits per semester taught in French and/or in French as a second language.
Notes:
• This is an admission scholarship. The scholarship must be used during the recipient’s first year of university.
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with the Renewable Admission Scholarship, the Nortel Networks Admission Scholarship, the President's Scholarship, the Chancellor's Scholarship, the Canada’s University Scholarships, the Bourse de la francophonie or the Immersion Study Scholarship at the University of Ottawa.
c) $2,000 Scholarships – University of Ottawa
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $2,000 University of Ottawa scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least six credits per semester taught in French and/or in French as a second language.
Notes:
• This is an admission scholarship. The scholarship must be used during the recipient’s first year of university.
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with the Bourse de la francophonie or the Immersion Study Scholarship at the University of Ottawa.
7. SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: UNIVERSITÉ SAINTE-ANNE (Nova Scotia)
a) $10,000 Scholarships ($2,000 per year for 5 years) – l’Université Sainte-Anne (Nova Scotia)
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $10,000 Université Sainte-Anne scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least nine credits per semester of classes taught in French and/or offered in the French immersion program.
Renewal criteria:
• These scholarships may be awarded for a maximum of five years provided that the award holder obtains and maintains a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher and is registered full-time and takes at least nine credits per semester taught in French and/or offered in the French immersion program.
Notes:
• This is an admission scholarship. The first instalment of the scholarship must be used during the recipient’s first year of university.
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with any other scholarship. However, if the winners are eligible for a scholarship of higher value than the scholarship of the Essay contest, they could obtain the differential value. For example, if a winner has an average of 85 % or higher in Grade 12, he/she could qualify for a renewable scholarship of $3,000, in which case the Université Sainte-Anne would award the Essay contest scholarship ($2,000) and $1,000 as an academic scholarship.
b) $5,000 Scholarships ($1,000 per year for 5 years) – l’Université Sainte-Anne (Nova Scotia)
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $5,000 Université Sainte-Anne scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least nine credits per semester of classes taught in French and/or offered in the French immersion program.
Renewal criteria:
• These scholarships may be awarded for a maximum of five years provided that the award holder obtains and maintains a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher and is registered full-time and takes at least nine credits per semester taught in French and/or offered in the French immersion program.
Notes:
• This is an admission scholarship. The first instalment of the scholarship must be used during the recipient’s first year of university.
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with any other scholarship. However, if the winners are eligible for a scholarship of higher value than the scholarship of the Essay contest, they could obtain the differential value. For example, if a winner has an average of 85 % or higher in Grade 12, he/she could qualify for a renewable scholarship of $3,000, in which case the Université Sainte-Anne would award the Essay contest scholarship ($1,000) and $2,000 as an academic scholarship.
8. SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: SAINT-JEAN CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
a) $3,000 Scholarships ($2,000 for the first year and $1,000 for the second year) – Saint-Jean Campus of the University of Alberta
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $3,000 Campus Saint-Jean of the University of Alberta scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least nine credits per semester of classes taught in French at the Saint-Jean Campus.
Renewal criteria:
• The second instalment of the scholarship will be awarded the second year provided that the award holder obtains and maintains a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher, is registered full-time, and takes at least 9 credits per semester, taught in French at the Campus Saint-Jean.
Notes:
• This is an admission scholarship. The first instalment of the scholarship must be used during the recipient’s first year of university.
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve up until September 2014.
• For the recipients, this scholarship can be combined with any other scholarship from the Saint-Jean Campus and/or the University of Alberta.
9. SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY
Number: 2 (one scholarship in each category)
Value: $5,000 ($5,000 for the
first academic year)
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $5,000 Laurentian University scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least nine credits per semester of classes taught in French and/or in the French Immersion program.
Notes:
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with any other academic scholarship. However, if the winners are eligible for a scholarship of higher value than the scholarship of the Essay contest, they could obtain the differential value.
10. SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: GLENDON COLLEGE OF YORK UNIVERSITY
Number: 2 (one scholarship in each category)
Value: $5,000 ($5,000 for the
first academic year)
Eligibility criteria:
1. Participate in the French for the Future National Essay Contest and choose the $5,000 Glendon College of York University scholarship option. Winners and finalists in each category will be selected by a panel of judges.
2. Meet general eligibility criteria.
3. Full-time registration in a regular program and take at least nine credits per semester of classes taught in French.
Notes:
• Students who win scholarships but are not eligible to attend university in the 2012-2013 academic year will have their scholarship held in reserve.
• For the recipients, this scholarship cannot be combined with any other academic scholarship. However, if the winners are eligible for a scholarship of higher value than the scholarship of the National Essay Contest, they could obtain the differential value.
11. GENERAL CONDITIONS
Entry in this Contest constitutes acceptance of these Contest rules.
By entering the Contest, the each selected entrant agrees to the publication, reproduction and/or other use of his/her Essay, name, address, voice, statements about the Contest and/or photograph or other likeness without further compensation, in any publicity or advertisement carried out by the Sponsor in any manner whatsoever, including print, broadcast or the Internet. The Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies and the Contest Judges are not responsible for late, lost, misdirected, delayed or illegible entries.
Without limitation, the Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies and the Contest Judges will not be liable for any failure of the Website during the Contest; for an technical malfunction or other problems relating to the telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment or software; for the failure of any entry to be received by the Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies or the Contest Judges for any reason including, but not limited to, technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website; or any combination of the above. Further, the Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies and the Contest judges will not be liable for any injury or damage to an entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading any material in the Contest.
The Sponsor reserves the right to withdraw or amend this Contest in any way, in the event of an error, technical problem, computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failure, printing, distribution or production errors or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of the Sponsor that interferes with the proper conduct of this Contest as contemplated by these Rules. Any attempt to deliberately damage any web site or to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek remedies and damages to the fullest extent permitted by law, including criminal prosecution.
No correspondence will be entered into except with the potential winners and winners. This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws. Void where prohibited by law. The decisions of the Contest judges and Sponsor with respect to all aspects of this Contest are final and binding on all entrants without right of appeal.
By submitting an entry, that entrant agrees to the Contest rules including all conditions stated therein. By submitting an Essay, the entrant submitting it automatically agrees that the Essay complies with all conditions stated in these rules and to its becoming in its entirety upon submission the property of Sponsors including in relation to all intellectual property contained therein. The Sponsors and those associated with them will bear no legal liability, expressed or implied, regarding the use of the winning Essays by the Sponsor and THE SPONSOR SHALL BE HELD HARMLESS BY A WINNER IN THE EVENT IT IS SUBSEQUENTLY DISCOVERED THAT THE WINNER HAS DEPARTED FROM OR NOT FULLY COMPLIED WITH ANY OF THE CONTEST RULES.
In the event of a dispute, online entries will be deemed to have submitted by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of entry. “Authorized account holder” is defined as the person who is assigned an email address by an internet provider, online service provider, or other organization (e.g. business, educational institute, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. If the identity of an online entrant is disputed, the authorized account holder associated with the email account at the time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant. A selected entrant may be required to provide proof that he/she is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the selected entry. The sole determinant of the time for the purposes of a valid on line entry in this Contest will be the Contest server machine(s).
In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between the English language version and the French language version of the Contest Rules, the English version shall prevail, govern and control.
All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of the Contest Rules or the rights and obligations as between the entrant and the Sponsor in connection with the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of Ontario including procedural provisions without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other jurisdiction’s laws.
The Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or suspend this Contest in the event of any accident, printing, administrative, or other error of any kind without prior notice or obligation.
By entering this Contest, each entrant expressly consents to the Sponsor, its agents and/or representatives, storing, sharing and using the personal information submitted with his/her entry only for the purpose of administering the Contest and in accordance with Sponsor’s Privacy Policy, unless the entrant otherwise agrees.