Benefits of Membership

CAIS members are eligible to vote at the annual general meeting, stand for election to the board of directors, join committees, apply for grants, receive collegial assistance with research and publishing, and share their research findings with other members.

CAIS members are eligible to receive a library card from Simon Fraser University, which allows them to borrow from any of SFU’s libraries and to access SFU’s online library services. To pick up your library card, you must appear in person, with photo ID, at the circulation desk of SFU’s Belzberg Library at 515 West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver.

Membership Application Form

To apply for membership in CAIS, download and open the membership application form, and save and send it by email to membership@independentscholars.net, or print and mail it to the address on the form. If you are not able to open the application form, send us an email with your full mailing address and we will mail you a printed copy.

When your application is approved by the board of directors, you will be informed by email and asked to pay your membership fee of $60 per calendar year, pro-rated to $5 per month for the first partial calendar year of membership.
 
Application Procedures

CAIS offers these grants in support of the scholarly activities of members in good standing at the date of application and payment. The grants are made possible by an endowment to Simon Fraser University, generously established by the Wosk family, to support independent scholarship. The endowment is administered by SFU Continuing Studies, which makes the grants on the recommendations of the CAIS board of directors.

Applicants must be members of CAIS in good standing at the dates of application and payment.

Applicants must apply to the grants committee by mail or e-mail in the prescribed form that must be received by the committee on or before the application deadline.

Please apply using the attached application form which you may complete electronically and submit by mail, or by e-mail to grants@independentscholars.net If you have attachments, please include them with your application.
 
Independent Scholar Grants

The independent scholar grants help members with the cost of research, writing, publishing, creating a work of art or other artifact in any medium, or any other purpose relevant to their field of scholarly interest. The grant may be used to purchase goods or services (including travel, meals and accommodation). Grants are available for past, present and future activities that began, or are expected to begin in the calendar year. Total grant funds available are $4,500 per year. The amount of each grant can vary with the number of applicants. Grants will be paid by September. The application deadline for independent scholar grants is June 30.

CAIS Ind Sch Grant Application form