National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment
& NCLVI Fellowships

• The National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment (NCLVI) is a Collaborative Agreement funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.  
• NCLVI was created in order to increase the number of leaders in the field of blindness and visual impairment, particularly in the areas of public policy/advocacy, curriculum development, research, personnel preparation, and administration at national, state and/or local levels.
• NCLVI consists of
  • A consortium of 14 universities that offer doctoral degrees with an emphasis in blindness and visual impairment
  • A Public Advisory Council (PAC)
  • A staff based at Pennsylvania College of Optometry.
• NCLVI will award doctoral-level fellowships to full-time students who are committed to the education of children who are blind or visually impaired.  
• NCLVI Fellowships include
  • Full tuition for up to 4 years of full-time doctoral study at an NCLVI Consortium University.
  • Minimum $20,000 annual living stipend for up to 4 years
  • Required added-value enrichment program emphasizing leadership development in the field of blindness and visual impairment and involving face-to-face seminars, fieldwork, internships, cohort listservs, and on-line discussion boards
  • Travel to select national conferences and meetings
  • Participation in a community of practice for leadership in blindness and visual impairment.
• NCLVI Fellowship Applicants must be
  • US citizens
  • Accepted into a doctoral program at a Consortium University for the 2005 or 2006 academic years
  • Full-time students.
• All application materials must be received by February 3, 2006.
• Fellowship Competition Now Closed

NCLVI Fellow Tiffany Wild, who is a doctoral student at The Ohio State University, meets with Beth DeBrosse, Office Manager and Legislative Assistant for Representative David L. Hobson of Ohio. The two discussed the Least Restrictive Environment provision of IDEA as it applies to the needs

Fourteen NCLVI Fellows and four guest doctoral students made visits to legislators on Capitol Hill as the culminating activity for the students' three-day training on public policy and advocacy in the field of blindness and visual impairment. Seminar presenters and Hill escorts included faculty from University of Northern Colorado and staff from American Foundation for the Blind, National Federation of the Blind, American Council of the Blind, and National Industries for the Blind.