What Award Winners Say

Check out recent Minority Scholarship winner DeJ'a Crippen, PT, DPT, talk about what the scholarship means to her in the video below.

Archana Vatwani, PT, DPT, EdD, MBA, says the following about receiving the APTA 2022 Minority Faculty Development Scholarship Award.  

"Twenty-five years ago, I came to the United States as an undergraduate international student to seek a good education. Many challenges often related to diversity and inclusion have required hard work, perseverance, courage, faith, and, most importantly, extraordinary support. I want to thank all those who have guided, mentored, and supported me. I am proud to be part of an association that commits to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), belonging, and social justice, and honored to have received the APTA 2022 Minority Faculty Development Scholarship Award. This award has supported my goals of completing my terminal degree and starting my academic leadership journey as Program Director of Physical Therapy. Incorporating cultural competence into our daily lives is our professional duty. I am grateful for APTA’s support and look forward to continuing my DEI, belonging, and justice commitment to contribute to the growth and development of our profession."

Faculty Development Scholarship Award

This is an annual award offered by the PT Fund to minority faculty pursuing a postprofessional doctoral degree. The following is in addition to the instructions for the Minority Faculty Development Scholarship Award:

Submission requirements for the Minority Faculty Development Scholarship Award include:

1. A personal essay outlining professional goals, along with plans to contribute to the profession and minority services. The essay must include a response to the four questions listed in the application.

2. Curriculum vitae to include but not be limited to: education and honors; continuing education courses; licensure and certification; employment (and titles of positions held); consultative and advisory activities; membership in scientific, professional, and honorary societies (and positions held); minority community activities/services; scientific and professional presentations; presentations at continuing education seminars/workshops; publications; published abstracts; grant activities; and other pertinent information.

3. A completed application form.

4. Three completed reference forms (forms provided in application document):

• Reference Form 1: completed by the PT program director.
• Reference Form 2: completed by the faculty advisor or chair of the dissertation committee.
• Reference Form 3: completed by a resource who can verify contributions to the minority community.

5. Plan of study for attaining the graduate degree, signed by the applicant’s faculty advisor. When appropriate, include dates of the comprehensive examination; admission to candidacy; approval of overview of research project; and defense of thesis, dissertation, or equivalent requirement (form provided in application document).

Eligibility Criteria

Nominees for this award must:

• Be physical therapists and full-time faculty members, teaching in an accredited or developing professional physical therapist education program, who at the time the award is presented will have completed a minimum of two full semesters or three full quarters of post-professional doctoral course work.
• Be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and a member of one of the following racial or ethnic minority groups: African American or Black, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latino.
• Possess a current license to practice physical therapy in a U.S. jurisdiction or have met all the requirements for licensure in a U.S. jurisdiction.
• Be enrolled as a student in a regionally accredited post-professional doctoral program whose content has a demonstrated relationship to physical therapy.
• Demonstrate a commitment to further the physical therapy profession through teaching and research.

Criteria for Selection

• A commitment to advancing and positively impacting minority affairs.
• Academic excellence.
• Dedication and service to the profession and association.
• Evidence of contributions in the areas of minority affairs and services and high scholastic achievement.

A strong application should demonstrate the following:

• Honors and awards received.
• Demonstrated leadership (association, professional, or other, including offices held, etc.).
• Mentoring.
• Commitment to excellence in education, physical therapy research, and scholarly activities (e.g., publications, presentations).
• Contributions to underserved populations.
• Any additional activities related to professional or community service.
• Essay that demonstrates self-reflection, passion, ability to organize thoughts, and authenticity.
• Letters of support that are positive, cite specific examples of professional accomplishments, and provide additional information on depth, scope, and quality in a convincing manner.

PT Student and PTA Student Awards

This is an annual award offered to minority physical therapist students and minority physical therapist assistant students by the PT Fund.

Student nominees must complete all degree requirements (clinical and didactic) and/or be eligible to graduate between Sept. 1, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2024. The following is in additio to the instructions for the Minority Scholarship Award for Student Physical Therapist and Student Physical Therapist Assistants.

Eligibility Requirements

• Be physical therapist students and physical therapist assistant students who, by the start of the annual Honors & Awards Program nomination process, are enrolled in the final year of study in a CAPTE-accredited PT or PTA program (or for PTA programs with a part-time curriculum, the final year of the curriculum), based on each institution’s determination of the minimum number of credit hours required for final year status, and are within 12 months of completing all requirements for graduation from the program in which they are enrolled.
• Be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents and a member of one of the following racial or ethnic minority groups: African American or Black, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latino.
• Potential for superior achievements in the profession of physical therapy, as well as professional excellence as a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant.
  
  

Criteria for Selection

• A commitment to advancing and positively impacting minority affairs.
• Academic excellence.
• Dedication and service to the profession and association.
• Evidence of contributions in the areas of minority affairs and services and high scholastic achievement.

A strong application should demonstrate the following:

Honors and awards received:

• Academic honors, awards, scholarships, societies, etc.
• Nonacademic honors, awards, scholarships, societies, etc.

Community service:

• Volunteer community service not required by program.
• Volunteer community service required by program.
• Professional service activities (APTA activities, meetings, committees, etc.).
• Other service activities (e.g., within university).

Presentations and publications.

Volunteer non-PT activities.

Past and present activities not identified elsewhere.

Strong student essay.

Strong GPA.

Letters of support that are positive, cite specific examples of professional accomplishments, and provide additional information on depth, scope, and quality in a convincing manner.

Submission requirements for the Minority Scholarship Award for Student Physical Therapists and Student Physical Therapist Assistants:

1. A completed application. 

2. A personal essay no longer than 600 words outlining professional goals and minority service (beyond what is required by the academic program). Essay should be uploaded and attached to the nomination upon submission.

The essay must include a response to the following three questions:

• Why are your contributions to minority and underserved populations important?
• How have your activities and contributions impacted the communities you serve?
• How have your experiences and contributions impacted you personally?

3. Three completed reference forms:

• Reference Form 1: completed by the physical therapy program resource.
• Reference Form 2: completed by a physical therapist clinician.
• Reference Form 3: completed by a minority/communities activities referral.

4. One unofficial transcript in PDF format detailing all physical therapy coursework completed to date to accompany the original application materials. If the applicant’s transcript is not based on a grading scale of 1-4, a written explanation of that scale’s equivalence to a 1-4 grading scale must be provided.

What Recipients Receive

Awards will be awarded based on the following:

• Each Faculty Development Scholarship awardee will receive an award and a monetary award of $5,000.
• Each student physical therapist awardee will receive an award and a monetary award of $5,000.
• Each student physical therapist assistant awardee will receive an award and a monetary award of $3,000.

Awards will be presented by APTA's Board of Directors at an APTA national event with monetary awards mailed prior to the event. An official announcement will appear in an association publication.

Submit a Nomination

The nominations call for the Honors and Awards program is open Sept. 1- Dec. 1. Nominations must be submitted through our online portal by Dec. 1; late submissions will not be considered. Selected recipients and their nominators will be notified in May.

Additional Resources

For questions regarding the nomination process or the award, please contact honorsandawards@apta.org.