Eligibility Requirements

• Applicant programs that are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education and demonstrate initiatives that can assist minority students that have been ongoing for at least three years.

Criteria for Selection

Applicant programs for this award must demonstrate that:

• The program has developed planned, comprehensive initiatives that assist in the recruitment, admission, retention, and graduation of minority students, and that demonstrate effectiveness, achievement, and a sustained level or increase in the number of minority students over a period of at least three years; and/or that the program has developed planned, comprehensive initiatives that can sustain or increase the number of minority faculty recruited, employed, and retained over a period of at least three years.
• The program has developed initiatives that provide services that assist students and/or faculty from racial and ethnic minority groups.
• The physical therapist professional education program or the physical therapist assistant education program provides institutional support for the initiatives and efforts put forth by the program being nominated.

A strong application should demonstrate the following:

Planned, comprehensive initiatives have been developed by the program that can assist in the recruitment, admission, retention, and graduation of minority students that demonstrate effectiveness, achievement, and a sustained level or increase in the number of minority students, over a period of at least three years.

• Comprehensive initiatives developed by the program.
• Demonstrated effectiveness, achievement, and substantial level or increase in the number of minority students.
• Future program initiatives that will sustain or increase the number of potential minority students recruited and admitted.

Planned, comprehensive initiatives have been developed by the program that can sustain or increase the number of minority faculty recruited, employed, and retained over a period of at least three years.

• Comprehensive initiatives developed by the program.
• Demonstrated effectiveness, achievement, and substantial level or increase in the number of minority faculty.
• Future program initiatives that will sustain or increase the number of potential minority faculty recruited, employed, and retained.

Initiatives have been developed that provide services that can assist students and/or faculty from racial and ethnic minority groups.

• Creativity of learner-directed strategies.
• Student engagement in the learning process.
• Consideration of the variety of learning styles.
• Feedback from objective and subjective measures.

The physical therapist professional education program or the physical therapist assistant education program provides institutional support for the initiatives and efforts put forth by the program being nominated.

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.

What Recipients Receive

A plaque and a monetary award of $2,500 will be presented to the selected program(s) by APTA's Board of Directors at an APTA national event, and an official announcement will appear in an association publication.

Submission Requirements

During the online process, the following documents will be required for upload:

1. A letter of nomination that provides a narrative description of program, to include, but not limited to:

• Name and address of the physical therapist professional education or physical therapist assistant education program and its program director.
• Name(s) and qualification(s) of individual(s) involved in minority recruitment and service initiatives.
• Total number of students enrolled in each class of program and total number of minority students enrolled in each class of program.
• Current number and academic level of students and faculty affected by the minority recruitment and service initiatives.
• Summary statement.
• Rationale for program initiatives.
• Initiatives for minority students including recruitment, admissions, retention, graduation, and/or initiatives for minority faculty (role models) including recruitment, employment, and retention.
• Services/resources available.
• Institutional support of initiatives.
• Evaluation of the program.
• Letters of nomination cannot serve as one of the required letters of support.

2. Two letters in support of the nomination from representatives of the student body and/or faculty members who have benefited from the program, not to exceed two pages each. (Note: If more than two letters of support are received, only the first two will be considered. The nominator will be asked to remove additional letters.)

Submit a Nomination

The nominations call for the Honors & Awards Program is open from 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.