Last updated: February 7, 2022

To support diversity in academic and clinical PT leadership, the leading voice of physical therapist education programs is funding diversity awards to the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership (formerly ELI) again in 2022. 

ACAPT has approved two awards of $7,000 for the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership for the upcoming cycle beginning summer 2022, plus up to $5,000 for travel and expenses.  See 2021 award winners. 

The fellowship is a 52-week curriculum designed to develop leaders in physical therapy education and higher education. The nine online modules and in-person immersive sessions are delivered in a trimester format and guided by content expert faculty, fellowship mentors, and the program director.

“As a profession, we must address the lack of diversity in our clinical and academic settings.  We need to support greater minority representation among our PT faculty and academic administrators,” says ACAPT President Mark Reinking, PT, PhD, ATC, FAPTA.  “ACAPT recognizes that providing leadership training is one way to help tackle the issue and ensure our leaders reflect our patient population.”

Currently, 90% of DPT program directors are white, while only 2.5% are Black/African American, 3% are Asian and 2.5% are Hispanic/Latino, according to the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

How to apply

Apply for the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership on RF-PTCAS.  The final deadline for submission is Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Note that if you plan to apply for the ACAPT Faculty Diversity Award in the “Financial Support” section on the Nomination Form.

Once accepted into the fellowship program, ACAPT will select scholarship recipients based on the applicant’s leadership goals, connection with ACAPT’s mission and how the fellowship will help a candidate’s future role at their educational institution and within ACAPT. 

To learn more about both APTA’s fellowship program and the ACAPT diversity award - including tips on applying, listen to this recorded webinar. 

• For questions about applying to the ACAPT diversity awards, please contact acapt@acapt.org. 
• For questions about applying to the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership, please contact HigherEdFellow@apta.org

 Criteria to receive the ACAPT diversity grant

1. Applicant must be an individual member of ACAPT and be employed full-time by an ACAPT member institution.



2. Applicant must be accepted into the APTA Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership.

3. Applicant must identify as a member of an under-represented minority as defined by the ACAPT Diversity Task Force.

All applicants eligible for the grant from ACAPT will be required to submit:

1. A copy of the letter of acceptance to the Fellowship from APTA
   
   
2. A copy of their CV
   
   
3. A response of not more than 500 words to address the following:

• Tell us about your plans for your professional trajectory in academia.
• Share your intent for involvement in ACAPT.
• How will the Fellowship in Higher Education Leadership assist you in meeting these goals?