2013 AACP Walmart
Scholars Program
Program Information and
Application Instructions
Deadline: February 14, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. EST
Table of Contents
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
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The Program Description………….………………………………………………………………………....2
Evaluation of Applications .................................................................................................................. 3
Scholarship Notification...................................................................................................................... 3
Application Instructions and link to online application .................................................................. 4
Instructions for Student’s Evaluation of Experience/Program ....................................................... 4
Examples of GPA Verification Letters...............................................................................................6
2013 Program Information
I.
The Program
A. Description
The AACP Walmart Annual Conference Scholarship Program (the Program) provides up to eighty-five
(85) student-faculty pairs from AACP member institutions a $1,000 scholarship to support registration
and other meeting expenses for the student to attend and participate in the AACP Annual Meeting
and Seminars.
B. Goal of the Program
AACP appreciates the challenges facing the colleges and schools of pharmacy in striving to ensure
there are an adequate number of well-prepared individuals who aspire to join the faculties at our
expanding number of institutions across the country. The goal of the scholarship program is to
strengthen the recipient’s skills and commitment to a career in academic pharmacy through their
participation at the AACP Annual Meeting and Seminars.
C. Eligibility, Requirements, and Service to AACP
Graduate students, professional (doctoral) students, residents, and fellows, along with their faculty
mentors, are eligible to apply for the travel scholarships.
*A faculty mentor may only apply with one mentee.*
Applicants must be enrolled in a professional pharmacy degree program or graduate program at an
AACP regular or associate member institution, must also be an individual member of AACP, have a
strong interest in enhancing their preparation for a career in academic pharmacy, have a minimum of
3.0 GPA, and be a United States citizen or permanent resident.
Please note that some preference is given to residents, fellows, and final year students. Students early in
their pharmacy careers should not be discouraged from applying, as a small number of outstanding first
and second year students are selected each year. Additionally, an attempt is made to balance the
number of award recipients per institution as much as possible.
Awardees must provide a final report, with appropriate recognition to Walmart and AACP, on their
experiences after the annual meeting and no later than August 1, 2013.
AACP leaders and staff will publicly acknowledge the pairs during the orientation and at other
appropriate points in the 2013 Annual Meeting and Seminars to promote Walmart and AACP’s
commitment to the recruitment and development of pharmacy faculty. Further, to assist with
maximizing the experience of the scholarship pair to its fullest, logistics will be provided prior to the
annual meeting that lists sessions that are both required and suggested to attend.
D. Scholarships (Requirements of How to Spend $1,000)
The program will provide $1,000 annual conference scholarships to up to eighty-five student-faculty
pairs from AACP member institutions to attend the AACP Annual Meeting and the AACP Teachers
Seminar in Chicago, Illinois from July 13-17, 2013. The scholarship is to cover 100% of the student’s
cost to register for the 2013 AACP Annual Meeting and Teachers Seminar. Beyond registration
costs, the recipient pair should apply the remainder of the scholarship to airfare, lodging, and other
meeting expenses for the student, as the intent of the AACP Walmart Scholarship Program is to aid
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the student financially. AACP does not require a report from the student as to how they plan to spend
the scholarship funds.
Based on previous Walmart Scholar comments and for economical reasons, we strongly suggest that
scholars share a hotel room with other students or their faculty mentor at the annual meeting. Hotel
information will be available at www.aacp.org in early April 2013.
II. Evaluation of Applications
A. Evaluation Scale
A one to ten point evaluation scale for scoring each of the evaluation criterion is used. An application
meeting of all the requirements of a given criterion could receive a score of ten on that criterion. A
poorly conceived application could receive a minimum score of one, whereas a “strong” application
could receive a maximum perfect score of 100. Only integer scores will be utilized.
B. Evaluation Criteria
AACP leaders will use the following criteria by which all applications will be judged. The evaluation
team will look for well thought out, organized, articulate, and complete applications, with evidence
that both parties have a strong interest in enhancing the student’s preparation for a career in
academic pharmacy.
1. Credentials of the Student (weight factor=6)
The GPA verification letter, the Student’s Statement of Career Goals, and the Academic
Pharmacy Essay are used for this criterion. The degree to which the student is motivated to
pursue an academic career is evaluated. Evaluation involves an assessment of how closely the
personal and academic credentials of the student match with the goal of the Program.
 5 points – Academic criteria (GPA)
 15 points – career statements/goals
o Do the student’s goals relate to the goals of the program?
o Articulation of goals
o Grammar
 5 points – evidence of professional involvement
 15 points – research/teaching experience
 20 points – academic pharmacy essay
2. Faculty Mentor’s Support of Student (weight factor=4)
The faculty mentor’s description of the student’s qualifications and capacity to succeed in this
type of Program is used for this criterion. The degree to which the faculty mentor believes the
student will benefit from participating in the Program is evaluated.
 10 points – degree of mentor’s engagement with the student/resident/fellow
 10 points – ongoing plan for mentorship
 20 points – mentor’s assessment of student’s qualities or attributes that give them a
higher propensity for academic pharmacy compared to other students
III. Scholarship Notification
1. Scholarship recipients will be announced in mid April 2013.
2. Funds will be forwarded to the student (or the student’s institution) on or shortly after May 15, 2013.
3. AACP will announce the scholarship recipients in Academic Pharmacy Now, in other appropriate
publications, and in a News Release for trade journals and newsletters.
4. AACP will arrange for publicity of the recipients at the AACP Annual Meeting and Seminars. Here is
a sample listing of events from those required in 2012:
 AACP Walmart Scholars Orientation (Saturday, July 13, 2013);
 Teachers Seminar (Saturday, July 13, 2013);
 Graduate Student Program (Saturday, July 13, 2013);
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

Council of Faculties & Department Chairs Welcome Reception (Sunday evening, July 14,
2013); and
Attendance at two Poster Sessions (Sunday, July 14, and Monday, July 15, 2013).
IV. Application Instructions—Applications are due by February 14, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
A. Applications
Applications will be collected electronically through http://fs16.formsite.com/AACP/form38/index.html
A printable form is available for review only: http://fs16.formsite.com/AACP/form38/print.
Paper applications will not be accepted.
It is strongly suggested that students and mentors utilize the login option in order to save
partial information on the combined application and enable a later return to complete the
application. Students and their Mentors will need to share the login and password for the
application.
The application is in an online survey format and will require the following information to be considered
complete. In the application, * indicates a required response.
1.
Demographic Information
Name, Address, Email, Phone, AACP Member numbers for Student and Mentor, etc.
2.
GPA Verification (document to be uploaded)
Please provide a letter from the Dean’s or Registrar’s Office verifying your cumulative GPA,
including undergraduate course work. The letter should also verify your current professional
or graduate degree GPA. This is used in place of transcripts so that we can verify that your
GPA is within the eligible limits. See examples on page 6. (One page maximum length)
3.
Student’s Statement of Career Goals (document to be uploaded)
Students must describe their reasons for wanting to participate in this Program, their career
goals and other academic and personal attributes they may wish evaluators to consider.
(Two pages maximum length**)
4.
Student’s Academic Pharmacy Essay (document to be uploaded)
In a one page essay, students must explain how teaching, research/scholarship, and
service are essential to academic pharmacy. (One page maximum length**)
5.
Faculty Mentor’s Support of Student (document to be uploaded)
Faculty mentors must describe the reasons for wanting to sponsor the student in this
Program, and describe the student’s qualifications and capacity to succeed in an academic
career. (Two pages maximum length**)
**Please note: Documents for uploading are to be within the following parameters: Arial font size
11, 1-inch margins, and double space; 1 to 2 page maximum length, based on specifications
above. Papers submitted outside these parameters will not be reviewed. The header feature may
be utilized for names and institution, and will not impact the parameters for document length.
B. Application Deadline
Applications must be received at AACP by 5:00PM EST, February 14, 2013.
V. Instructions for Student’s Evaluation of Experience/Program—Evaluations must be completed
by the student and e-mailed to AACP by COB August 1, 2013. Electronic signatures are acceptable.
Please note that excerpts from your evaluations may be used in AACP-related publications (Academic
Pharmacy Now) and/or forwarded to AACP and Walmart leaders.
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Evaluations should be two to three pages in length, and include the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Personal impressions of the AACP Teachers Seminar
Personal impressions of the AACP Annual Meeting
Your reasons for pursuing a career in academic pharmacy
The impact of the experience on your personal, academic, and career goals
Other comments and impressions of the Program, including suggestions for improvement
Your Faculty-Mentor’s Signature
Please e-mail program evaluations to: Walmartscholars@aacp.org
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VI.
Examples of GPA Verification Letters:
Please provide an official letter from the Dean’s or Registrar’s Office verifying your cumulative GPA, including
undergraduate course work. The letter should also verify your current professional or graduate degree GPA.
This is used in place of transcripts so that we can verify that your GPA is within the eligible limits. This letter
will be uploaded into the online application.
Examples:
Example 1 (Pharm.D. candidate)
School Letter Head
Dean X
X College of Pharmacy
Address
February 1, 2013
Dear AACP,
Student X is currently enrolled in the Pharm.D program at X College of Pharmacy. Student X has a
cumulative GPA of 3.2. Student X’s cumulative GPA in the Pharm.D program is 3.5.
Thank you,
Dean X
X College of Pharmacy
Example 2: (Graduate student, Resident or Fellow)
School Letter Head
Dean X
X College of Pharmacy
Address
February 1, 2013
Dear AACP,
Student X has graduated from the Pharm.D program at X College of Pharmacy. Student X graduated with a
cumulative GPA of 3.2. Student X’s cumulative GPA in the Pharm.D program was 3.5.
Thank you,
Dean X
X College of Pharmacy
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