Scholarships for RMA and APPA Training
In 2002 Rocky Mountain APPA (RMA) established policies, procedures, and guidelines for the award of scholarships for APPA’s Leadership Academy (the Academy) and Institute for Facilities Management (the Institute).
RMA supports the professional development of the employees of its member institutions. The professional development of personnel in the field of facilities (operations, maintenance, design, construction, etc.) is essential to ensure that the employee can continue to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities available in providing facility services to the institution. RMA believes this professional development can be achieved through a wide variety of activities, two of which are the Academy and the Institute.
RMA is currently committed to providing approximately five scholarships for tuition to the Academy and ten scholarships for tuition to the Institute. The number and value of the scholarships to both the Academy and the Institute can be changed by a majority vote of the Board of Directors (the Board) of RMA.
Guidelines for Selection of APPA Institute and Academy Scholarship Recipients
The RMA scholarships and the recommendation for the APPA scholarships are awarded on a majority vote of the Board. Members of the Board cannot vote on the scholarship application of any individual from their respective institution. Factors for selection of scholarship recipients:
- Financial need as explained by the applicant.
- Special consideration will be given to women, minorities and disabled applicants.
- A single institution may have no more than one scholarship awarded for the Institute and the Academy per year (per cycle) unless there are no other applications submitted for the Institute or Academy or the RMA Board approves.
- Awards will only be made to an individual whose institution holds current membership in both RMA and APPA.
- Preference for members of the RMA 14er’s Mentoring Program.
- Preference for Leadership Academy scholarship applicants who have EFP or CEFP.
- Applicant must have addressed on his/her application the following:
- Demonstrated commitment to the facilities profession (can be shown by work/membership on local, regional and/or national/international professional organizations associated with facilities; i.e., SCUP, IFMA, BOMA, APE).
- Progressive career development within the profession (can be shown by job history, education, training, etc.).
- Potential for future career development (normally shown by endorsement from immediate supervisor and/or administrative/executive supervisor at the institution).
Procedure for Scholarship Application:
- Complete the scholarship application online at the APPA website.
- Applications will be reviewed by the the Board each spring. Applicants are encouraged to type the application.
- Applicants are encouraged to complete their application early.
Procedure for Scholarship Application Review:
- The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will provide a list of all applicants to the Secretary and the Chair of the Membership Committee who will check to ensure that the applicants are from a member institution of both RMA and APPA and that the applicant has not received a prior scholarship.
- The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will review all applications upon receipt for completeness and contact any applicant whose application is incomplete within one week after the closing date for receipt of applications (February 15). The applicant will have one week to provide all missing or incomplete information. If the applicant does not provide the necessary information within this time frame the application will be returned without action and the applicant will be encouraged to apply in the next year.
- The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will strike a Scholarship Subcommittee of two other Board members (volunteers) who will review all submissions electronically over the “myAPPA – myWorkspace” website prior to the mid-year Board meeting. The Scholarship Subcommittee will determine who should be awarded a scholarship based on the average score of all three members as determined by the scoring criteria and available funds. The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will recommend a list of eligible RMA members at the mid-year Board meeting. The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will conduct that portion of the mid-year Board meeting dedicated to the selection of scholarship recipients. Recipients will be selected by majority vote of the Board.
- The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will be responsible for counting the ballots, the formal written notification of the award of the scholarships to the recipient, the recipient’s supervisor and forwarding the recommendation for the APPA scholarships to the appropriate personnel at APPA Headquarters.
- The Treasurer will be responsible for all financial details involved with the scholarship award.
- The Chair of the Awards & Recognition Committee will contact all of the applicants not selected for the scholarships and encourage the applicant to apply again for the following year.
- The scholarship recipients must use their scholarship in the year they awarded. If the scholarship is not used within one year the recipient will lose the scholarship and have to re-apply.
Scholarship Awards:
- The Board will award ten separate scholarships for tuition for the Institute each year.
- The Board will award five scholarships for tuition to the Leadership Academy each year.
- An individual may receive only one scholarship from either RMA or APPA for any purpose (attend either the Institute or Academy).
- The Board, by majority vote, may approve more scholarships for each of the Academy or Institute should the number of applications and budget allow.
- Scholarship recipients will be expected to:
- Join the RMA 14er’s Mentoring Program either as a “Climbing Buddy (mentor)” if they are qualified or as “novice climber (mentee)” to assist them in becoming more familiar with APPA/RMA and begin participating in its programs.