Intent of the Award:
The IAHPERD Scholar Award annually recognizes individuals who have developed an outstanding reputation as a scholar. Additionally, the award is designed to involve the scholar in the dissemination of knowledge in such a way as to benefit the disciplines and professional practices represented within HPERD.

Eligibility

• The individual will have established a national reputation (as determined by peer review of works) through scholarly pursuits (e.g., publications and / or presentations) that impact the disciplines of HPERD.
• Shall have an advanced degree in his/her respective field.
• Shall reside or work in the State of Illinois, except for a retiree who may relocate to another state and still be eligible.
• The work should have practical application to one or more of the disciplines in HPERD.
• The Award may be received only once.
• Must have current IAHPERD membership.
• May be actively employed or retired.

Nomination Requirements

• Any IAHPERD member may nominate a candidate to be considered for the IAHPERD Scholar Award.
• A letter of nomination from an IAHPERD member will be due by July 15th. The letter should include the nominee’s contact information. The letter should be sent to:

IAHPERD
P.O. Box 865
Alton, IL   62002    

OR

iahperd@gmail.com

• Upon receipt of the nomination letter, the nominee will be contacted by IAHPERD. The person nominated would be asked to submit a vita and brief biography attesting to his/her scholarship, and submit two confidential letters of recommendation from colleagues in the field of study.
• A one-page abstract of the individual's research or scholarly activity with explanation as to its merit and benefits to one or more of the disciplines in HPERD shall also be submitted.
• The nominee would need to agree to meet the expectations for receiving the award before being considered, and understand that failure to do so results in the forfeiture of the award.
• All nominees not selected for the award would remain in the pool for the following three years. They would need to update their materials by October 1st.

Expectations of the Awardee

• On January 1 of the subsequent calendar year, the IAHPERD Scholar Award winner would begin a one-year term.
• The Scholar would be expected to give a presentation at the forthcoming annual IAHPERD convention and, if applicable, at the Midstate convention or other scheduled IAHPERD conferences.
• The Scholar would be expected to bring relevance and practical application of the scholarly work to the membership.
• The Scholar would be expected to submit a manuscript for publishing to the Illinois Journal and present at another conference within the United States that applies to an area of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.

Selection of the Recipient

• The award recipient will be selected by the Past-Presidents, annually at the Past-Presidents' meeting at the State Convention, from the slate of candidates circulated by the Chair of the Advisory Committee. A simple majority of the votes will determine the recipient. The recipient would be named at the Past-Presidents' meeting at convention, and announced at the Saturday Executive Board meeting.

Award

In addition to being recognized as the IAHPERD Scholar and receiving a plaque signifying the award, the individual's reasonable and documented travel expenses to all presentations would be covered (up to $1500 for the year as the budget allows) following IAHPERD travel reimbursement guidelines.

Nominations should be sent to:      
IAHPERD
P.O. Box 865
Alton, IL 62002