2025 HEI Student Scholarship Information

The Dr. Amy Bernard HEI Student Scholarship  

About Dr. Amy Bernard: A long-time Ohio SOPHE member and faculty member in the Health Promotion and Education program at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Amy Lynn Bernard passed away on October 25th, 2024, after a brief illness. Amy is remembered by so many as a wonderful teacher who genuinely cared for her students, and she received the program’s annual, student-selected “Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching” multiple times throughout her career. She served in a variety of board and committee positions during her tenure in Ohio SOPHE. Amy earned a Ph.D. in Health Promotion and Education in 1994 from Ball State University. Throughout her 30-year career, she published research in the areas of women’s health and health behavior and actively mentored and supported many students through their theses and dissertations. Outside of UC, Amy actively supported the work of TriHealth’s injury prevention programs and health promotion activities at Hamilton County Public Health by providing evaluation services and outcome reports of this great community-based work. Amy had a significant impact on Ohio's health education community and is deeply missed by her colleagues and friends at UC and across the state of Ohio. 

Application Information

The application period is open from June 1-30, 2025.  Applicants will be notified of a decision on or before July 31, 2025, prior to the close of the conference early bird registration period. 

Preference will be given to current Ohio SOPHE members; however non-members are permitted to apply.  Applicants can confirm their membership status by logging into the Member Area of the website. If a non-member receives a scholarship, they will receive a 1-year Ohio SOPHE membership as part of the award. 

Eligibility Requirements for Applicants 

• Must be attending an Ohio institution of higher education; and
• Must be enrolled full-time in a health education or related program; and
• Have financial need for the scholarship (i.e., no travel funds available through any other source to support student attendance at professional development events).

NOTE: If you are a recent graduate and still a student member of Ohio SOPHE, please use the Professional scholarship application.

 

Scholarship Awards

The student scholarship will provide 2 nights of lodging (Wednesday, October 15^th and Thursday, October 16^th) at Deer Creek Lodge & Conference Center.

• • Ohio SOPHE will make arrangements with the Lodge to pay for lodging on behalf of the awardees to avoid awardees from incurring out of pocket lodging costs. Scholarships are non-transferable.  

Timeline  

• Application period is from June 1- June 30. The deadline to apply is June 30 at 11:59 p.m.

• Applicants will be notified of a decision by July 31. 

• Awardees will have 10 days to accept and provide additional information requested by Ohio SOPHE.
• • If awardees do not respond within 10 calendar days of notification, Ohio SOPHE will consider the award forfeited. 

Expectations for Awardees

• Attend and participate in the full conference, including the awards dinner. 

• Awardees are responsible for travel and incidental expenses.

• Awardees may be asked to volunteer for up to an hour during the conference outside of sessions. Volunteer activities may include staffing the registration table or selling raffle tickets during mealtimes to support student scholarships.
• Awardees will be asked to provide a testimonial about HEI/Ohio SOPHE at the close of the conference.

• Failure to attend the conference in full may result in the awardee being billed for all or a portion of the scholarship value (approximately $300).

 

Application Review Process 

1. All complete applications will be assigned a number and the individual’s name and demographic information will be removed prior to being assigned for review.
2. Each application will be reviewed by multiple people using a standard rubric that aligns with the questions in the application.
3. Reviewers will consist of the Ohio SOPHE Professional Development Committee, the Board of Directors and/or members who wish to assist with the process.
4. Each reviewer will certify they have no conflicts of interest and did not apply for a scholarship.
5. Applicants must have the support of their faculty advisor. 

 

Application Instructions 

1. Click here to begin the application, which must be completed in one sitting.
2. It is recommended that applicants download the PDF version of the form, answer the questions using a Word document and then copy and paste their responses directly into the form.
3. Closing the form before submission will result in the need to start a new application.
4. Applicants will be asked to provide their faculty advisor’s name and email address.
   • Faculty advisors will receive an email from Ohio SOPHE (admin@ohiosophe.org) within a few minutes of the applicant submitting the form, requesting them to verify their support for the applicant to attend the conference. (Hint: Ask faculty advisors to check their spam folder.)
   • Applicants are strongly encouraged to inform their faculty advisor of the required sign off prior to submitting the application.
   • Faculty advisors are required to complete the (5 minute) survey received from admin@ohiosophe.org by July 1 at 11:59pm.  Applications that do not have documented faculty advisor approval may not be considered complete or reviewed.

Please contact Ohio SOPHE's Professional Development Chair, Loressa Gonyer with questions.