Alumni Association News and Benefits

Will You Serve as a Geographic Mentor?

Every term, the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences assigns students to more than 2,000 clinical placements across the United States. Students filling these positions are frequently placed in locations that they are unfamiliar with. To help students with the transition to a new area, the Alumni Engagement Office offers a Geographic Mentors program. We are looking for alumni who are willing to help students before they start their clinical placements with information about a specific city or area.

Students are looking for information on:

• Housing and resources for setting up a household
• Recreation and points of interest
• Shopping and eating
• Travel and accommodations
• Cultural resources and activities

Alumni who are wanting to join the Geographic Mentor Program to help one or more USAHS students starting their clinical or fieldwork placement in areas you are familiar can sign up through these three, easy steps:

1. Visit the Upnotch website or download the App from Google Play or the App Store.
2. Create an Upnotch profile.
3. Join the USAHS community by going to Menu> Communities> USAHS> Join.

Each term, USAHS students will be invited to join the community and select a mentor from the alumni membership on the platform.

Students are placed three terms per year and will be matched as requested by students. There is no guarantee that geographic mentors will be matched with students. If at any time you wish to be removed from the list of available geographic mentors, please let us know. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Lighthouse Alumni Award

At the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, our alumni are the best advocates, lighting the way to academic excellence for future students and their profession.

Through the Lighthouse Alumni Award Program, USAHS alumni can recommend high-caliber prospective students to our entry-level occupational and physical therapy programs. It’s a chance to contribute to the success of our OT and PT programs and help us develop outstanding OT and PT practitioners with a calling to improve the lives of others.

Learn More

Force for Good Awards

At the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, we believe in the power of education to change lives and transform society. USAHS is committed to making a lasting impact in the communities we serve, and we are proud to be a Certified B Corp institution, joining a global movement of people working as a force for good.

Demonstrating our commitment to social impact and our communities, the Force for Good Award is presented to alumni or community partners who possess characteristics most supportive of the University’s mission, core values and B Corp commitment. These attributes include integrity, innovation, responsiveness, support and advocacy.

Specifically, the Force for Good recipient enhances improved student access to the field of healthcare and shows a commitment to community service, while embracing innovation to improve our society’s wellness and lives. This award is given to extraordinary individuals who demonstrate the characteristics required to continue the University’s mission of being a ‘force for good.’

Force for Good Award Criteria:

• RESPONSIVENESS: Display examples of service and action of transformational change to society to build stronger communities
• INTEGRITY: Demonstrate work for social good and a positive commitment of purpose that seeks to find a balance between profit, sustainability and social impact toward wellness and a healthier environment
• INNOVATION: Exemplify creative and critical thinking processes to implement collaborative and innovative business practices that improve access to and availability of healthcare
• SUPPORT: Empower a Student First approach to enhance student access to the field of healthcare and/or promote excellence and innovation in healthcare education
• ADVOCACY: Promote and enhance opportunities for underserved populations in the field of healthcare

Do you know a USAHS alum or clinical/community partner that fits this criteria?  

Nominate them today

Library Services and Resources

The USAHS library staff invite our alumni to continue to make use of aspects of the library’s services and resources. Find out what’s available to you here.

Alumni of the University may continue to access scholarly work in the library’s SOAR@USA open access archive after graduation, as this is a free, public resource. Alumni may also continue to post their own scholarly work for archiving in SOAR@USA, provided it meets the following conditions:

• The work has been accepted either by a peer-reviewed journal or by a peer-reviewed society conference.
• The author holds the copyright to the work, or posting of the work complies with copyright and publishing agreements. (Typically this will be either a work licensed under Creative Commonsor an accepted manuscript.)
• The work has not been retracted by the original publisher for any reason.

Alumni with questions about posting to SOAR@USA may contact a USAHS librarian at [email protected].

USAHS Makes It Easy for Alumni to Apply for Post-Professional Programs

The University offers an abbreviated application process for USAHS graduates applying to a Post-Professional program. This process is applicable only if the USAHS graduate applies for admission to another USAHS post-professional program within five years from the date their previous degree was conferred.

To be considered for admission, all candidate applications must submit the following:

• An online application accessed free of charge at https://online.usa.edu/
• An email from the Registrar stating that the student is in good standing and graduated or is expected to graduate on a specific date*
• An email from the Bursar stating there is no business hold on the student’s account*
• Current résumé or curriculum vitae*
• If applicable to the program to which the student is applying, a verified current state license**
• Official copy of any transcripts that contain coursework completed since graduating from USAHS

The University waives letters of reference, essays and/or statement of purpose requirements for USAHS alumni who seek admission to a post-professional program within five years of earning their first degree. In instances when a prospective USAHS graduate applies to and is accepted into a second program, the University rescinds admission to the new program if the applicant then fails to graduate from their first USAHS program.

* An enrollment advisor obtains these items and adds them to the student’s record on their behalf.
** All nursing programs: Evidence of a current RN/APRN license must be in the state where currently practicing with no restriction, encumbrance, or probationary limitations imposed by the applicable Board of Nursing, Council of Nursing, or any judicial entity associated with the applicant, the applicant’s license, or the applicant’s practice. The RN/APRN license must be current when the application is submitted and remain current throughout the program. RN/APRN licenses that expire before classes begin must be renewed and current before starting the program. Nurses working in a federal facility, such as a Veterans Administration Medical Center, and completing their practica in that facility must hold an RN/APRN license deemed appropriate by that facility. MOT alumni applying to the PPOTD program: Evidence of an unrestricted occupational therapy license in the state of residence must be maintained throughout the duration of the program. MOT alumni who graduated within the past six months may enter the program unemployed but must be licensed and employed as an occupational therapist by the second term of the program. Applicants must provide a state OT license verification form as proof of this requirement (a copy of your state-issued license is not adequate).