About the Scholarship

Established by the first and second Deans of the School of Public Health, Mary Guinan and Shawn Gerstenberger’s Endowed Internship Scholarship helps students secure indelible professional experiences in public health and healthcare administration and policy. Grateful for the encouragement and experiences that they received from their mentors, Shawn and Mary hope to usher in a generation of public health and healthcare advocates who find their earliest successes as interns and externs.

Who Is Eligible to Apply

  1. Students must be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at UNLV in the School of Public Health;
  2. All internship or externship coursework shall have been completed with the exception of the internship or externship experience itself which will be completed in either the summer or fall semester of 2024; and
  3. Students must have a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average or higher and be in good standing in the School of Public Health and the Graduate College.

How Is the Candidate Selected

The candidate(s) shall be selected by the School of Public Health (Scholarship Committee) from among those applying through Financial Aid and Scholarships (Office). If the Committee fails to determine an eligible candidate(s) for the scholarship(s), the Office shall make such determination. Donors to the scholarship fund may not participate in the selection of students for this award. Recipients may not reapply for this scholarship.

How Is the Scholarship Awarded

The scholarship will first be applied to any tuition balance the student may have; and any remaining funds shall be distributed to the student as a monetary award.

How to Apply

Students should submit the following application materials (no more than 2 pages total) no later than March 1, 2024 to: scholarships.sph@unlv.edu.

  • A summary of the proposed internship or externship detailing the work you are doing, where you will be doing it, the duration of the experience, and what you hope to accomplish (1 page)
  • On a second page, please share with the committee the significance of selecting this particular internship or externship experience
  • Email subject line should contain “LAST NAME and AWARD being applied to”

The awards will be given at the May 3rd, 2024 School of Public Health Honors Ceremony. Attendance is required.

Award Stipulations

Recipients of the Mary Guinan and Shawn Gerstenberger’s Endowed Internship Scholarship grant(s) UNLV the right to publish their name and use the applicant’s likeness in a photograph in any and all of its publications, including website entries, without payment or any other consideration. These materials will become the property of UNLV and will not be returned. Recipients grant(s) UNLV the authority to edit, alter, copy, publish or distribute this photo for purpose of publicizing UNLV’s programs or for any other lawful purpose.