Fall 2009 Executive Council Meeting Minutes
The Executive Council (EC) of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association met November 18–21, 2009, during the ASHA Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. Following are highlights of the Council's discussions and actions taken during the meeting.
Student CEUs
Amanda Norris, the NSSLHA representative to the Council for Clinical Certification (CFCC), introduced the idea of "student CEUs" to the CFCC. The concept is that a separate category of CEUs would be created specifically for students to earn. These CEUs would then be applied toward meeting Knowledge and Skills Acquisition (KASA) requirements. Because KASA requirements are set by universities, the CFCC didn't support the idea of student CEUs for that purpose. The CFCC reminded NSSLHA that students can earn ASHA CEUs that can be documented on a resume as evidence of continuing education. Students are also eligible for Awards for Continuing Education (ACE), which are given to professionals who earn 75 hours of CEUs over 2–3 years.
NSSLHA's Student Affairs Committee is also working on a plan to create a student ACE award with lower CEU requirements.
NSSLHA Audiology Representative on the CFCC
Sara Davis joined the CFCC as the audiology student representative to the CFCC.
NSSLHA/ASHA Restructuring
A task force was created to discuss a restructuring of the relationship between NSSLHA and ASHA. The NSSLHA Council has selected the following NSSLHA representatives to meet, discuss, and collect information on behalf of the association: Marykate Harwood, Roger Reeter, Carlin Hageman, Laura Dosher, Dawn Dickerson, Ahmad Alexander (NSSLHA president-elect), the to be named NSSLHA vice president–elect, and a NSSLHA consultant chosen by the board.
Council Extends the Term of the Executive Director
Roger Reeter led the Council in a discussion about meetings between the NSSLHA Executive Committee and the ASHA Board of Directors. These discussions were focused on restructuring the working relationship between NSSLHA and ASHA. In light of these discussions the Council voted to extend the term of the Executive Director for 1 year to work through the transition.
Candidates for the 2010–2011 "NSSLHA Loves" Campaign
The "NSSLHA Loves" committee is considering the following candidates:
The Council will decide on the recipient at the spring meeting in 2010. The campaign will run July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011.
Marketing the NSSLHA Grant Programs
The Council voted to increase the McKinley Regional Project Grants budget to $2,500 per grant session (fall and spring) and to increase the Community Service Grant budget to $2,000 per grant session (fall and spring).
The NSSLHA Grants Committee is working on an article for an upcoming issue of NSSLHA Now! to promote the grant programs. The article will highlight past grant recipients and how they've used their grant funds. Beginning with the spring 2010 grant cycle, recipients will be required to submit articles and photographs from their projects to receive their final installment payment. The Council will also recognize grant recipients during the NSSLHA Luncheon & Awards ceremony.
NSSLHA's Student Affairs Committee and Grant Committee are exploring a new grant fund to give more recognition to multicultural members, PhD members, male members, audiology members, and nontraditional student members. This grant fund would award a stipend based on the submission of material on how the student is making progress in his or her program. The student's work would be highlighted in NSSLHA Now! and that student would receive a grant from NSSLHA to implement an idea that they are passionate about.
McKinley Regional Project Grants Awarded
The Council awarded Texas A & M University a $580 McKinley Regional Project Grant for Interdisciplinary Autism Interventions: A Cross Fertilization of Ideas between Occupational Therapists and Speech-Language Pathologists.
Community Service Grants Awarded
The Council awarded a $500 grant to Southern Illinois University to support "I Can Read!" of Southern Illinois, Eurma Hayes Center. The funds will be used to ensure that the Eurma Hayes Center summer reading program can take place.
The Council awarded Vanderbilt University $500 to support Adventure Science Center, Nashville, TN. The funds will be used to aid in the design of an anatomical play structure for children designed to look like the auditory system.
Update on the NSSLHA Scholarship Fund
The NSSLHA Scholarship Fund is currently $86,000. The ASHA Special Interest Divisions Board of Division Coordinators sponsored the 2009 NSSLHA Day activities in New Orleans, Louisiana. The NSSLHA Council decided to donate their $10,000 in sponsorship funds to the NSSLHA Scholarship fund, taking the fund to $96,000.
Once the fund is fully endowed it will award senior undergraduate students pursuing a communication science degree with funding to apply to a CAA-accreditated graduate program and to attend ASHA or state association conventions. The Council decided to set a minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 for students receiving support from the NSSLHA Scholarship Fund.
Committee D Report Given by Amanda Norris
The committee assigned roles and responsibilities of the NSSLHA Day student coordinator. The committee also went over ideas for improving the NSSLHA Web site and the NSSLHA presence on social networking sites. For instance, the committee would like the national office to put the infrastructure in place to begin "skyping" council meetings, hosting podcasts on different chapter topics, or using YouTube videos to record chapter meetings and student poster presentations.
The Editor's Report
Articles for the spring 2010 issue of Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders (CICSD) have been sent to the production editor. The spring 2010 issue will be the first open-access, online-only issue of the journal. The submission rates have steadily increased to the extent that additional help has been needed at the associate editor level.
The National Office
National membership is up by 3,000 students compared to last year at this time. The gain in membership is directly associated with the addition of the online membership application. The national office is working with ASHA's Information Systems unit to speed the time of data entry for the membership applications. The current delays should be resolved with the full implementation of ASHA's new database management system. The new system will send, immediately upon completion of data entry, an e-mail to students that contains their account number and information on how to gain access to the online resources.
Change in the NSSLHA Chapter Recertification Deadline Dates
The Council asked the national office to set October 1, 2010, as the deadline date for chapter recertification forms. This change will give the national office and the Councilors access to updated officer and chapter information.
Regional Councilor Participation at State Association Conventions
The Council voted to increase the travel budget for Regional Councilors (RCs) to represent NSSLHA at their State Association Conventions. NSSLHA representatives may use the funds for travel and meals, to host an open forum for local chapter officers attending the state association conventions to swap ideas and network, or to conduct a training session for the local chapter officers with the RCs.
NSSLHA Working on Funding Grant
NSSLHA is working on a grant to fund culturally and linguistically diverse students and audiology, doctoral, and nontraditional student initiatives. The Council approved the development of guidelines for a new grant program to support ideas, initiatives, programs, and research of or by culturally and linguistically diverse students and audiology, doctoral, and nontraditional students. More information about the guidelines and application process for this grant program will be provided at the spring 2010 Council meeting.
Changes to Regional Councilor Application and Orientation Process
The Council agreed to add a question to the RC application to garner information about the individual's background in social networking sites/blogging, and to better vet the candidates the council will request two professional references from applicants. Currently, one student and one professional reference are required.
The NSSLHA past president was selected to serve as the mentor to the current RCs to work with them. As RCs are selected, the past president will be responsible for contacting them and orienting them to the Council.
Changes in Assignments of RC Alternates
The Council agreed to establish a set of specific tasks and assignments for the RC alternates as a part of their responsibilities on the Council. Currently RC alternates are simply delegated tasks by the Regional Councilor as appropriate. With this change, the RC alternates would have tasks assigned that they would be required to oversee (i.e., chapter recertification, attend state association conventions and make presentations, actively serve as a voting member on a NSSLHA committee, serve as volunteers at the NSSLHA booth during Convention). The Council also considered changing the name of the alternates to vice councilor or deputy councilor to better characterize the position.
The executive committee will present a finalized document on the changes to the RC alternate assignments at the spring council meeting.
Ideas for NSSLHA Day 2010
In preparation for the 2010 ASHA Convention, November 18–20, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Council is considering the following improvements to NSSLHA Day activities:
- Include a Student Hospitality Suite: The Council is considering the idea of having a NSSLHA hospitality suite to replace the NSSLHA Information Booth for the duration of the Convention that would host the Meet the Experts series, have refreshments available, have a computer available for students to review materials on the NSSLHA Web site or check e-mail, and have national office staff available to answer questions.
- Expand the Crash Course in Intervention Techniques: This course was highly attended at the 2009 Convention. In 2010, the Council is considering changing the format/layout of the room to allow students to move between topic areas.
The Council met with Tony Case, the ASHA 2010 program chair for audiology, and discussed the idea of regional councilors reviewing session topics for the upcoming Convention. The ASHA Covention Program Committee has approved the idea preliminarily and there will be eight speech-language pathology students and four audiology students from the NSSLHA Council serving as reviewers this year.
Increase in Stipends for Editor and Executive Director
The Council agreed to increase the quarterly stipend of the editor to $2,000 and the monthly stipend of the Executive Director to $600 beginning January 1, 2010.
New Editor for CICSD
The Council interviewed three candidates for editor: Alejandro Brice, Renee Fabus, and Julie Stierwalt.
The Council selected Julie Stierwalt as editor for CICSD. Her term as editor will begin July 1, 2010, and will end June 30, 2013.
NSSLHA Officer Elections
The Council selected Carol Hassebroek, Region 4, Regional Councilor, as the president-elect and Rene Utianski, Region 9, Regional Councilor, as vice president–elect. Their terms begin July 1, 2010. Carol will remain on the Council until November 30, 2011. Renee's term on the Council ends June 30, 2011.
NSSLHA Committee Chair Elections
- Carol Hassebroek is the Committee A (Executive Committee) Chair.
- Rene Utianski is the Committee B (Grants and Scholarships) Chair.
- Sara Davis is the Committee C (Student Affairs) Chair.
- Kristen Smiko and Lisa Del Vecchio are the Committee D (Public Affairs) Co-Chairs.
NSSLHA Representatives for ASHA Boards
- Carol Hassebroek is the NSSLHA Representative for the ASHA Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Council.
- Ahmad Alexander is the NSSLHA Representative for the ASHA Audiology Advisory Council (term ends June 30, 2010).
- Rene Utianski is the NSSLHA Representative for the ASHA Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD) and Co-Representative for ASHA Council for Clinical Certification (CFCC).
- Sara Davis was chosen for NSSLHA Co-Representative for the ASHA CFCC.
- Kristen Simko was chosen for NSSLHA Representative on the ASHA Board of Division Coordinators (BDC).
- Lisa Del Vecchio was chosen for NSSLHA Representative for the ASHA Multicultural Issues Board (MIB).
2010 Spring Meeting Dates
The NSSLHA Executive Council will meet on February 26–28 in the national office.