Interview with Nancy Minghetti, Executive Director of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation
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Linda Schreiber:I'm interviewing Nancy Minghetti, the Executive Director of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, also known as ASHFoundation. I interviewed Nancy awhile back about the opportunities in research funding via the Foundation. I want Nancy to tell you more about the phenomenal
Linda Schreiber:I'm interviewing Nancy Minghetti, the Executive Director of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, also known as ASHFoundation. I interviewed Nancy awhile back about the opportunities in research funding via the Foundation. I want Nancy to tell you more about the phenomenal things the Foundation does and how you can be involvedboth as a recipient and as a donor. Good morning Nancy. Linda:Nancy, in our last interview (www.speechpathology.com/interview/) you shared with us how to take advantage of the ASHFoundation research development initiatives. Today, I want to explore other opportunities our readers may be interested in; and then of course how they can contribute to the ASHFoundation. Previously, you explained the mission of the Foundation as ensuring that all individuals, children and adults alike, reach their full communication potential. And you do that in a number of ways including by advancing knowledge and improving practice in serving children and adults with speech, language, or hearing disorders via research, scholarships, and awards. Let's talk about the scholarships for a moment. Deadlines for the coming year have passed but it is never too early to think about the next round of awards. What should students know about the types of scholarships offered by the Foundation?
Nancy Minghetti:There are several different mechanisms for scholarship support at the master's and doctoral levels. Let me first tell you about the New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarshipswhich are $10,000 scholarships awarded to students pursuing research doctoral degrees and planning careers as teacher-investigators. This year we plan on funding at least 20, unlike prior years when only 5 were distributed due to limited funding. These additional scholarships are the result of a Congressionally directed grant received by the ASHFoundation and made available from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund to Improve Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).
The New Century Scholars Program has been active since 2003the result of the ASHFoundation's Dreams and Possibilities capital campaign. It has two componentsa research grant funding and doctoral scholarship funding. It's great that during the past 5 years, this program has awarded $430,000 to 27 doctoral candidates and 16 teacher-investigators!
And for 2008, the Congressionally directed grant means an historic infusion of money to support doctoral education. We're working hard to encourage and support people to enter doctoral programs and complete them. The New Century Scholars initiative is ultimately designed to increase the number of teacher investigators for our field. I think we are all familiar with the issuesthat the field has a workforce shortageand that we're not going to be able to train more people without enough qualified facultyso what we want to do here is really stimulate interest in doctoral training.
Since 2003, we have had approximately 465 applicants to the New Century Scholars program, and so you can see by funding just a small number of scholarships, we haven't been able to address the need in a dramatic way, even though it's been a successful program. We're excited to be able to support far more scholarships for this year.
Linda:You have a number of other scholarship opportunities too.
Nancy:Yes. The Graduate Student scholarship competition, which has been an annual program since 1985, is open to master's and doctoral level students in communication sciences and disorders. In contrast to the New Century Scholars Doctoral, which is for students pursuing a research doctorate, the graduate student scholarship also allows application from students who are pursuing a clinical doctorate. And these scholarships are also increased this year to the $5,000 level. We'll fund approximately 10 scholarships in this category.
Linda:You also have specific scholarship monies earmarked for students with disabilities, international students, and minority students.
Nancy:Yes, some scholarship monies give priority to specific categories that are supported by endowment funds. The Graduate Student Scholarship competition is an umbrella competition that has different components, a portion of the funds are for general scholarshipsopen to any applicant who is pursuing grad studies in communication sciencesbut some funds are earmarked for students with disabilities, students who are members of an ethnic or racial minority group, and international/minority students who are studying communication sciences and disorders in the U.S. These endowed scholarships have traditionally ranged from $2,000 to $4,000 per award, depending on the availability of endowment earnings. For 2008, endowed scholarships will be at the $5,000 level.
Linda:As I mentioned, it's never too early to begin the application/planning/writing process. If student readers would like to know more about any of these scholarships, they should visit www.ashfoundation.org
Nancy:Yes, they will be able to download and print the application process and forms. Our next cycle begins in February of 2009.
Linda:Let's visit about the clinical recognition programsthe funding, the various awards for outstanding programs, and how the process works.
Nancy:The ASHFoundation supports three specific awards: The Frank R. Kleffner Clinical Career Award, the Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Recent Clinical Achievement, and the Rolland J. Van Hattum Award for Schools Professionals.
The focus of the Kleffner Award is recognition of a lifetime clinical career. An individual or group of individuals can nominate a person with contributions over a 20-year period or longer that meet specific criteria of the award competition. Guidelines are released in January of the calendar year. The recipient receives a recognition plaque and an exquisite art piece of Steuben crystal.
Nancy:The DiCarlo Award is a mechanism to encourage recent clinical achievement, and this year the funding for the DiCarlo Award is at $2,000.
The vehicle for nominations is through state associations. Each state association nominates an excellent person for a state clinical achievement award, and that person is then considered for the national DiCarlo Award. The purpose of the award is to further the work upon which the recipient's most recent achievement is based.
And then the Van Hattum Award, of course, is another wonderful award open to individuals who have made a significant impact in school services. An individual or group of individuals can nominate an outstanding individual who meets the criteria of the award competition. The recipient receives $1,500 to $1,000 to further the work upon which the award is based and $500 to the school system where the work is being implemented
Linda:So the awards are an honor to receive and are really meant to recognize the work of the individual. The financial reward is a way to help continue the excellent work of the individual.
Nancy, these programs are the heart and soul of what you do, but funding for research, scholarship, and clinical achievement isn't the only role that you play in our field. The Foundation also serves to promote groundbreaking advances in our field.
Nancy:Yes, absolutely! For example, from time-to-time, we bring professional and industry leaders together, in think tanks, forums, or conferences, to ensure that our field is really responding to what the marketplaceand the futureneeds. This is evident with the focus in technology we had in the 1980s and early 1990s and the partnership projects with Apple, IBM, and Microsoft. We have sponsored conferences or special seminars to launch attention to a concept or issue that's not being addressed. This was true when we spearheaded the very first-ever national focus on treatment efficacy in communication sciences and disorders at a conference in San Antonio in 1989. This was long before people were talking about the concepts of efficacy or treatment outcomes. We also collaborated with the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) to sponsor a national research mentorship conference for our discipline. So in these ways, the ASHFoundation has served as a pioneer or catalyst for pressing issues and ideas, with a "futures focus."
We also provide incredible opportunities for the talented people we fund to meet together, network, and connect with experts and leaders in the field. And by the way, all of our recipients (over 1,500!) are listed on the Foundation's website.
Linda:And for all of these good things and opportunities the Foundation makes available, we have to remember it only happens because of the donors. How can readers get involved? How do they contribute to the Foundation?
Nancy:Yes, our donorsindividuals, organizations, and corporationsare all essential! Contributing is very easy to do. They can donate online now at www.ashfoundation.org, by mail, or by phone. And our staff is always here at the office for personal contact, so call us at 301.296.8704 or email: foundation@asha.org
We also sponsor a number of special events throughout the year, and we welcome everyone's participation. Should people be in those locations, they can join usw ether it be at the annual ASHA Conventions, the ASHA HealthCare Conference, the ASHA Schools Conference. For 2008 at the Chicago ASHA Convention, the ASHFoundation will hold a very special fundraiser at the Chicago Cultural Center, a magnificent building on the National Register of Historic Places that housed the city's first Public Library.
We also sponsor an exciting charity Golf Benefit each January in Florida featuring LPGA touring professionals. Our next one is on January 17-18 at the Champions Gate Golf Resorta beautiful property with activities for golfer and nongolfer alike.
There are so many ways people can be a part of the ASHFoundation community. We want students and professionals to know about all of our terrific funding opportunities. We appreciate individuals who volunteer to serve as expert reviewers for our scholarship and grant programs. We love for our award recipients to share their stories of how ASHFoundation funding makes a difference. And back to that fundingour dream is to see, at all giving levels, a greater percentage of participation in terms of donations than we currently have from ASHA members and friends. Every donation is important! So there's really a lot of ways that people can support and become engaged in the work of the Foundation.
Linda:Nancy, I wish the Foundation continued success. Thanks for sharing these great opportunities with us and for advocating for our field.