Student Ethics Essay Award
Submissions are now being accepted for the 2013 Student Ethics Essay Award (SEEA). Authors of winning essays and their Chapter Advisors/Regional Councilors will be notified in June 2013.
The Student Ethics Essay Award program is conducted as part of ASHA's efforts to enhance ethics education activities, and is designed to provide opportunities for NSSLHA members who are undergraduate or graduate students in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) to think about ethical decision making as they prepare to start careers in audiology, speech-language pathology, or speech, language, and hearing sciences. The goal of the SEEA is to create greater awareness of situations individuals in CSD careers may encounter that could pose ethical dilemmas and options for addressing these dilemmas.
Participating students write an essay on the selected ethics topic and submit it to their NSSLHA Chapter Advisor for initial review; NSSLHA members who are not affiliated with a specific NSSLHA chapter submit their entries to their Regional Councilors. Each NSSLHA chapter/Regional Councilor may select up to five student essays for submission to ASHA for the final review and selection process. Members of ASHA's Board of Ethics review the essays and select three winning authors who receive
- one student registration to ASHA Annual Convention (first place winner only)
- monetary prizes ($750, $500, and $250 for first, second, and third place respectively)
- certificates of achievement
- invitations to the NSSLHA Luncheon and Awards Ceremony during the ASHA Annual Convention in November
Winners and their essays are recognized
- on the ASHA website
- on the NSSLHA website
- at the NSSLHA Luncheon and Awards Ceremony
- in The ASHA Leader
See Student Ethics Essay Award recipients to view previous winners and read their winning essays.
Award Eligibility | 2013 Essay Topic | Essay Requirements
Essay Evaluation Criteria | Essay Resources
Submission Instructions for Students | Submission Instructions for Advisors | Submission Deadlines
Award Eligibility
- Individuals must be a member of a local NSSLHA chapter or the national NSSLHA organization. (Note: Only NSSLHA chapters in good standing with the Association are eligible to submit a member student's essay. NSSLHA chapters may recertify online with the national office.)
- Individuals must be enrolled part time or full time during the 2012–2013 academic year in an undergraduate or graduate-level CSD program.
- Graduate students must be enrolled in a program currently accredited, or in Candidacy status, by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA).
2013 Student Ethics Essay
Topic
Drawing upon ASHA's Code of Ethics, relevant Issues in Ethics statements, and other resources, students will write an essay on the topic of workplace dilemmas:
Persons in our profession are as likely as anyone else to experience workplace dilemmas that might compromise their professional ethics. The term workplace dilemma may apply in situations where power abuse between employer and employee exists when the employee is asked by the employer to perform tasks beyond his or her educational training and experience, or when the workload expectation cannot be completed within the contract day. It may also include a situation when the employee is asked by the employer to complete documentation that he or she knows is inappropriate. Students are asked to write an essay in which they consider the ethical issues raised by the problem of workplace dilemmas.
Essay Requirements
- Essay Format
- 1,200 words or less, excluding title and any references (essays exceeding the 1,200-word limit will be disqualified)
- Standard format, including title, introduction, body, and summary/conclusion
- Microsoft Word, 12-point font, double-spaced, on 8½" x 11" white paper
- Numbered pages
- The SEEA Application Form [PDF] must be completed and signed by the student and NSSLHA Chapter Advisor/Regional Councilor and attached to the essay.
- The student's name and other identifying information should appear only on the SEEA Application Form, not on the essay itself, in order to ensure objectivity in the review process; however, the student's name or initials may be used in the file name for the e-mailed version. Once received, the essay will be assigned a number to retain anonymity before being submitted to the review panel.
- Entries must be original work, unpublished, not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and must be submitted by an undergraduate or graduate student currently enrolled in a CSD program. Graduate students must be enrolled in a CAA-accredited (or in Candidacy status) graduate CSD program.
- Individuals may not submit more than one essay. Submissions of entries authored by multiple individuals will not be considered.
Essay Resources
Essay Evaluation Criteria
NSSLHA Chapter Advisors and Regional Councilors may use any criteria and means they choose for evaluating essays. Possible evaluation criteria include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Has the writer followed the essay format and submission requirements described above?
- Has the writer approached the essay topic in a fresh, rich, and illuminating way, avoiding moral platitudes and oversimplification?
- Has the writer demonstrated familiarity with the ASHA Code of Ethics (2010), relevant Issues in Ethics statements, and other ethics-related resources?
- Does the writer make a contribution to ethical deliberation and discernment that is mature, insightful, and likely to be both helpful and interesting to members of NSSLHA and ASHA?
- Has the writer presented his/her position in a clear, logical manner that facilitates understanding of the writer's line of reasoning?
- Has the writer supported his/her arguments with factors that are ethically relevant and avoid preoccupation with matters that have little logical relevance to the writer's thesis?
- Is the writer's analysis comprehensive, objective, balanced, and thorough?
- Is the essay free of grammatical, typographical, and punctuation errors?
Submission Instructions/Checklist for Students
- Ensure that you and your essay meet the eligibility and format requirements.
- Print, complete, and sign the student section of the SEEA Application Form [PDF].
- Print and submit your essay, along with your SEEA application form, to your NSSLHA Chapter Advisor or Regional Councilor by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 12, 2013. (Essays/applications submitted directly to ASHA by students will not be accepted.)
- E-mail your essay as a Microsoft Word document attachment to your NSSLHA Chapter Advisor or Regional Councilor by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 12, 2013.
Submission Instructions/Checklist for NSSLHA Chapter Advisors and Regional Councilors
- Confirm that students submitting essays meet the eligibility requirements and that students have completed the student section of the application form.
- Review the essays submitted by eligible students and select up to five essays to be submitted to ASHA.
- Complete and sign the NSSLHA Chapter Advisor/Regional Councilor section of the application form(s).
- Mail the completed and signed application form(s), attached to the print version of the essay(s), and postmarked by 11:59 p.m. on April 19, 2013, to:
Ethics Program Manager
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
2200 Research Boulevard, #309
Rockville, MD 20850
- E-mail the essay(s) a Microsoft Word document attachment(s) to ASHA's Ethics Program Manager at ethics@asha.org by 11:59 p.m. on April 19, 2013. Your message should include the name of the NSSLHA chapter submitting the essay(s) and the total number of essays being submitted.
Submission Deadlines
- Student Deadline: 5:00 p.m. on April 12, 2013
- NSSLHA Chapter Advisor/Regional Councilor Deadline: 11:59 p.m. on April 19, 2013
Contact
For questions on the SEEA or the submission process:
Lorraine Lennon, ethics program manager
llennon@asha.org and ethics@asha.org
For more information on or to join NSSLHA:
ASHA Action Center 800-498-2071 or visit the NSSLHA website.