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Please describe the specific qualifications and strengths you possess that make you the most qualified candidate for this office.
I have served two terms on ASHA's Financial Planning Board and am currently serving my second term as chair. I have comprehensive knowledge of ASHA's financial and investment profile. I have worked closely for the past 5 years with the ASHA staff who oversee budget matters and with the volunteer membership who provide financial advice. I have been involved in major financial decisions concerning ASHA's financial planning and have a firm understanding of the financial decisions ASHA will need to address in the coming 3 years. As dean of the Graduate School I complete work that parallels the Board's responsibilities. I manage more than 15 million dollars in university disbursements and generate 7 million in revenues through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and collaborations with the Eastern Illinois University Foundation. I am knowledgeable of current investment matters, issues impacting the financial health of institutions, and best practices for managing finances.
In what ways have you been innovative and effective in your service on committees, boards, councils, and work settings?
During my first term on the Financial Planning Board, the Board was challenged to investigate innovative and effective sources of non-dues revenue. Over a multi-year period we received input on new approaches and recommended multiple highly innovative new sources including online learning and new conferences that have advanced member needs while generating new and future revenues. I served on the Task Force on Treatment Outcomes that created the NOMS Database that reflects innovation and effectiveness at a national level. I served on the Executive Committee of the Illinois Association of Graduate Schools and helped restructure the annual meeting to link association issues with higher education funding. This change doubled meeting attendance and directly linked the Council to legislators who fund our institutions. At Eastern I led the creation of an evaluation process titled First Choice Graduate Programs. This innovative approach has increased enrollments and improved program quality, and has been recognized by state, regional, and national audiences.
What do you want ASHA members to know about you?
I am an energetic person who seeks challenging roles and enjoys advancing the institutions and people I am committed to serving through financial management. I have worked for Eastern for 30 years and have learned how to seek the funds needed to create new opportunities to advance learning for students and scholarship for faculty. My opportunities to work with some of the finest audiologists and speech-language pathologists on Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association and ASHA boards and committees has been deeply gratifying and instilled in me a desire to work harder to finance the professional advances that our members believe in. I am "Dad" to three grown men who keep me grounded and financially challenged. I am lucky to be in a 31-year marriage to a mathematics educator who can make an 8th grader understand the principle that compound interest over the long term results in financial health!
E-mail: rmaugustine@eiu.edu
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