Strategic Plan

Issue B

2005 Year-End Progress Report (4th Quarter)

Issue B: A critical shortage and continuing attrition of doctoral-level faculty in higher education is affecting the preparation of professionals as well as the conduct of research in communication sciences and disorders.

NOTE: The work plan for the Focused Initiative on Doctoral (Ph.D.) Shortage has been developed to achieve the Outcomes for this Issue in the Strategic Plan. Following are additional strategies that have been identified by individual units within the National Office that relate to this Issue. Some of the indicated strategies may overlap with those included in the Focused Initiative work plan.

Outcome 1: Increased number of potential doctoral-level faculty/researchers in personnel preparation programs to fill short- and long-term faculty vacancies in communication sciences and disorders.

Completed Strategies

1. Continue to respond to media queries related to careers including opportunities associated with earning a research doctoral degree in the professions.
2. Pursue federal appropriations through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Comprehensive Program or line-item appropriations for academic programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) to help mitigate the doctoral shortage in the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology.
3. Provide technical assistance to academic programs seeking to recruit/retain racial/ethnic minority PhD candidates.
4. Assisted National Office cluster and teams with any data-gathering efforts designed to gather information in support of this outcome, including the collection of baseline, benchmark, and/or evaluative data.

Outcome 2: Increased number of students recruited into the professions who continue their education to become faculty/researchers.

Completed Strategies

1. Monitor online mentoring programs for students from racial/ethnic minority populations and encourage pursuit of PhD's.
2. Disseminate via the ASHA Web-site and The ASHA Leader information to racial/ethnic minorities on opportunities in research and teaching.

To Be Continued in 2006

• Publish articles that focus on the opportunities for students pursuing doctoral degrees, and highlighting new research in progress by doctoral students.

Referred to NSSLHA

• Use the marketing/promotion plan that supports NSSLHA Career Day programs on university campuses with other student-targeted career awareness programs.

Outcome 3: Increased retention of doctoral-level faculty.

Completed Strategies

1. Provide Web-based faculty development materials on the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body and infusing multicultural issues into all CSD curricula.
2. Advocate for federal legislation to have Communications Sciences and Disorders (CSD) graduates recognized as shortage specialties that have access to increased federal professional development and training funds, federal student financial aid, federal research funds and loan forgiveness policies that impact recruitment and retention of qualified school-based personnel, doctoral faculty and researchers.

Outcome 4: Increased funding for doctoral program fellowships.

Completed Strategies

• Advocate for federal legislation and regulation to have increased federal professional development and training funds available for doctoral program fellowships in Communications Sciences and Disorders.

Year-End Status of All Strategies for Issue B (4^th Quarter)

There are 11 strategies in the work plan for Issue B.