2025 Resolutions and Motions

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) shall accept the Report of the Special Interest Group (SIG) Program Review Task Force.

Approved: 15–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors will either approve or deny a proposed 2% bylaws amendment petition (BAP) submitted by a group of individuals who refer to themselves as the “SLP Power In Numbers Collective.”

Denied: 16–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) authorize the use of funds from the Special Opportunities Fund for the purpose of engaging new positions that will directly support the development and implementation of an enterprise-wide taxonomy and ontology management system, and further

RESOLVED, that the taxonomy positions are funded from the Special Opportunities Fund for a 3-year term of up to $400,000 per year.

Approved: 14–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) appoint the following individual to serve on the National Association for Hearing and Speech Action Board (hereafter, “NAHSA Board”), ASHA’s consumer affiliate, in the identified position and term:

• Dr. Kelli A. Uitenham, CCC-SLP, Serenity Speech Therapy, PLCC, effective immediately upon appointment and lasting until December 31, 2027.

Approved: 10–0–0–1

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) deems it advisable and in the best interests of the National Association for Hearing and Speech Action (NAHSA) to convert from a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation to a Maryland nonstock corporation;

RESOLVED, That, in connection with the conversion, the ASHA BOD deems it advisable and in the best interests of NAHSA to change its name to Communication Health Support Association (CHSA);

RESOLVED, That, in connection with the conversion, the ASHA BOD approves the Articles of Incorporation of the CHSA attached hereto;

RESOLVED, That the ASHA BOD approves the Bylaws of the CHSA attached hereto.

Approved: 8–0–0–1

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) authorize the use of up to $1.5 million from the Special Opportunities Fund for phase II of the Renewal, Regeneration, and Reinvention project. The approval of this funding request would provide funding for the continued development of ASHA’s business transformation.

RESOLVED, That the ASHA BOD authorizes the use of funds from the Special Opportunities Fund for funding the following framework of activities:

• Define and describe member value, and effectively communicate the member value proposition (value of the Association)
• Develop an enterprise wide-content strategy (benefit to members, value to the CSD discipline)
• Customize member offerings (benefit to members)

RESOLVED, That the ASHA BOD authorize the use of monies from the Special Opportunities Fund to enable the following possible activities—among others, as needed:

• ASHA website content clean-up.
• Member Login Project—a project designed to identify “members-only” content and communications as well as change management activities.
• The compliance of all ASHA online content with the global standard outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (WCAG 2.2)—a project enabling ASHA to meet WCAG 2.2 compliance standards for all online content (i.e., ASHA Journals/ASHAwire and www.asha.org). As described on the WCAG website, WCAG 2.2 “enables all organizations to measure the accessibility of content, sites, and apps against documented requirements for all people, including those with disabilities.”
• Update to ASHA’s information technology and digital systems.
• Enterprise-Wide Editorial Planning and Workflow Management—part of the ASHA Content Strategy project.
• The addition of increased technical assistance to members through the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

RESOLVED, That the spending timeline for this phase will start in the year 2025, which will allow ASHA to conduct project initiation, do a feasibility analysis, make recommendations, and implement the above-mentioned activities.

Approved: 12–0

RESOLVED, That the ASHA Board of Directors (BOD) approve the Association’s revised long-term investment policy statement—dated April 1, 2025.

Approved: 14–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors approve the revised version of Practices and Procedures of the Board of Ethics (2025); and further

RESOLVED, That the revised Practices and Procedures of the Board of Ethics (2025) be effective May 1, 2025.

Approved: 11–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Bylaws be amended to sunset the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) by eliminating Article XII—Special Interest Groups; and further

RESOLVED, That the approved ASHA Bylaws go into effect on January 1, 2026; and further

RESOLVED, That actions necessary to implement the ASHA Bylaws on January 1, 2026, be initiated prior to January 1, 2026; and further

RESOLVED, That if the Bylaws change is approved, actions necessary to implement the sunsetting of the SIG Program be initiated immediately; and further 

RESOLVED, That the ASHA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) identify appropriate staff to ensure a smooth and complete sunsetting of the SIG Program.

Approved: 14–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) authorize the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Clinical Outplacement Scarcity in Speech-Language Pathology (hereafter, “the Ad Hoc Committee”). The Ad Hoc Committee is charged with gathering data and synthesizing information into a report about the current state of—and opportunities to expand—clinical outplacements in speech-language pathology; and further

RESOLVED, That the Ad Hoc Committee (a) summarize the data gathered about clinical outplacement scarcity and strategies for addressing it, including the perspectives of stakeholders, and (b) outline possible next steps in a report to the ASHA BOD; and further

RESOLVED, That the report address

1. current barriers;
2. current successful strategies;
3. additional strategies and opportunities to pursue;
4. current and new resources for stakeholder support;
5. prioritized recommendations to pursue as next steps;
6. proposed outcome measures to evaluate progress over time; and 
7. the perspectives of key stakeholders—which will be sought from those who work in
1. clinical graduate programs in speech-language pathology,
2. clinical outplacement facilities, and
3. current and potential clinical supervisors, with particular emphasis on supervisors in health care settings—and further

RESOLVED, That the Ad Hoc Committee will start its work in 2025 and complete its work and report back to the ASHA BOD by December 31, 2026; and further

RESOLVED, That the Ad Hoc Committee comprise the following 9 members to be appointed by the Committee on Committees:

• 2 representatives, each of whom is an SLP working in an outplacement setting as a supervisor of clinical graduate students
• 2 representatives, each of whom is the faculty/staff member that arranges clinical outplacements for speech-language pathology graduate students
• 1 administrator from a work setting—preferably in health care—that accepts speech-language pathology student interns
• 1 representative from the Academic Affairs Board
• 1 representative from the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD)
• 1 representative from the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA)
• 1 representative from the Council for Clinical Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CFCC); and further

RESOLVED, That a Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee be appointed by the Committee on Committees from among the 9 Ad Hoc Committee members; and further

RESOLVED, That the ASHA Vice President for Academic Affairs in Speech-Language Pathology serve as the BOD liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee; and further

RESOLVED, That the ex officio and other ASHA staff consultants be appointed by ASHA’s Chief Executive Officer; and further

RESOLVED, That the “Policy” section of the Ad Hoc Committee’s Standard Operating Procedures be approved.

Approved: 13–0

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors (BOD) will accept the recommendations from the SIG Program Review Task Force; and further

RESOLVED, That the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will appoint ASHA staff to determine the feasibility and prioritization of the recommendations for implementation.

Approved: 12–0

RESOLVED, That BOD 3-2021 be rescinded; and further

RESOLVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Board of Directors approve the proposed revisions to the charge of the Government Affairs and Public Policy Board (GAPPB) as indicated below (deletions indicated by strikeout).

The Government Affairs and Public Policy Board is charged with (a) developing the Association’s annual public policy agenda for adoption by the Board of Directors; (b) ensuring that the strategic needs and interests of ASHA members are represented in the Association’s annual public policy agenda; (c) providing ongoing coordination of communication with other ASHA committees, councils, boards, members, and state speech-language-hearing associations concerning the legislative, regulatory, and other public policy activities and initiatives of the Association; (d) making recommendations to and working with the National Office staff to develop strategies to achieve the public policy agenda of the Association; and (e) nominating an individual (or individuals, if a significant contribution described below is shared) to receive the ASHA Award for Public Service for the Board of Directors’ consideration and approval; and further

RESOLVED, That the “Policy” section of the GAPPB Standard Operating Procedures be approved.

Approved: 12–0

MOVED, That the Board of Directors nominate Dr. Tricia Scaglione, AuD, MBA, CCC-A, FAAA, FNAP, ABAC, CH-TM, CH-AP and Dr. LaGuinn Sherlock, AuD, CCC-A, CH-TM to represent ASHA for review of the AAO-HNS Clinical Practice Guideline on Tinnitus review effective immediately.

Approved: 14–0

MOVED, That the ASHA Board of Directors approve changes to the following performance measure (PM) for Strategic Objective #1: “Expand Data Available for Quality Improvement and Demonstration of Value”:
 
Change PM #1: Number of members who participate in NOMS.
FROM: 
PM#1: Number of members who participate in NOMS.
Baseline date: 2015
Baseline: 7,771
Target Date: 2025
Target: 13,000
 
TO:
PM#1: Number of Completed Records in NOMS Registries
Baseline date: 2020
Baseline: 998
Target Date: 2025
Target: 200,000

Approved: 15–0

MOVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Board of Directors rescind the following practice policy documents and retain them in ASHA’s archives.

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1982). Learning Disabilities: Issues in the Preparation of Professional Personnel [Position Statement]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.PS1982-00097.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1991). A Model for Collaborative Service Delivery for Students With Language-Learning Disorders in the Public Schools [Relevant Paper]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.RP1991-00123.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1991). Amplification as a Remediation Technique for Children With Normal Peripheral Hearing [Technical Report]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.TR1991-00235.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1991). The Need for Subject Descriptors in Learning Disabilities Research: Preschool Through High School Years [Position Statement]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.PS1991-00099.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1992). Electrical Stimulation for Cochlear Implant Selection and Rehabilitation [Guidelines, Knowledge and Skills, Position Statement]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.GLKSPS1992-00033.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1994). The Role of Research and the State of Research Training Within Communication Sciences and Disorders [Technical Report]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.TR1994-00254.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2001). Knowledge and Skills Required for the Practice of Audiologic/Aural Rehabilitation [Knowledge and Skills]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.KS2001-00216.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). Cochlear Implants [Technical Report]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.TR2004-00041.
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). Knowledge and Skills Needed by Speech-Language Pathologists Providing Services to Infants and Families in the NICU Environment [Knowledge and Skills]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.KS2004-00080.
• American Speech-Language-hearing Association. (2004). Medicaid Guidance for Speech-Language Pathology Services: Addressing the "Under the Direction of" Rule: Technical Report [Position Statement]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.PS2004-00098.
• American Speech-Language-hearing Association. (2004). Medicaid Guidance for Speech-Language Pathology Services: Addressing the "Under the Direction of" Rule: Technical Report [Technical Report]. Available from doi:10.1044/policy.TR2004-00142.

Approved: 11–0

MOVED, That the following individuals be approved as co-chairs for the 2027 Convention Program Committee for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana (2027):

• Suzanne Kimball, Audiology
• Heather Starmer, Speech-Language Pathology

Approved: 15–0

MOVED, That the Board of Directors nominate Dr. LaGuinn Sherlock, AuD, CCC-A, CH-TM, to represent ASHA to serve as a member of the guideline development group for the AAO-HNS Clinical Practice Guideline on Tinnitus.

Approved: 9–0

MOVED, That the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Board of Directors acknowledge and accept the 2024 audit report.

Approved: 14–0