By: Angela Kennedy, SLPD, CCC-SLP, Nominations and Elections Committee Chair
Advocate, educate, research, and innovate by nominating the leaders who will shape TSHA’s fate!
In 2027, Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) members will elect a Vice President for Advocacy, Vice President for Educational and Scientific Affairs, and Vice President for Research and Development.
Know someone who would be the perfect fit? Offer them a word of encouragement or, better yet, nominate them! Think you have the qualifications and skills and would like to serve in one of the roles? Nominate yourself! TSHA's Call for Executive Board Nominations is open through October 15. Nominate yourself or a colleague today!
Positions and Responsibilities
Elected members of the Executive Board are responsible for:
- Oversight of the affairs of TSHA
- Regulations and policies of the organization
- Final authority over TSHA expenditures and the overall TSHA budget
- Development, review, implementation, and evaluation of strategic priorities
- Strategic oversight and support to a select group of TSHA committees
- Onboarding new committee chairs
- Attending and participating in TSHA Executive Board meetings and discussions
In addition to the responsibilities outlined above, role-specific responsibilities are outlined below.
Vice President of Advocacy responsibilities include:
- Serve as the lead for activities relating to Texas legislation and regulation
- Encourage affiliation between the Association and other persons or organizations having similar legislative interests and objectives
- Work closely with the Executive Director to facilitate the process of drafting TSHA’s Advocacy Agenda on a biannual basis, gathering input from TSHA members and the Executive Board
- Share updates with the Executive Board related to TSHA’s progress toward advocacy goals
Vice President for Educational and Scientific Affairs responsibilities include:
- Develop, coordinate, and implement educational programs occurring at the Annual Convention for the membership
- Support and guide the overall design of the TSHA Annual Convention, including programming, exhibition, and overall attendee experience
- Review future site search location options, in coordination with TSHA staff, and make a recommendation to the Executive Board
- Oversee planning efforts for student experiences and networking at the Annual Convention
- Oversee efforts to provide TSHA scholarships for students and active members to the Convention
- Oversee efforts to give back to the local community where the TSHA Annual Convention is hosted with a philanthropy project
- Advise and provide feedback to TSHA staff on marketing efforts to attract meeting attendance
Vice President for Research and Development responsibilities include:
- Provide strategic guidance and support to committees who develop new topics of interest and ideas for TSHA year-round educational offerings
- Support promotion of selected areas of interest that may include technology, administration, clinical technique, research, and education in the fields of speech-language pathology and audiology
- Serve as the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Continuing Education (CE) Content Consultant for all ASHA CE applications
- Review final draft of new/updated disability determination guidelines manuals prior to distribution, and identify if Executive Board approval is needed for any of the documents.
Requirements
- Candidates for office shall have been members of TSHA for at least three years and must be current members of the association.
- Candidates shall have at least two years of experience at the TSHA task force/committee or Executive Council level, serving in the capacity as chair or councilor on at least one occasion. Some exceptions can be made if a candidate served as a chair or councilor at a similar organization.
- The nominator must receive the nominee’s permission to submit his/her name to the Nominating Committee.
Have questions about the positions or want to learn more? Contract TSHA Nominations and Elections Chair Angela Kennedy at kennedyaj@uthscsa.edu.
Learn more and submit your nomination at https://www.txsha.org/About/Executive-Board-Council/Nominations-and-Elections. The deadline to apply is October 15.