By: Jessica Carter, MS, CCC-SLP, President

As we look ahead to an exciting year, I invite our members to join the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) Executive Board to help shape the future of our association. Together, we are connecting individuals across our state, delivering more personalized membership experiences, evolving our excellent educational opportunities, and focusing on sustainability. Guided by our new three-year strategic plan, this is the time to engage, contribute, and help build a stronger, more innovative association for all. I invite you to envision with us as we share the Executive Board’s Strategic Plan:

Mission Statement
Empowering members to provide the highest quality, life-changing care for individuals with communication and related disorders.

Important Concepts
Through this strategic planning process, TSHA leaders emphasized a desire to:

• Connect speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists back to their “why” of serving in their professions
• Provide programs, services, and advocacy efforts that empower and reduce burdens on SLPs and audiologists
• Modernize our organization and our approaches to solving problems
• Focus on financial sustainability for the organization. Identify ways to streamline operations to reduce expenditure. Identify new opportunities for revenue

Member Experience
Objective: Build a redefined, year-round membership experience for all members, embracing meaningful connection points for speech-language pathologists and audiologist professionals

Strategies:

• Create interactive, live, virtual meeting forums that allow members to connect and stay up-to-date with the latest information in their practice area
• Support the development of member “zones” that can provide opportunities for members to connect in cities where they reside
• Work with the TSHA Leadership Academy to evaluate the potential of a member mentor program
• Review and evaluate current TSHA member types and their definitions. Make recommendations for any changes to the Board of Directors
• Review and evaluate member benefits and how we communicate about those benefits
• Personalize communication to members based on their areas of interest
• Conduct a member needs survey. Establish a regular cadence for receiving feedback from members through surveys

Professional Development
Objective: Construct meaningful and modern education experiences that support SLPs and audiologists in earning continuing education and succeeding in their roles

Strategies:

• Redesign our professional development opportunities
  • Redesign our overall portfolio of educational offerings with in-person, on-demand, and live virtual opportunities that meet members where they are
  • Restructure the Annual Convention to build learning pathways and cohorts that enable innovative educational and networking experiences
  • Explore partnership opportunities with other state associations that provide reciprocal member access to TSHA member pricing and educational offerings
  • Focus educational offerings on key and hot topic opportunities that allow our members to stay up-to-date, including offerings on artificial intelligence, self-care, and advanced CEs
• Train and develop volunteer leaders, with a focus on committee chairs and advocacy volunteers
• Establish pathways for members and students to connect with potential employers with the job placement program at Convention, the TSHA Career Center, and other possible networking activities throughout the course of the year

Advocacy
Objective: Influence policies affecting the SLP and audiology professions and individuals with communication and related disorders

Strategies:

• Convene a cohort of experts to advise TSHA, legislators, and policymakers on issues related to the professions and the individuals we serve
• Organize and mobilize our members to meet regularly with legislators, administrators, and policymakers
• Create listening mechanisms to capture the pulse and needs of our members
• Train members on how to advocate for themselves on critical issues such as compensation, workload, and reimbursement

As you review the strategic plan, we encourage you to reflect on how TSHA’s priorities align with your “why.” Your ideas, energy, and involvement are essential to bringing this vision to life, and we look forward to working together to make the next three years impactful, purposeful, and rewarding for our entire membership. See you at Convention in February!

More Executive Board News
• Volunteer for TSHA Today!
• Executive Board Roster
• View the Current TSHA Strategic Plan