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Dear CAPCSD Member,
Change. That is the word that comes to mind when I think of October. Where I am, the leaves shift color, the wind turns colder, and the grass begins to lose its green. Then the decorations appear: ghosts, pumpkins, witches, hay bales, zombies, monsters, masks, and all the other signs of fall. And in Ohio, a state known for its many commercial haunted attractions, everywhere you look something is getting a spooky or festive makeover. Everything is changing. Our campuses are, too. October on a college campus can be hard. Students have settled into a routine and may even be starting to feel a little comfortable — and then come midterms. Nothing brings out the need for the extra crate of tissues in graduate school quite like October. “How can I only be halfway done?” “I thought I was doing so well.” “I thought I had it all under control.”
Warm regards, |
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Christie Needham President |
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Important Dates |
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Below are the upcoming important dates so that you may plan accordingly. Dates are subject to change. CAPCSD will send separate email for each of the below dates with official information. |
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Treasurer's Report |
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CAPCSD’s financial strength matters because it directly affects what we are able to provide to our members, programs, and students. A strong financial foundation allows CAPCSD to invest in opportunities that support our members while also planning responsibly for the future. The Executive Director, Treasurer, and Board of Directors work together to monitor the budget, review financial reports and investments, and ensure that our resources align with CAPCSD’s priorities.
An important part of this responsibility is considering both return on investment and return on mission. As a mission-driven organization, responsible financial stewardship is about more than managing revenues and expenses. It also means asking how our resources can best advance our strategic priorities, provide value to members, and support excellence in communication sciences and disorders education. While return on investment considers the value or benefit generated by an investment relative to the resources committed, return on mission asks us to consider its broader impact. Does an investment strengthen our programs, support current and future leaders, create meaningful opportunities for members, or advance the disciplines? Considering both helps ensure that our financial decisions remain connected to CAPCSD’s mission.
We can see that investment in many of the opportunities CAPCSD provides. Professional development, leadership initiatives, scholarships, and resources for member programs are all made possible through careful financial planning. At the same time, maintaining appropriate reserves helps ensure that CAPCSD can respond to emerging needs and continue supporting members in the future.
Transparency is an important part of this work. Members should understand how CAPCSD’s resources are being used and feel confident that financial decisions are informed, thoughtful, and aligned with our mission and strategic priorities. Being transparent about those decisions builds trust and reinforces our shared responsibility for the continued strength of CAPCSD. As always, we welcome your questions and feedback. Email: treasurer@capcsd.org |
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Heather Isaacson CAPCSD Treasurer |
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2027 Honors & Award Nominations |
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The CAPCSD Honors and Awards Committee will begin accepting nominations for the 2027 Honors of the Council, Distinguished Contribution Award, and Excellence in Diversity Award on Monday, October 12, 2026.
The nomination period will remain open through Friday, December 11, 2026. To review award criteria, view past recipients, or submit a nomination, please visit the Honors and Awards page.
We encourage members to recognize colleagues whose contributions have advanced communication sciences and disorders education, leadership, research, service, and diversity. Thank you to the 2026-2027 Honors and Awards Committee for their service:
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CAPCSD Board of Directors Call for Nominations |
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Board of Directors applications for the following positions will open on Monday, October 12, 2026.
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Elected positions will be filled by individuals from a CAPCSD member program who have a passion for service to CAPCSD and believe their skill set lends itself to helping CAPCSD accomplish its mission and vision.
Nominations will open on Monday, October 12, 2026, and close on Friday, December 11, 2026.
Consider nominating yourself or a colleague! You are encouraged to contact Ann Eddins, Chair of the Nominations Committee, with any questions about the positions or the nomination process at ann.eddins@ucf.edu.
For complete details or to submit a nomination, please click here. |
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Clinical Educators' Academy - Application deadline extended |
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Don't miss your chance to apply to attend CAPCSD's 2027 Clinical Educators' Academy! The application deadline has been extended to Friday, October 16.
Whether you are a new clinical educator or more experienced, this academy is for you! Take time to consider your professional identity, develop coaching strategies, and consider ways your program supports students and professionals. |
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Sessions will include keynote from dB Coaching Group founders Amy Badstubner, AuD, CPC and Kari Dermer, AuD, CPC, ELI-MP which will lay the foundation for participants to focus on ways to support professionals around clinical education topics.
This in person event will be scheduled immediately preceding the 2027 CAPCSD conference in Atlanta, GA. It will consistent of a day and a half of content from CSD professionals plus a series of 4 follow up webinars across the 12 months that follow. |
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Save the Date: CAPCSD's 2027 Annual Conference |
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Mark your calendars for the CAPCSD 2027 Annual Conference, taking place March 31 through April 3, 2027, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference will bring together academic and clinical leaders, faculty, and clinical educators from Communication Sciences and Disorders programs to connect, collaborate, and advance excellence in higher education.
Conference programming will feature sessions focused on a variety of topics, including but not limited to:
Whether you are a department chair, program director, clinical educator, or faculty member the CAPCSD Annual Conference offers a unique opportunity to learn from colleagues, share best practices, and strengthen our professional community.
Visit the CAPCSD Annual Conference webpage for conference information, registration rates, hotel room rate, and updates. Conference registration and hotel room block will open on Tuesday, January 5, 2027. Hotel room block fills up quickly. We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta in 2027! |
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CAPCSD's 2026-2027 Conference Planning Committee from left to right: Annette Hurley, PhD, CCC-A, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans Chair: Danielle Osmelak, EdD, MS, CCC-SLP/L, FNAP, Governors State University Michelle Gutmann, PhD, CCC-SLP, Purdue University Monitoring Officer: Heidi Verticchio, EdD, CCC-SLP/L, Illinois State University Hannah Siburt, AuD, PhD, CCC-A, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kristy Weissling, SLPD, CCC-SLP, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine AnnMarie Knight, PhD, CCC-SLP, Oklahoma Baptist University David Brown, PhD, CCC-A, Pacific University |
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Scholarship Openings |
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2026-2027 Scholarships & Grants Applications Coming Due!
The CAPCSD Scholarship and Grant Portal for the 2026-2027 application cycle is now open and closes on October 26, 2026, at 11:59 AM EST. Students and faculty in CAPCSD member programs with membership paid in full by September 15, 2026, are eligible to apply to three different scholarship and grant competitions, each with its own focus.
Visit the CAPCSD Scholarships and Grants page for more information and to apply: https://www.capcsd.org/scholarships/. |
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Support Your Clinical Educators with Free, Curated Resources |
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Looking for practical resources to support the clinical educators who work with your students as you approach midterms? The CAPCSD Clinical Education Resource Repository brings together freely available, curated resources designed to support effective clinical teaching and supervision across speech-language pathology and audiology.
Explore articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources on topics such as feedback, supervisory relationships, student learning, assessment, and more - all vetted by the CAPCSD Clinical Education Committee.
Whether you’re supporting an externship supervisor in your learning community or looking for resources to strengthen your own clinical education practice, the Repository is designed to make useful information easier to find - and easier to put into practice.
Explore the Repository and share it with your clinical education community! |
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New! AI in Clinical Education Resources |
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AI is rapidly changing the landscape of healthcare education and clinical practice. To help programs navigate this evolving area, the CAPCSD Clinical Education Committee has vetted and curated a new collection of AI related resources for speech-language pathology and audiology educators, clinical supervisors, and students. |
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CAPCSD Board Buddy |
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CAPCSD's Board of Directors assigned a "Board Buddy" to each of its new board members to help transition into their new terms on the CAPCSD Board of Directors. To help our CAPCSD member programs get to know our board members, each month the newsletter will feature a board buddy asking the board member questions. This month, President, Christie Needham, posed these questions to President Elect, Ashley Harkrider. |
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What inspired you to pursue a leadership role within the organization? I was encouraged to attend the CAPCSD conference when I became Associate Head of my Department back in the mid 2000s. It quickly became clear that the conference attendees were “my people.” I learned so much from senior leaders, formed friendships and support groups with peers at my stage of the leadership process, and now enjoy meeting our brave, new department leaders each year. There is ALWAYS something to learn at the conference or through other CAPCSD resources like the website and online programming. I wouldn’t be where I am today without CAPCSD and I feel it’s my turn to give back. |
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Ashley Harkrider |
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What gives you optimism about the future of our profession?
What is something members may not know about you?
What are you most looking forward too as you move closer to your term as President?
And most important, favorite flavor of ice cream? Any flavor I can get from Amy’s Ice Cream in Austin, TX. |
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CAPCSD DEIB Committee |
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Building Relationships with Multicultural Constituency Groups |
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Over the next 10 months, the CAPCSD Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Committee will engage in a series of conversations with the Multicultural Constituency Groups (MCCGs) affiliated with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. DEIB Committee Co-Chair Kimberly Green and Secretary Deborah Scheble will lead the planning and coordination of these conversations on behalf of the committee. These meetings represent an opportunity to strengthen relationships, learn from one another, and deepen the ways CAPCSD supports academic and clinical education across communication sciences and disorders. |
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The MCCGs bring an extraordinary breadth of knowledge, lived experience, professional expertise, and community connection to our professions. Although independent of ASHA, these organizations address the perspectives and priorities of specific populations and engage in work that includes student support, professional recruitment, advocacy, research, leadership development, networking, and the advancement of culturally responsive speech, language, and hearing services. Read more.... |
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Admissions Corner |
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CSDCAS Final Decisions
The 2025-2026 final decisions were due on September 30, 2026. Providing this data annually is required for participation in CSDCAS, and it allows us to provide resources like the annual applicant data report, the new CSDCAS Open Data Initiative, and the Comparative Reports available in WebAdMIT. Programs with outstanding admission decisions or applicants in a non-final decision status will be contacted this week. Future reporting: If you would like to see other data points in future reporting, please let us know here!
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CSDCAS Live Learning and Training
Looking to build your WebAdMIT skills or help new users get up to speed? Anyone can sign up for Liaison Academy and begin taking training courses or register for live learning sessions.
CSDCAS member programs are encouraged to take advantage of these upcoming live WebAdMIT learning sessions:
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WebAdMIT Essentials: Dashboards, Applicant Records, and User Setup |
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October 21, 2026 | 1:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Get started with WebAdMIT through an overview of key features, including navigating the Dashboard, reviewing the Applicant Details Page, and creating Admissions Users and Work Groups. |
WebAdMIT Application Management: Using Lists and Local Statuses |
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October 28, 2026 | 1:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Learn how to manage your applicant pool more efficiently by using List Manager and Local Statuses to find applicant segments and better organize your admissions workflow. |
Additional On-Demand Training |
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Institutional Managers can also access the CAS & WebAdMIT Onboarding Bootcamp Curriculum in Liaison Academy. This on-demand course is a great refresher for current users and a helpful training resource for new users.
Liaison Academy also offers additional short, easy-to-follow, on-demand courses that you can complete on your own schedule.
Visit Liaison Academy to register for a live session or explore the training catalog. |
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If you need help with the admissions process for your MA/MS and/or AuD graduate education programs, or you need help with WebAdMIT or CSDCAS, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Admissions Committee and CAPCSD’s Director of Centralized Admissions.
Admissions Committee Contacts https://members.capcsd.org/admissionscommittee
Teasha McKinley, Director of Centralized Admissions |
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If you can't attend the live webinar, register now and receive a recording of the webinar to view at your convenience. Please note, only registrants who attend the live webinar are eligible for ASHA CEUs. |
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Integrating Social Determinants of Health into CSD Curricula Part II Teresa Anthony, PhD, MHA, MA, CCC-SLP 🗓️ Tuesday, October 6th 0.15 ASHA CEUs |
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CAPCSD Leadership Series | Fall 2026
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Part 3: Leading Through Uncertainty and Imperfect Choices 0.15 ASHA CEUs
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https://www.capcsd.org October 2026 |