The Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP) and the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD) have joined forces to address issues pertinent to both organizations.  Who is CAPCSD and what do they do?  CAPCSD is an organization whose purpose is to enhance the quality of all aspects of education in communication sciences and disorders and to support both graduate and undergraduate educational programs.  CAPCSD membership currently consists of 261 academic programs.

Both CSAP and CAPCSD have as part of their mission to promote and maintain liaisons with other related professional organizations. Members of CSAP and CAPCSD agreed that we had many common areas of interest and that together we could be very effective in addressing joint issues.
 
A joint committee met in Boston in November and identified the goal of establishing a university liaison on all state association executive boards to help address the following issues:

1. Off-campus supervision
1. Developing larger networks of off-campus supervisors
2. Strengthening support and recognition for off-campus supervisors
3. Supporting continuing education in the area of supervision at state association meetings
2. Regulatory issues/Licensure
1. Identifying issues in each state regarding licensure
2. Working to match state licensure laws with education requirements if necessary
3. Support of students
1. Working to create more formalized student programs in the community to meet ASHA competencies
2. Creating opportunities for students at state conventions
3. Exploring opportunities for financial support for students
4. Recruitment and mentoring
1. Providing information and supporting materials for Bring in the Best, an award for high school science projects in the area of Communication Sciences and Disorders

The committee established the following action plan:

1. CSAP and CSPCSD will create links to each other on their  websites.  Annual conference dates will be made available to both organizations to help in planning for future conferences.
2. All state association presidents will be contacted by one of the joint committee members concerning the establishment of a university representative on their executive board as either a regular or ad hoc member.
3. Activities of this committee will be communicated at CSAP and CAPCSD annual conferences.

We are very excited about this partnership!  Please feel free to contact any of us with questions, comments, etc!

Ellen Reuler                                                                            David Stein
reulere@pdx.edu                                                                    dwstein@iup.edu

Michael Bergen                                                                       Charley Adams
MBergen@brooklyn.cuny.edu                                               charley@sc.edu

Barbara Meyer                                                                        Claire Jacobson
bmeyer@fontbonne.edu                                                         jacobsca@jmu.edu