Student Communication Sciences Group Named Top NSSLHA Chapter

UC’s chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association was named NSSLHA Chapter of the Year this month, topping 318 chapters in U.S. colleges and universities focused on engaging communication sciences students in service and advocacy.

The award was announced at the recent national meeting for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), held in San Diego.

UC’s chapter, which includes approximately 225 students in the College of Allied Health Sciences, has been active since the 1970s. 

Chapter President Anna Reinstatler says the honor would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the NSSLHA members. 

"We feel honored to have received this award,” says Reinstatler. "All of the members, including last year’s president Logan Haines, helped the chapter achieve this recognition.”

NSSLHA chapters are judged by the national organization for their participation in service and advocacy activities, as well as their fundraising, career awareness and recruitment efforts. 

Members of UC’s chapter spend much of their time outside class in volunteer and community service activities. Projects benefit both local and international causes, from cooking dinner at the Ronald McDonald house and making blankets for ill children to collecting boxes of textbooks for schools in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Students also volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and Cincinnati’s Freestore Foodbank and regularly visit a local pediatric therapy clinic to observe and interact with children with communication disorders and their parents.

Members are active in the study of communication disorders, attending national meetings of NSSLHA and ASHA. 

At the end of each school year, the chapter hosts an awards banquet featuring a distinguished alumni speaker, student awards and a raffle/silent auction to benefit speech, language and hearing causes. 

The chapter is led by Carney Sotto, PhD, adjunct associate professor of communication sciences and disorders. In 2003, Sotto was named NSSLHA "National Advisor of the Year” for her work with UC’s group.

"We were thrilled to receive this honor and have worked hard over the past few years to be recognized as Chapter of the Year,” says Sotto. "My thanks goes out to all of the current and past students who have made NSSLHA what it is today.”