UIUC NSSLHA members at their graduate student panel meeting
Published in the August 2026 issue of the ISHA Voice.
By Ava Hampe, member of the Student Involvement Committee
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) NSSLHA chapter, comprised of over 100 members, is dedicated to connecting students with an interest in speech-language pathology and audiology with other students, faculty, and their community. UIUC’s NSSLHA chapter is grounded by its mission statement, to encourage professional interest among college and university students in the study of human communication sciences and disorders, provide continuity to the dissemination of professional information, and provide a vehicle for student representation in matters of professional concern.
UIUC’s NSSLHA chapter has organized a variety of events and initiatives in pursuit of these goals, perhaps most notably their work fundraising for and donating to the University of Illinois’ Speech Pathology and Audiology Clinic this past year. NSSLHA held several member-driven fundraising events, and the proceeds enabled the clinic to provide speech pathology and audiology services free of charge. This work gave NSSLHA members an opportunity to directly see the impact of their involvement, as well as the importance of access to speech, communication, and hearing healthcare.
Other recent endeavors have included a school supply drive and card making event, held on October 16. During this event, members donated needed items for local elementary school students and made encouraging back-to-school cards. Additionally, UIUC NSSLHA organized a graduate school panel last fall where undergraduate members heard from a panel of graduate speech pathology and audiology students. The panel shared helpful tips for applying to graduate school programs, discussed their experiences in UIUC’s program so far, and answered questions from undergraduate students.
NSSLHA involvement is important to UIUC students because it fosters involvement in the speech and hearing community and brings students, faculty, and mentors together. NSSLHA gives members opportunities to learn from one another, develop professionally, and give back to the Champaign-Urbana area, while exploring their unique interests and goals and becoming more engaged in their chosen field and surrounding community.