Students and faculty within the division of Speech and Hearing Sciences have recently presented at multiple conferences both locally and across the country, gaining credibility and receiving awards along the way.
Academy of Doctors in Audiology (ADA) Student Business Plan Competition
The ADA Student Business Plan competition was held at the AuDacity conference in Portland Oregon on October 27, 2021. UNC AuD student team Alyssa Fischer and Ryan Sprouse received a check for $5,000 as the winner of the 2021 ADA Student Business Plan competition.
Fischer and Sprouse competed against three other finalists from Northwestern University. They worked incredibly hard on the business plan over the past 10 months, first as a project in their business class and then throughout the summer for the various stages of this contest. The contest consisted of a 10-minute presentation followed by a Q&A session, and was supplemented by an impressive 46-page business plan.
This is the third time that a UNC team has won this award over the past several years.
Recent Conference Presentations
The division has had great representation by AuD faculty and students at recent conferences. According to Assistant Professor Patricia Johnson, AuD, “The presentations have highlighted our cutting edge research and our leadership in clinical practice across the globe.”
See below for a list of conference attendance and presentation topics.
North Carolina Audiology Association Conference | Oct. 15, 2021
- Shannon Culbertson, B.A. (third-year AuD doctoral student) – poster presentation on “Effects of Age at Cochlear Implant Activation on Auditory Skill Development”
- Kelly Anderson, B.S. (third-year AuD doctoral student) – poster presentation on “Influence of the Target and Masker Locations on the Speech Recognition in Noise for Cochlear Implant Users with Normal Hearing in the Contralateral Ear”
- Patricia Johnson, AuD (faculty) – presentation on test box verification of hearing aids
Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology | Oct. 18-19, 2021
- Amanda Davis, B.A. (third-year AuD doctoral student) – presentation on “Timing of referrals and recipient follow-up patterns of cochlear implant candidates as a function of geographic region and socioeconomic status”
- Caitlyn Whitson, AuD (clinical instructor) – presentation on “Group Aural Rehabilitation in 2021: Taking the rehab to the patient”
- Patricia Johnson, AuD and Stephanie Sjoblad, AuD (faculty) – presentation on “Establishing value and quality through a comprehensive hearing aid selection process”
The division of Speech and Hearing Sciences houses top-ranked Doctor of Audiology and Master’s in Speech and Hearing Sciences programs, along with a PhD and undergraduate minor.