SAA SPOTLIGHT | Ten Years of the Student Academy of Audiology

By Brian Vesely, Liz Marler, Jennifer Whittaker, and J. Riley DeBacker

This article is a part of the November/December 2018, Volume 30, Number 6, Audiology Today issue.

October 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the Student Academy of Audiology (SAA). In the past decade, the student organization has become the strongest, most unified representation of the audiology student population.

The Past 

The first and original student audiology organization was not the SAA. The National Association of Future Doctors of Audiology (NAFDA), founded in 1998 at the University of Louisville by Delbert Ault, was an independent audiology student organization. In an Audiology Online interview, Ault stated,

NAFDA’s primary purpose and mission is to create a communication opportunity among all doctoral audiology programs for the students, the professionals, the manufacturers, and the audiology community at large. Additionally, the NAFDA provides academic benefits for audiologists by connecting the students with the professors, the researchers and real-world clinicians. So, in essence, the NAFDA provides a conduit for the profession, allowing students access to clinicians, researchers, and professors.

Fast-forward nine years later to the NAFDA Board under the leadership of Erin Coomes and Collin Griffin. That Board put in many hours discussing the future of audiology and how to provide the best opportunities for students. Through meaningful discussions between the NAFDA and American Academy of Audiology (Academy), a merger was identified as a clear way to provide more mentorship, professional development, and educational opportunities to audiology students.

In total, the formation, merging, and structuring of the SAA took a little more than two years to complete. At the time of the merger, Linnea Schrowang and Brian Vesely became the first vice president and president of the Student Academy of Audiology respectively. It was their belief that we, as a profession, are stronger together. Building on this philosophy, SAA continues to evolve and develop to meet the ever-changing needs of students and our profession.

Since the merger between NAFDA and the SAA 10 years ago, the SAA has grown rapidly. The inaugural Board of Directors of the SAA in 2009 oversaw the development of our mission statement, the creation of the SAAy Anything e-newsletter, and an initial governance structure.