SHAV Honors Awards


Celebrate Excellence!

SHAV Honors and Awards

 

The SHAV Honors Committee is responsible for recommending candidates for various honors of the Association. These include the SHAV Fellows, SHAV Early Career Professional, as well as Outstanding Student Leader.  Newly added awards include the Distinguished Professional Service Award and the Distinguished Service Award (for non-members). The Honors Committee also recommends the state’s nominee for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation’s State Clinical Achievement Award to the Board. A description and criteria for each award is listed below.


Call for Award Nominations


Celebrate Excellence!

The Honors Committee is inviting you to recognize your outstanding colleagues. Take a moment and think of colleagues you know who stand out as having made exemplary contributions to our profession, our consumers, and/or our association. We need your assistance to help us recognize that excellence at the Awards Ceremony at the SHAV Conference at Shenandoah University in March 2027. What a wonderful time to be honored – at the annual gathering of our peers!

SHAV has presented the award of Fellow since our inception, and has collaborated with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHF) in identifying the State Clinical Achievement Award (DiCarlo Award) since the 1980s. More recently, we have found it important to recognize those who are new to or entering the profession. These awards are a Student Leadership Award and an Early Career Professional Award.  A need for additional opportunities to note worthy professionals, groups and individuals allowed us to develop the Distinguished Professional Service Award and the Distinguished Service Award.  You will find the criteria for each award below.

Persons submitting a nomination should complete the nomination form, a letter of recommendation from the nominator, and an additional letter of recommendation by SHAV members (two letters are required for the Fellow Award). Please refer to the Top 5 Tips for Awards Nomination Letters webpage for assistance. The deadline for submission is January 8, 2027.


FELLOW

  • Current member of SHAV and
  • Active participant in the professions of audiology and/or speech-language pathology for not less than five years and
  • Outstanding contribution to SHAV through service on committees, the Board of Directors, or other significant capacity; and
  • Outstanding contribution to the professions in at least two of these areas: clinical service, academic or clinical teaching, research and publications that contribute to the knowledge of the field, and administrative service.

STATE CLINICAL ACHIEVEMENT (The recipient becomes Virginia’s nominee for the ASHF DiCarlo Award.)

  • Current member of SHAV and
  • Outstanding advancement in clinical practice knowledge through significant achievements realized within the past six years in the fields of speech-language pathology or audiology. Contributions must be clearly defined and specific to this recent timeframe rather than reflecting a lifetime of work.

Eligible activities or accomplishments include, but are not restricted to, the following examples:

  • A single achievement with a client or group of clients.
  • A specific clinical service or training program.
  • A specific achievement in a state or local organization or government agency activity.
  • A specific accomplishment in clinical teaching, research, or administration.

The recipient of the DiCarlo Award is chosen from among individuals who have been nominated by their state association for the State Clinical Achievement Award.  The Honors Committee is responsible for preparing the nomination to the ASHFoundation.


More information can be found here:  https://www.ashfoundation.org/apply/louis-dicarlo-award-for-recent-clinical-achievement-recipients/



 

OUTSTANDING STUDENT LEADER

  • Current member of SHAV and
  • Member of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association and/or Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) (including the local chapter) and
  • Active participant in NSSLHA and/or SAA for not less than 18 months; and
  • Outstanding contributor to local or national NSSLHA/SAA or to SHAV.


EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONAL

  • Current member of SHAV and
  • Engaged in the profession for 10 years or less; and
  • Demonstrated the advancement of knowledge in clinical practice or research as evidenced by significant accomplishment within the past five years in audiology or speech-language pathology.


DISTINGUISHED PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AWARD

  • Member of SHAV for at least five consecutive years including the award year and
  • Obtained at least five years of professional experience focused in academics, research or as an administrator of speech-language and/or audiology services; and
  • Distinguished in one or more of the following areas:
  • Developing or supporting new and innovative clinical techniques in speech-language pathology or audiology,
  • Being recognized as a leader in research (i.e. publication history, presentations at local, state and/or national meetings),
  • Sharing expertise through leading, teaching, mentoring and/or supervising in advancement of the field
  • Advocacy contributions at the local, state and/or national level


DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD (Non-member contributor)

  • Organization or an individual (not a Speech Language Pathologist or Audiologist) that supports the goals and mission of the Association and its members through their service to SHAV and the lives of those served. 
  • Nominees are considered for one or more of the following areas:
  • Consumer advocacy
  • Governmental affairs
  • Public awareness
  • Education
  • Healthcare
  • Research


CLICK HERE for the nominations form.  (2027 honors-nomination-form.docx)

Procedures:

Persons submitting a nomination shall complete the nomination form, a letter of recommendation from the nominator, and one additional letter of recommendation (two letters for the Fellow Award). The due date shall be posted on the SHAV website and in the weekly emails.

Mark your calendar to celebrate the achievements of this year’s nominees at the SHAV Conference on Saturday, March 13.

Please contact any of the members of the Honors Committee with questions. Thank you for your assistance in recognizing the excellence among us!

Johanna Klein, Chair, jklein@rockingham.k12.va.us

Donna Bryant, donnabryant789@gmail.com

Gabrielle DeFazio, gabrielle.defazio@gmail.com

Lissa Power-deFur, powerdefurea@longwood.edu

Jackie Ragland, raglandjacquelyn@gmail.com

Darlene Robke, darlenerobke@hotmail.com




List of SHAV FELLOWS