Interview with Deborah Carlson Ph.D., President of the Texas Academy of Audiology
AO/Beck: Hi Deb, nice to speak with you.
Carlson: Hi Doug. Thanks for your time this evening!
AO/Beck: Before we address the new Texas Academy of Audiology (TAA) , I'd like to find out a little about you. Let's start with where did you get your Ph.D. and when?
Carlson: I received my Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1986. My dissertation focused on central auditory processing in college students with learning disabilities.
AO/Beck: Please tell me about your current position and how long have you been there?
Carlson: I am the Director of Audiology and Speech Pathology for the Hospitals at The University of Texas, Medical Branch. Additionally, I hold a faculty position in the medical school, where I'm an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology. I've been in my current position for eleven years.
AO/Beck: Please tell me about the TAA.
Carlson: The first initiative to establish the TAA began in 1994 when George Cire, Charles Kuratko and I gathered a group of audiologists together in Houston to discuss the possibility of forming the TAA. At that time, the group consensus was to activate the audiologists in Texas within the existing Texas Speech and Hearing Association. Unfortunately, that just didn't work out and eventually we saw the need to push forward with the TAA. In May of this year, a steering committee meeting invitation went out to approximately 80 audiologists from different practice settings around the state. Of the 80 invitations we sent out, we had 40 people who attended a June meeting to discuss the direction of the academy. An executive committee was elected at this meeting to jump start the organization.
AO/Beck: We did the same thing about ten years ago. Our first serious effort to form the Missouri Academy of Audiology was focused on forming it within the Missouri Speech Language Hearing association, but as you noted in your Texas experience, it just didn't work. A year or two later we just pushed forward with the formation of the Missouri Academy of Audiology as a AAA state affiliate. Who was on the TAA executive committee?
Carlson: The committee members included: Mani Aquilar and Irene Jones as communication and membership co-chairs, William Beck as education coordinator, Janet Krueger as secretary, Matt Lyon as the finance coordinator, Todd Porter as legislative coordinator, Ross Roeser as coordinator of by-laws, Kathy Saucedo as regional coordinator and myself as chairperson. At the same time we elected Steve Miller and Tami Lemons as co-chairs for our first convention (November 2000). We also established regional contacts who assisted in communications to members throughout the state. Regional contacts were: Paula Allison, Kelly Green, Kerry Ormson, Carolyn Tolley, and Jane Watson.
AO/Beck: In setting up these positions and responsibilities, where did the guidance come from? In other words, for audiologists in states that do not yet have a AAA state affiliate organization, how did you know what to do and where to go? When we setup the AAA state affiliate in Missouri, there was a thick booklet that AAA provided. In that booklet they detailed recommendations relating to the Board of Directors, the preferred incorporation protocols and other very useful information. Did you use anything like that?
Carlson: We had a booklet from the AAA that recommended incorporation guidelines, but that was about it. The rest of the protocols were pretty much home grown by information received from other audiologists within the state as well as by-laws and information received from other state audiology academies. We chose to learn from the experience of other organizations, particularly in the establishment of our by-laws.
AO/Beck: When was the official start of the TAA?
Carlson: The TAA Articles of Incorporation were filed on April 25, 2000 and a small meeting was held in Dallas on May 11th to target audiologists for the steering committee. The first official meeting of the TAA was the steering committee meeting held on Saturday, June 10, 2000 in Austin, Texas. Our first TAA conference and general membership meeting occurred on November 11, 2000.
AO/Beck: Are there membership levels for non-audiologists in the TAA?
Carlson: Yes, there are two membership levels. The fellow category is open to audiologists with a current audiology license and a student membership which is open to graduate students majoring in audiology as well as post-graduates who are working to fulfill the requirements for full audiology licensure (in Texas the post-graduate experience is considered the Audiology Intern year). We also have a non-voting or office holding, patron category for non-audiologists who would like to support the activities of the TAA as well as attend continuing education activities at membership rates.
AO/Beck: How many members are in the TAA?
Carlson: We wanted to really jump-start the TAA, so we chose to give the initial membership to all 961 licensed Texas audiologists. This gives us time to provide value-added benefits to members prior to their first dues payment. The first dues payment is in 2001. We had our first conference in November of 2000 and were pleased to have had 137 audiologists at this meeting. Our inaugural meeting had a terrific send-off with Dr. Jim Jerger speaking on the future of audiology, Dr. Robert Glaser, then president of AAA, speaking on the advocacy for the profession, and Dr. Terese Finitzo speaking on universal infant hearing screening (which was initiated in Texas in May of 2000).
AO/Beck: What is the main focus of the TAA? Do you have a mission statement or an area of primary concern?
Carlson: The development of our mission statement was spearheaded by Dr. Susan Jerger. Our focus includes three main areas: the promotion of clinical excellence, ethical practice and conduct, and the advocacy of the profession through education and public information venues.
AO/Beck: What ethical guidelines do you offer the TAA members?
Carlson: We have adopted the AAA Ethics Statement as the TAA ethics statement.
AO/Beck: Those are very clever ideas. By giving all the licensed audiologists in the state automatic membership in the TAA, and by adopting the AAA Ethics Statements you basically hit the bricks running without reinventing the wheel. In other words, it seems to me that you quickly and efficiently jumped over some of the huge stumbling blocks that typically demand a lot of time and resources. What words of advice would you offer to audiologists considering starting a AAA state affiliate?
Carlson: The primary consideration is the needs of the potential members. In our situation, we felt that there was growing support for a state audiology organization. However, given the historical level of participation/non-participation in state-level activities as well as the geographical challenges of our state, it was important to provide our audiologists with a reason to join the TAA. Thus, my advice for audiologists in states without a state academy is to review the existing communication needs and problem areas within the state, and work to form an organization that can resolve those issues.
AO/Beck: In Texas, do you need a separate license to dispense hearing aids? And, how many CEUs are required annually?
Carlson: For Texas audiologists, you can dispense hearing aids through your audiology license as long as you file an additional registration to fit and dispense hearing aids. Our license requires 10 clock hours of continuing education per year.
AO/Beck: Before I let you go, I want to thank you for the recent study you co-authored for the AAA on the Salary and Benefits survey that was published in Audiology Today in the January/February 2001 edition. I thought that was a great summary of the status quo.
Carlson: Thanks, that was a team effort and something we hope will be ongoing. The first author was Gyl Kasewurm, and the other authors were Dennis Burrows and Karen Jacobs.
AO/Beck: For anyone not familiar with the article, it basically surveyed about 1600 people and reported on mean and median salary levels, based on degree status.
Carlson: Yes, that's right. In essence it demonstrated fairly well that doctoral level practitioners, whether they hold Ph.D., Ed.D or Au.D. degrees earn significantly more money than practitioners with MA/MS degrees.
AO/Beck: Thanks Deb. I appreciate your time and efforts tonight, and I congratulate you on the initiation of the TAA.
