Congratulations to Sanjana Kumar and Julia Zacher, CSD undergraduates, who have been awarded a Wisconsin Idea Fellowship for the 2021-22 academic year. This spring Sanjana and Julia (along with members of the undergraduate National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSHLA) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee) proposed a project to engage underrepresented high school students in our CSD university community. Their project was fully funded ($7000) through the Wisconsin Idea Fellowship, Morgridge Center for Public Service.
Project Overview
The NSSLHA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Research Internship Project aims to inform high school students, especially students of color, in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) about the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). The goal is to educate these students on the careers available in both Speech Pathology and Audiology by providing related resources and opportunities. Students will be able to explore their interests in CSD by joining NSSLHA related activities and applying to a summer internship in the Communication in Aging and Neurogenic Diseases Laboratory (CCANDL). By introducing these careers at the high school level, young students will be better equipped to plan for and build a competitive application for future study in CSD.
CSD Mentors
- Kim Mueller (Primary mentor & Research lab sponsor)
- Misha Finney (Secondary mentor/General programming support)
- Kim Caul (Secondary mentor/NSSLHA Advisor)
Wisconsin Idea Fellowship, Morgridge Center for Public Service
The Wisconsin Idea is the driving mission to ensure that the education and research at UW–Madison is used to benefit communities beyond our campus borders. Wisconsin Idea Fellowships are awarded annually to undergraduate student projects working towards addressing a challenge identified along with a local or global community partner. Fellowships are awarded to semester-long or year-long projects designed by an undergraduate student (or group of students) in collaboration with a community organization and a UW–Madison faculty or academic staff member. Projects can receive up to $7,000 in total funding and students receive 3 academic credits. Student recipients are also invited to present their work at the Undergraduate Symposium in the spring semester. On average, 5 – 10 fellowships are awarded every year. Two special fellowships each year are specifically dedicated to social entrepreneurship as well as the opportunity gap in Madison