How should we prepare, support, and represent the next generation of speech-language pathologists?
OUR GOALS
PACT is a U.S.-based research project examining how the systems that shape speech-language pathology have evolved, why they developed as they did, and how they function today. Through historical research and perspectives from across the profession, PACT explores how SLPs are trained, credentialed, regulated, and represented, while asking what these systems could look like in the future.
Building on previous research
PACT does not begin with a blank slate. Researchers, professional organizations, educators, and clinicians have been examining questions about professional preparation, workforce needs, credentialing, and the structure of speech-language pathology for decades.
Our work builds on this existing body of research while asking new questions about how these systems developed, how they interact, and how they are experienced across the profession today. We maintain a running bibliography of the research, reports, historical records, and other sources informing the development of PACT.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1963, May). Graduate Education in Speech Pathology and Audiology: Report of a National Conference, Highland Park, Illinois.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1983). Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology: An Educational Perspective for the Future. Final Report.
ASHA’s 2025 Advocacy Priorities Survey
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2020, April). Final report: Ad hoc committee on graduate education for speech-language pathologists.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2023, December). Final Report of the Ad Hoc Commiftee to Plan Next Steps to Redesign Entry-Level Education for Speech-Language Pathologists
Malone, R. (1999). The first 75 years: An oral history of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2025, December). Guidelines for the Clinical Doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2013, November). Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Feasibility of Standards for the Clinical Doctorate in Speech‐Language Pathology.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2012, October). Academic Affairs Board Report to the ASHA Board of Directors on the Clinical Doctorate in Speech-Language Pathology.
MGH Institute of Health Professions. (2012, June). Consensus Conference on the Clinical/Professional Doctorate In Speech-Language Pathology June 21-23, 2012.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2020). Communication Sciences & Disorders (CSD) Education Survey Ad Hoc Report: The COVID-19 Impact on Academic Programs, Academic Year 2019–2020.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2016, May). Ad Hoc Committee on Supervision Training. Final Report: A Plan for Developing Resources and Training Opportunities in Clinical Supervision.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2013, September). Ad Hoc Committee on Committee, Board, and Council Structure Review: Final Report Review and Evaluation of ASHA’s Current Committee, Board, and Council Structures and Processes and Recommendations for Enhancing These Structures and Processes.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2018, December). Final Report, Ad Hoc Committee on Governance Review.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2013, December). Ad Hoc Committee on Reframing the Professions: Final Report Reframing the Professions of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2018). A Report Prepared by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Next Generation.
Ebert, K. D., & Williams, L. (2023). Perceptions of racism among graduate students of color in audiology and speech-language pathology. American journal of speech-language pathology, 32(6), 2982-2998.
ASHA. (1986). Autonomy of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.
Duchan, J. F., & Hewitt, L. E. (2023). How the charter members of ASHA responded to the social and political circumstances of their time. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(3), 1037-1049.
American Speech-Language Hearing Association (2019). Benefits and Programs 2019 Survey.
OUR GOALS
What We Hope to Understand
Project Aims
01
To investigate how different stakeholder groups (e.g., clinicians, students, faculty, and employers) perceive the adequacy and effectiveness of current training, clinical preparation, and professional practice in speech-language pathology.
02
To investigate how different stakeholder groups perceive the utility of association membership, credentials, and professional governance.
03
To assess barriers and facilitators to educational opportunities and clinical training across all stages of the profession.
04
To explore the level of support for alternative educational and clinical training models that have been proposed by the profession in recent years.
Project Timeline
PACT is a multi-year research project moving from team development and historical research through national data collection, analysis, and publication, with key milestones planned from fall 2025 through fall 2027.
PHASE 01
Building the research team
Fall 2025 – Spring 2026
Assembling the research team and advisory board, defining the project’s scope, and identifying the central research questions.
PHASE 02
Research and survey development
Spring – Fall 2026
Drafting and revising the survey alongside literature review, historical research, and analysis of existing professional reports and data.
PHASE 03
Review and finalization
Fall 2026
Finalizing the study design and survey instrument, completing research review, and submitting the project for IRB review.
PHASE 04
National survey launch
Spring 2027
Launching the PACT Survey and collecting perspectives from eligible participants across the United States.
PHASE 05
Data analysis
Summer 2027
Analyzing survey findings, examining patterns across respondent groups, and interpreting results alongside historical and existing research.
PHASE 06
Publication and findings
Fall 2027
Preparing findings for peer-reviewed publication and sharing results publicly with the profession.
PROJECT TEAM
The PACT Advisory Board brings together people with different professional roles, experiences, and perspectives to strengthen the research process. Members review study design and survey language, identify assumptions and blind spots, and provide context for interpreting and sharing the findings.
Megan Berg, SLP
Project Lead, Co-Principal Investigator
Megan is a speech-language pathologist, entrepreneur, and producer whose clinical work has focused on adult neurorehabilitation. She is the founder and owner of Therapy Insights, a clinical resource company serving speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists, and the producer of Inside SLP, a podcast exploring the history, structures, and institutions that have shaped the profession of speech-language pathology. As project lead for PACT, Megan oversees the project’s historical research, survey development, and broader investigation into how SLPs are trained, credentialed, regulated, and represented.
Emily Ekl, PhD
Methodology Lead, Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Ekl is a sociologist and Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University. Her research investigates how status, medicine, and work interact to produce inequalities. Her three streams of research focus on (1) how healthcare professionals of various statuses interact to provide patient care, (2) how health and healthcare inequalities are generated for individuals in work and educational contexts, and (3) how individuals with chronic illnesses leverage network ties to meet critical support functions.
Nicole Bustamante, M.A, CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Nicole is a medical speech-language pathologist specializing in acute care across large academic healthcare systems, with experience caring for complex patient populations. She brings a frontline clinical perspective to the PACT project and is interested in the relationships among education, credentialing, healthcare systems, institutional structures, and the practice of speech-language pathology in high-acuity medical settings.
Vicki Chia Hui Lin, M.S., CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
As a bilingual, bicultural SLP, university faculty member, and first generation immigrant, Vicki brings extensive multi-setting clinical experiences alongside a deeply personal, proactive commitment to bridging service gaps and shaping the future of the SLP profession.
Kelly David MA CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Kelly David is currently a clinical instructor with previous experience across a variety of settings, including acute care, outpatient, and SNF. She is also a parent of a child with Angelman syndrome and a consumer of outpatient services. She offers both perspectives as professional and parent.
Susan DeMilla
Advisory Board Member
Bio here.
Jolene Denn, MS, MHA, CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Jolene is a speech-language pathologist and Assistant Professor in Speech-Language Hearing Sciences at St. Cloud State University, with 17 years of clinical and leadership experience in rural post-acute healthcare settings. She brings both clinical and academic perspectives to the PACT project. Her interests center on how Health Systems Science can prepare future SLPs to navigate complex healthcare systems and advocate for the profession’s essential role in delivering high-quality, value-based care.
Carrie Eck
Advisory Board Member
Bio here.
Anna Ervin, MA, CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Anna Ervin is an SLP at a critical-access hospital in rural Iowa working across the lifespan. Anna brings an early-career professional perspective to the PACT team.
Valeria Gary, M.A., CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Valeria is a speech-language pathologist with over 35 years of experience in neurological rehabilitation, specializing in Parkinson’s disease and motor speech disorders. Through mentoring students, Clinical Fellows, and early-career clinicians, she has developed a particular interest in clinical training, CF supervision, the costs associated with professional preparation, and professional mobility. She brings both a long-term clinical and mentorship perspective to the PACT project.
Meagan Hamous, M.S., CCC-SLP, BCS-S
Advisory Board Member
Meagan has been a speech-language pathologist for seven years and currently practices in acute care and outpatient settings, with a particular clinical interest in dysphagia. She brings the perspective of a practicing clinician to the PACT project and is interested in how graduate education and post-graduate training prepare SLPs for entry-level clinical practice. Her interests also include dysphagia education in graduate programs, access to continuing education, and the financial considerations associated with ongoing professional development.
Jennifer Hartze
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Serena Jaskolka, MS, CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Serena has experience across skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, and acute care settings, with a clinical focus on post-acute dysphagia management and expanding access to FEES in skilled nursing facilities. She brings the perspective of a newer clinician to the PACT project and is interested in how early-career SLPs and clinical fellows transition from graduate education and training into clinical practice.
Taylor Magaw
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Jalyssa Matos, M.A., CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Jalyssa is in her third year of practice, working full-time in a middle school setting and providing per diem early intervention services in New Jersey. She brings experience across school-based and early intervention settings to the PACT project and is interested in how graduate education relates to current clinical practice, as well as how information about education, training, and the profession is communicated to students and practicing SLPs.
Mina May
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Lindi Messina
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Whitney Osofsky, MS/CCC-SLP
Advisory Board Member
Whitney is a speech-language pathologist with 13 years of experience in home health. She brings experience across both school-based and medical settings to the PACT project and is interested in examining how graduate education and clinical training prepare SLPs for entry into medical settings.
Nathan J. Putnam
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Anya Scharnhorst
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Robert W. Serianni, MS, CCC-SLP, FNAP
Advisory Board Member
Bob is Chair, Program Director, and Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology at Drexel University’s Elkins Park Campus, where he works in administration, teaching, and clinical supervision. Before joining the former Salus University in 2014, he held clinical and leadership roles in acute care, rehabilitation, home health, and pediatric care, working with patients locally and internationally. His research focuses on clinical supervision and interprofessional education and practice.
Bob earned his master’s from Loyola University Maryland and returned to his hometown of Philadelphia to practice. He holds ASHA’s Certificate of Clinical Competence, Pennsylvania licensure, and specialty certifications in voice and dysphagia. He is pursuing a doctorate in Higher Education at Temple University focused on underrepresented graduate students.
Mallory Stefan
Advisory Board Member
Bio coming soon.