Speak Out August 2017

Association news

The Board of Directors for 2017 – 2018 consists of: Vice President Communications Tim Kittel, Lee McGovern, Dr Marleen Westerveld, National President Gaenor Dixon, Brooke Sanderson, Dr Chyrisse Heine, Vice President Operations Belinda Hill.

Your Board of Directors for 2017 – 2018

I would like to congratulate all of the successful nominees and warmly welcome Dr Marleen Westerveld to the Board. On behalf of the Association I would also like to acknowledge the significant contributions of outgoing Director, Robyn Stephen. Robyn was a highly valued and experienced Director having held office for six consecutive years on the Board. Thank you Robyn for your insightful and strategic contributions to the Association and your passionate commitment to the speech pathology profession. Gail Mulcair Chief Executive Officer

IN 2017 INLINE with the Constitution, nominations were sought for three vacant positions on the Board of Directors. On this occasion the Association received seven nominations, with an election held to elect the three successful candidates. It was exciting to have seven high-calibre nominees and we thank all for their commitment and interest in standing for election to the Board. The Association was pleased to announce the election results at the recent Annual General Meeting, with Dr Marleen Westerveld being newly elected to the Board of Directors, while Gaenor Dixon and Chyrisse Heine were re-elected for a further two-year term.

On Board... meet Marleen

MARLEEN WESTERVELD , PhD, CPSP was recently appointed to the SPA Board. “I am currently a senior lecturer in speech pathlogy at Griffith University. As an academic on a “balanced” profile my work comprises both a research and a teaching component. My research relates to clinically relevant research into child language and literacy development and disorders, with the ultimate aim of bridging the gap from research to practice. Existing projects include an autism-CRC funded study investigating the early literacy pathways of children on the autism spectrum; a New Zealand-based oral narrative intervention for school-age children with Down syndrome; and the Reading Success project aimed at implementing evidence-based literacy initiatives in primary schools in collaboration with my colleagues from the Department of Education in Queensland. “I have been a member of SPA since 2000 and have contributed to the Association and the profession in many different ways,

for example through co-editorship of the Journal of Clinical Practice and Speech- Language Pathology, working party membership for two clinical guidelines (Literacy and ASD), reviewer of conference papers and research applications and regular conference attendance and workshop presentations. “As a Director of the Board, I look forward to learning more about the work that goes on behind the scenes of our Association (now more than 8000 members), including advocacy, finance, and strategic planning. I will support the Association’s strategic directive to get “future ready”. I believe in actively promoting opportunities to consolidate and expand our scope of practice, for example in the literacy domain, and look forward to assisting the Association in preparing speech pathologists to serve the ever-expanding population of culturally and linguistically diverse clients and students.”

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August 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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