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Funding Opportunities

All of the following funding opportunities were made available through the very generous contributions of individual donors and their families. The funds remain available through ongoing contributions by individuals who are invested in the department’s mission of providing excellent educational opportunities for outstanding students.

SLHS Annual Fund

The annual fund provides general support for the department. Funds are used at the discretion of the department chair.

Davis Speech-Language-Hearing Center

The Julia M. Davis Speech-Language-Hearing Center has a long history of service to those with communication disorders. Our staff of nationally certified audiologists and speech-language pathologists, along with graduate-level student interns, offers a wide range of assessment and treatment services to adults, children, and infants with communication needs. Our clients often comment positively about our individualized and compassionate services.

Gifts to the clinic can be used to:

• support services for clients with a financial need
• help our clinic provide innovative services to people with communication disorders
• assist us with technology needs that impact the lives of our students, staff, and clients.

Funding Opportunities for Prospective PhD Students

The Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities is pleased to announce fellowship awards for one or more outstanding students who enroll full-time in our Ph.D. program in speech-language-hearing sciences in 2010.

Each award provides full tuition for each academic year for 3 years, a stipend, and annual funds for professional travel. The stipend includes limited requirements for research/teaching experiences across the 3 years. All individuals who apply to enter the Ph.D. program in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences in Fall semester of 2010 will be eligible to apply for the award. Preference will be given to students who apply by January 1, 2010. The award winner will have defined research interests that are well matched with a Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences faculty mentor’s expertise and have an academic research career as a primary goal. Students’ research interests may be in speech, language, and/or hearing.

The fellowship awards honor the contributions of three outstanding members of the University of Minnesota community. The first is Dr. Charles E. Speaks, who left the department in 2005 after 38 years of leadership. Professor Speaks was Department Chair for 22 years, received the Honors of the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 2003, and holds the University of Minnesota Horace T. Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professorship. Additionally, an award honors the outstanding career of Dr. Mildred Templin, who retired from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development in 1976. She was a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, the American Speech and Hearing Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Finally, one fellow award honors the many contributions of our colleague Dr. Leslie E. Glaze who left her role as Director of Clinical Programs in the Department in 2004. Dr. Glaze is a leader in the profession having served as President of the Minnesota Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She became an ASHA Fellow in 2005.

The awards are supported in part by the Charles E. Speaks, Mildred Templin and Leslie E. Glaze Graduate Fellowships at the University of Minnesota. Full details and application information about the awards are available at www.slhs.umn.edu.

Clark D. Starr Family Fellowship Fund

This endowed fund was established by the late Professor Clark Starr and his wife Mrs. Jane Starr. Dr. Starr was an extremely well known and highly regarded scholar with particular expertise in cleft palate and voice disorders. He became the first Department Chair in 1971 when the department became a separate entity at the University of Minnesota. This fund provides support to outstanding MA students in the Speech-Language Pathology program. The award may be used for the payment, partially or totally, of tuition and/or stipend.

Eligibility: All full-time MA students in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences who are in good academic standing are eligible for this award.

Application Procedure: Please complete the application by September 18, 2009 to be considered for this award.

Starr Award Application 2009-2010.

Starkey Research Scholar

This award is possible through the generosity of Starkey Laboratories, a company dedicated to serving the audiology and dispensing community by providing proven technology and services for those with hearing impairment. The award provides a twelve-month graduate research assistant position (20 hours/week) to work in the Clinical Product Research and Experimental Audiology divisions at Starkey Labs in Eden Prairie. The successful candidate will be involved in research duties related to evidence-based clinical tools for hearing aid fittings, hearing aids, and sound processing. The position begins in June of 2009.

Eligibility: All actively enrolled Au.D. students in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences who are in good academic standing are eligible to apply for the 2009 Research Scholar award.

Application Procedure: Applications for the Starkey Research Scholar Award are considered in the spring for the following academic year. Applications must be completed by April 15, 2009 to be considered for this award. Please submit the following materials to Mr. Andy Le in SLHS Student Support Services (205B Shevlin Hall):

1. A brief cover letter indicating your interest in the award.
2. A professional resume of experiences and accomplishments.
3. A letter of recommendation.

Also note:

4. A faculty committee in the Department will provide Starkey Laboratories with information related to all applicants’ academic and clinical progress toward completion of the Au.D. degree. Thus, it is important that all materials be received by the application deadline to ensure consideration by the faculty committee.
5. Starkey Laboratories will then interview applicant(s) for the position.

Robert G. Robinson Scholarships

This fund was established by a friend of the Department, the late Robert G. Robinson. Dr. Robinson was a Professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. He played a leading role in Minnesota’s agricultural economy and was a member of several professional and honor societies. The fund provides scholarships to outstanding students in the Doctorate of Audiology program.

Eligibility: All entering AuD students in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences who are U.S. citizens at the time of the award and also are non-smoking are eligible for this award.

Application Procedure: Please complete the application by September 18, 2009 to be considered for this award.

Robinson Award Application 2009-2010.

Bryng Bryngelson Research Fund

This fund is our earliest established fund, named in honor of Dr. Bryng Bryngelson who was a pioneer in communication sciences and disorders, especially in the area of stuttering. Dr. Bryngelson founded the speech clinic at the University of Minnesota in 1927. He also founded the Minnesota Speech-Language-Hearing Association and received the Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 1963.The fund supports the research projects, including professional travel to present research, of graduate and undergraduate students.

Eligibility: All graduate and undergraduate students in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences are eligible for this award.

Application Procedure: Applications for this award are considered continuously throughout the year. Please complete the application to be considered for this award.

• Bryngelson Award Announcement and Application (PhD) (PDF) (DOC)
• Bryngelson Award Announcement and Application (MA) (PDF) (DOC)

Additional Scholarship Opportunities

There are also a range of other scholarship opportunities available for graduate and undergraduate students in the College of Liberal Arts. See the Office of Undergraduate Programs Scholarships website. One scholarship, the Betty L. & Sidney L. Brown, & Shelley Brown Brundage Scholarship for incoming freshman reflects the generous support of a graduate from our department, Dr. Shelley B. Brundage and her family.

2009-2010 Award Recipients

Clark D. Starr Family Fellowship

Irene Duong hails from Southern California and received her B.S. in Speech Language Pathology from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. She is currently working through the first leg of her journey toward an M.A. in Speech Language Hearing Sciences as well as a Bilingual-Multicultural Emphasis certificate. She hopes to some day make a career out of Speech Language Pathology and work with diverse populations across linguistic backgrounds and borders. Her interests include (but are definitely not limited to) language learning, fluency perception, musical connections to language, fiber arts, travel and gastronomy.

Starkey Research Scholar

Eric McCabe is a second year Au.D. student. Since May 2006, he has worked with the Audiological Research group at Starkey Laboratories, under the guidance of Laurel Olson and Shilpi Banerjee, along with the rest of the Audiological Research group. He is advised by Dr. Bert Schlauch. His interests include adult amplification and the reactions of hearing aids in different competing noise sources.

Robert G. Robinson Scholarship

Sean Elam, a first year AuD student, recieved the Robinson Scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic year. Sean graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2009 with an undergraduate degree in Speech and Hearing Science. His interests are cochlear implants, pediatric audiology, and American Sign Language.

Charles E. Speaks Graduate Fellowship

Amelia Medina is a first-year PhD student, advised by Dr. Kathryn Kohnert. She completed a B.A. in Spanish and Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Iowa and her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology with Bilingual Training Certification at Arizona State University. Amelia has since practiced as a clinical fellow and clinician to serve monolingual and bilingual families through early intervention and school-based practice. She is interested in valid assessment, cognitive control during code-switching and bilingual development of speech and language fluency.