2015-2016 Chapter Challenges
Welcome to the 2015-2016 Chapter Challenges! As a part of our efforts to advance relationships between
Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) chapters, we have developed a series of
“Chapter Challenges”
to help grow engagement in our profession, and build a sense of community among students of audiology. Furthermore, as future audiologists, it is paramount to be active participants in the advancement of our profession. We encourage all chapters to participate!
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
●
The Chapter Challenges fall into four main areas: Advocacy, Education, Humanitarian and
Fundraising efforts.
● Participation in any area can occur throughout the entire challenge year beginning September 30th and ending March 10th .
This will be broken up into three periods:
○ August 30 th – October 30 th (submission deadline Nov 4th)
○ October 31 st – January 15th (submission deadline January 20th)
○
January 16 th – March 10th (submission deadline March 15th)
●
In order to be in contention to win, your chapter must participate and accumulate points during at least TWO of the THREE check-in periods.
● Your chapter should have received a document of possible activities to pursue and an Excel chart to track your points
Please read the descriptions carefully to understand how points are tallied.
● At the end of each challenge period, email a copy of your sheet to SarahBlueSAA@gmail.com
.
Reminder emails will be sent. These points will be tallied and communicated to all local chapters.
● ANY ACTIVITIES THAT ARE NOT LISTED STILL COUNT! The activities listed are just suggestions to get you started! So get creative! Each additional activity is worth 1 point. Please record, in detail, what your chapter did to earn the point, and include it in the most appropriate category under “Additional Activities”. If you have questions about how an activity should be tallied, please contact SarahBlueSAA@gmail.com
, chair of SAA Chapter Relations.
●
The winning chapters will be announced during AudiologyNOW! 2016 in Pheonix, be featured in the
SAAy Anything e-newsletter and will be recognized in the “SAA Spotlight” in Audiology Today !
●
There will be SIX winning schools this year! The categories are below. Keep in mind each school can only win for one of the six champion titles:
1) Most Overall Points
2) Most Well-Rounded
3) Advocacy Challenge Champion
4) Education Challenge Champion
5) Humanitarian Challenge Champion
6) Fundraising Challenge Champion
We look forward to a year-long competition and seeing everything you and your chapters accomplish! Be sure to send videos, photos, or write-ups so we can share your progress!
Remember: ADVOCATE, EDUCATE,
SUPPORT and LEAD!
Sincerely, your SAA Chapter Relations Committee Members
Sarah Blue, Courtney Collins, Chelsea Hull, Caitlin McKenny, Christopher Pierce, and Kallie Telfer

2015-2016 Chapter Challenges
●
New Chapter Participation [5 points]
○ Is this your chapter’s first year participating in the Chapter Challenges? As a way of welcoming you to the Chapter Challenges, your chapter can earn 5 points for being a first time participant!
● Undergraduate Member Participation [1 point]
○ To encourage undergraduate outreach and participation, earn 1 bonus point if at least one undergraduate member participates in any of your chapter challenges.
● Participation in Chapter Updates/ Chapter Chatter [1 point]
○
Did you enter a submission to the media committee for Chapter Updates? As a thank you for participating, your chapter earns 1 point!
● AAA Fellow Participation [1 point]
○ To encourage AAA Fellow participation in your chapter’s events, earn 1 bonus point if at least one Fellow participates in any of your chapter challenges.
●
Additional Activities [1 point each]
○ Any additional projects, activities, or events that your chapter participates in can count for 1 point! Just write a detailed description and tally your points in the “Additional Activities” section of the category that best fits your project (advocacy, education, humanitarian or fundraising)
● Write a letter or e-mail to your congressional leaders [1 point per 10 students]
○
Mail or e-mail a letter to your Representative and/or Senator supporting a current legislative issue or bill in audiology (e.g. Medicare Direct Access). You can find your respective
Congressperson and examples of ready-to-print template letters on the Academy site at http://capwiz.com/audiology/home/ .
○ For more information about current legislative issues supported by the American Academy of
Audiology, please visit http://audiology.org/advocacy/issuebriefs/Pages/default.aspx
○
Note: Points are based on the number of students who write letters, not the number of letters.
Please do not spam your representatives.
● Donate at least $50 to the American Academy of Audiology’s PAC [1 point]
○ As defined on the Academy’s website, “the purpose of the Academy’s Political
Action Committee (PAC) is to support policy goals important to audiologists and the practice of audiology through the support of candidates for elective office; to promote better understanding among elected officials of the unique and important role of audiology in the delivery of high quality healthcare to patients; and to assist

2015-2016 Chapter Challenges audiologists and others in organizing themselves for effective political action.” Every dollar counts! To donate to the PAC, please visit: http://audiology.org/advocacy/pac/Pages/default.aspx
● Schedule a visit with a congressional leader [3 points per visit]
○
Scheduling a visit with your Representative and/or Senators can be an effective way to advocate for a legislative issue that is important to you. Meetings can be scheduled when your congressional leaders are in their home territories, or if possible, meetings can be scheduled on
Capitol Hill. If interested in scheduling meetings, further information can be obtained about current issues, what to expect, and how to schedule an appointment from the Academy’s
Government Relations team. Please contact Nicholas Reed, the SAA Advocacy Chair, at reenich@gmail.com
if you plan to schedule a visit so that you may receive more information and assistance.
●
Encourage consumer advocacy [1 point per event]
○ Hold a community or campus event, or a social media campaign, to encourage consumers to advocate for audiology legislation. See the Legislative Action center more information: http://capwiz.com/audiology/issues/alert/?alertid=63115226
● Adopt-A-Band [3 points]
○ As stated on the Etymotic Website, “The primary goal of the Adopt-a-Band Program is to preserve the hearing of young musicians in music programs everywhere. The Adopt-a-Band
Program provides an innovative opportunity for audiologists to inform music students, music educators, parents, and program administrators about the danger of overexposure to loud sound.” Your SAA chapter can partake in this great program and adopt a band of your choice!
Follow this link for more information about how to get started: http://www.etymotic.com/adoptaband/about.html
● Reach out to undergraduates [1 point per event]
○
Reach out to undergraduates and encourage them to join your local SAA chapter, or educate them about audiology and hearing loss.
○
Hold an open house, Q&A session, recruitment event, or participate in an undergraduate career fair or health fair
● Speaking engagement at a public or community venue [1 point per event]
○
Be an educational advocate for audiology! Give a hearing loss lecture at a community center, speak to school kids about healthy hearing and noise levels, or participate in any similar speaking engagement.
● Introduce us to your chapter/ Chapter Spotlight [1 point per project]
○
Get creative and introduce us to your chapter! This can be in the form of a YouTube video, a website, a photo collage, or other media. Create media about your SAA chapter and it may be featured on the SAA website or Facebook page.

2015-2016 Chapter Challenges
● Send at least 3 activity ideas to the “SAA Program Ideas Bank” [1 point]
○
Help out other SAA chapters by describing at least three unique activities that your chapter has participated in, and send those ideas to amy.safran@gmail.com
.
●
Media Challenge (AAA, SAA, ACAE, AAAF, AN!) [1 point]
○ Get in touch with your professional organizations by getting in touch through social media. All it takes is a click of a button!
○ Earn 1 point when all of your first-year student members “like” or follow all of these pages:
■ AAA https://www.facebook.com/audiology
■ SAA https://www.facebook.com/pages/Student-Academy-of-
Audiology/341439069879?ref=br_tf
■ ACAE https://www.facebook.com/acaeaccred
■ AAAF https://www.facebook.com/audiologyfoundation
■ AN! https://www.facebook.com/AudiologyNOW
■ SAA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StudentAuD
● Humanitarian trip (of at least one day) [3 points per trip]
○ This includes both international and domestic humanitarian audiology trips. There is a need for audiological services in developing countries overseas, as well as in underserved regions within the U.S.
○
If your chapter would like to go on a humanitarian trip, let us know and we can let you know of trips that already exist that your chapter may be able to join and help with.
●
Coordinate a service event with another SAA chapter [1 point per event]
○ Some SAA chapters are within relatively close proximity of one another. Such chapters may team up and participate in a event together. This can include a service event, a fundraiser, or even an advocacy project. Let’s all work together for the greater good!
● Coordinate a service event on campus [1 point per event ]
○ It is always important to give back to your community and the area in which you reside. Some examples include coordinating a food drive on campus, or hosting a hat/mitten/coat drive in the winter, creating a support group for undergraduate students with hearing loss, or take part in a program that assists families in need by donating gifts for the holidays.
●
Perform hearing screenings in the community [1 point per event]
○ Undetected and untreated hearing loss is a major health concern. By visiting a nearby preschool, nursing home, assisted living community, church, etc, your chapter has the ability to help people hear better and be able to reconnect with loved ones through improved hearing and communication. Make sure to bring a licensed audiologist along to supervise and refer to your university clinics for follow up care!
●
Donation drive for an audiology humanitarian trip [1 point]
○ Does your chapter want to help out with a humanitarian trip but doesn’t have the time or means to travel to a remote location? Consider donating items to a chapter or an audiologist that is planning an event! Some relatively inexpensive donations could be disposable specula, alcohol pads/wipes, batteries; the opportunities are endless.

2015-2016 Chapter Challenges
○ If you don’t know of a chapter who goes on trips or what they might need, let national SAA know and we will gladly help you out!
● Complete the 15/15/15 challenge [3 points]
○
For 15/15/15, we ask that you have 15 students donate $15 to the American Academy of
Audiology Foundation on November 15 th . We celebrate 15/15/15 on November 15 th because that is National Philanthropy Day. We hope that local chapters make 15/15/15 into a fun event, to celebrate your philanthropic efforts together. Then, post pictures of your SAA chapter on our
SAA Facebook page.
● Attend the annual “CHEERS FOR EARS” at AN! 2016 [1 point for at least 2 students]
○ CHEERS FOR EARS will be SAA’s biggest fundraiser. This event is held during
AudiologyNOW! 2016. Have your chapter show support for this event by having at least two students attend. Students can register to attend Cheers for Ears when they register for AN! 2015.
■ *Tickets must be purchased IN ADVANCE by student and not gifted.
● Donate a $50+ gift card to Auction for Audiology for AN! 2016 [1 point]
○ This year we are asking that SAA chapters support the Auction for Audiology – Gift Card Style.
We are asking that chapters donate a $50+ gift card that represents your SAA Chapter or state.
Keep in mind that you want your gift card to be usable for all bidders. So be creative! Think of large businesses that are headquartered in your state. Examples: Washington – Starbucks or
Amazon.com, Colorado – Chipotle, Massachusetts – punchbowl.com.
●
Raise $100 for a hearing related organization/cause [1 point per $100]
○ Choose any hearing related organization and donate $100 as a chapter to benefit their cause.
Some suggestions would be HLAA, SOHH, Walk4Hearing.
○
If you raise $100 for a non-hearing related organization, please tally 1 point in the “Additional
Activities” section and write who you donated to and what you did!
●
Fundraising in reverse - AAAF Scholarships [1 point]
○ Have at least 2 members apply for a SAA student or chapter grant/scholarship
○
There are so many great grants and scholarships through the American Academy of Audiology
Foundation and they are all supported by SAA fundraisers and donations specifically for students! We want chapters to understand where their fundraising money is going. What better way than to have members and chapters apply for these scholarships? http://www.audiologyfoundation.org/education/education.html
● Raise $150 for your local chapter [1 point per $150]
○
Perform a fundraiser for your local chapter. We want our local chapters to be successful too!