Q: Who reads the conference evaluations and what to you do with the suggestions?
Q: Why aren't there more time breaks between sessions?
Q: Why can't MSHA offer conferences free to its members?
Q. Has MSHA abandoned audiology? Are courses only being offered at the Fall Conference in East Lansing?
Q: Why do we have to pay $10 to MSHA and also pay ASHA for CEUs?
Q: Where will MSHA conferences be in the upcoming years?
Q: Who reads the conference evaluations and what to you do with the suggestions?
A: First, Dawn Kutney reads the conference evaluations and summarizes the results. Second, your comments, questions and suggestions are presented to the MSHA officers and to the entire Executive Committee (EC) for their review. Third, the entire conference is "debriefed" by the EC. Annually, our goal is to learn from our experiences and improve the conference in each succeeding year. For example, here are a few of the evaluative comments, questions and suggestions submitted by MSHA members with the 2006 conference evaluations:
Because the primary objective of the Annual Conference is to bring high quality, evidence-based, affordable continuing education to MSHA members, the EC promises to continue to listen to our members' needs for professional development. Please continue to tell us what you think.
Q. Why was there a change in the Preliminary Program in scheduling? I missed a class that was moved from Saturday to Friday!
A: The Preliminary Program is printed in November so MSHA members may make an informed decision about whether the March Annual Conference will present professional development opportunities of interest to them. As in all phases of our lives, changes happen — speakers may need to switch presentation times or cancel their commitment. Papers are submitted after the deadline. Rooms at the conference site may have to be switched. Members are notified of anticipated changes in the et cetera issue delivered in February preceding the conference. The Program Book is distributed at the conference and holds the final schedule with all the changes. Members are responsible for using the Program Book. MSHA staff is always available at the conference registration area to answer questions about the schedule.
Q: Why are there more conference participants at the Ohioi conventions? Is it because MSHA is held during Spring break?
A: MSHA is held in mid- to late March because that is the one time of year that seems to avoid conflict with all the other various times when our members are given personal time away from work. For example, MSHA members who work in the public schools have Spring vacations at highly variable times ranging from a standard first week of April to a floating vacation depending upon the timing of Easter. Additionally, our conference planners try to avoid the university Spring breaks as well. Through experience, we have found that the middle of March tends to be the best time to schedule the Annual Conference and allow the most MSHA members and pre-professional students to participate. (The perception of a larger number of attendees at other states' annual conferences may be related to the CEU reuirements tied to licensure for SLPs in those states.)
Q: Why aren't there more time breaks between sessions?
A: The MSHA Executive Council and Program Committee plan the program in order to bring attendees the most Continuing Education Units for the time and money spent at the Annual Conference. ASHA and State Board rules for continuing eduation allow counting only time spent in the session as continuing education time. Time for breaks is susbtracted fromo each session. So, for example, if a three-hour short course has a 15-minute break in the middle, then the amount of CEU time awarded for that session must be only 2.75 hours. Balancing the time spent in sessions versus the time between sessions for breaks is not an easy task and one that the program committee tries to improve every year.
Q: Why can't MSHA offer conferences free to its members?
A: MSHA is committed to bringing the highest quality, evidence-based, affordable continuing education and professional development to its members. We are alsos committed to creating the atmosphere for our members to learn from each other, renew friendships and acquaintances, and revive energies and enthusiasm in the informal networking activities such as our annual luncheon and recpetions. In order to fulfill this promise, MSHA must pay the bills. Even with our best efforts to negotiate the best rates and to keep costs low, thereby increasing participation by our members, here are some concrete examples of costs associated with the Annual Conference and these costs do increase every year as do all our purchases:
Q. Why does MSHA only "block" or reserve a certain number of rooms at these hotels? I couldn't get a room at the Radisson because it was full even though I was a conference attendee.
A: The fees we pay to the hotel depend, in large part, upon how many sleeping rooms we fill. For example, if MSHA promises the htoel that our members will rent 350 rooms and we are successful in meeting that goal, then the conference contract will specify that our meeting rooms will be rented at a lower rate. Conversely, if MSHA members do not rent all the rooms held for our meeting, then MSHA is charged more for meeting rooms. All hotels and conference centers operate their contracts this way.
Here is the challenge: Because the EC must select and contract with htoels and conference centers years in advance, the leadership must make the best estimate of our needs years in advance. The decision is based upon the history of our conference participation in each location and the thoughtful deliberation of all EC members.
Q. Has MSHA abandoned audiology? Are courses only being offered at the Fall Conference in East Lansing?
A: No - MSHA has not abandoned audiologists nor are there any plans to discontinue offering continuing education about hearing and hearing disorders and other issues related to the practice of audiology. Again, in the MSHA 2005-2008 strategic plan, the EC is committed to bringing the highest quality continuing education and professional development to MSHA members. Because of these long-range goals, MSHA has collaborated with the Michigan Academy of Audiology and the Michigan Educational Audiology Association to co-sponsor the annual MAC on M.A.C. in October in East Lansing. See the Audiology page for this year's date.
Q: Why do we have to pay $10 to MSHA and also pay ASHA for CEUs?
A: MSHA pays ASHA $450 per year to be eligible to sponsor CEU activities such as the MSHA conference. MSHA also has its own administrative costs associated with awarding CEUs, such as postage, copying, attendance certificates and staff time. The minimal $10 fee only offsets this cost to MSHA and is supplemented by donations of time from student volunteers.
Q: Where will MSHA conferences be in the upcoming years?
A: The MSHA EC and program committee try to provide opportunities for the Annual Conference to be held in different locations in Michigan. In considering the options, the major factors determining decisions are convenience and cost to the members and the ability of the site to effectively and efficiently host a professional meeting.
Thank you for all your comments, questions and suggestions. The MSHA EC and Program Committee thanks you for your participation. The MSHA Program Committee continues to try and improve the MSHA conference and all its aspects. Please share with us your suggestions. Contact Jan McCosky, VP-Elect for Programs at msha@att.net.
Some CEU facts about the MSHA conference:
Each clock hour = .1 CEU. A Short Course is 3 hours = .3 CEUs. A Double-Mini-Seminar is 2 hours = .2 CEUs. A Mini-Seminar is 1 hour = .1 CEU. You can obtain .1 CEU if you visit four Poster Sessions (one Poster Session = 15 minutes of your time). So if, for example, at thisi MSHA conference you take three Short Courses (9 hours) and one Mini-Seminar (1 hour) and visit four Poster Sessions (1 hour), you will earn 1.1 CEUs, or 11 hours of Continuing Education. Since the ASHA CEU requirement is 30 clock hours over three years, that works out to 10 horus per year, and voilá, you have earned it by attending the Annual MSHA Conference! Congratulations!
Speakers
The MSHA program committee begins the process of selecting nationally and internationally known experts more than 12 to 18 months prior to every conference. Based upon the advice of our members and members of the standing committees, invited speakers are selected and awarded a usually modest honorarium along with their travel expenses to come to Mcihigan. Costs associated with procuring experts recommended by our MSHA members have been increasing because of the specific individuals being brought to Michigan and the increasing expenses associated with travel.
Other Associated Costs
Your MSHA leadership has eliminated many direct costs associated with the Annual Conference. For example, volunteers from our university training programs are providing increasisngly large amounts of service at the conference. Recently, student volunteers staffed registration areas, acted as the official photographers, and provided office support for processing CEU paperwork and other secretarial tasks. MSHA must still pay for the paper and printing of the program, registration materials and mailings. The leadership continues to examine other ways to defray costs susch as increasing the use of electronic communication and the web page for registration, dissemination of conference information and conference proceedings.