The Innovative Mentoring and Professional Advancement through Cultural Training (IMPACT) program was a multi-dimensional, inter-institutional, collaborative mentoring program for students who interested in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). IMPACT was run in collaboration with Hampton University (HU), a historically black college and university (HBCU). The IMPACT program was designed to provide students with access to Communication Sciences and Disorders professionals, exposure to research opportunities, and graduate school preparation. Professor Lauren Calandruccio and Assistant Professor Jessica Sullivan (HU) co-directed the IMPACT program.
Fellows attend meetings with their research mentors, affinity mentors, writing coaches, and professional coaches to help shape their career. Over the course of five years, IMPACT served over 50 Fellows. Of these students, 44 are either currently enrolled in CSD graduate programs or are practicing clinicians.
To learn more about the IMPACT program you can listen to an EmpowEAR Audiology Podcast hosted by Dr. Carrie Spangler that featured the IMPACT Program.
Or, check out the featured covered story on IMPACT in the October 2021 edition of the Hearing Journal.
IMPACT was also featured as the cover story of the CWRU Arts & Sciences magazine in 2024. Check out the full story here.