Eligibility, nomination steps, and what a 2026 honoree's career shows about the path
In October 2026, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced Samuel Atcherson, Ph.D., as an ASHA Fellow, one of the association's highest honors. The term fellowship means two different things in speech-language pathology: the entry-level Clinical Fellowship and the career-capping FASHA credential.
FASHA is not a license or baseline credential. It is an honor earned through a formal nomination process that weighs teaching, research, and service, not the CCC-SLP. Atcherson's record shows the pattern: clinical education, peer-reviewed publications, and leadership in organizations outside ASHA. For students, the distinction matters because the path to Fellow starts long before CCC-SLP.
The Clinical Fellowship (CF) is a supervised, paid transition year that every new speech-language pathologist completes before earning the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP). ASHA Fellowship, written as FASHA, is not an entry-level step. It is a career-level honor, short for Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, reserved for professionals with outstanding, sustained contributions to communication sciences and disorders. Unlike the CF, FASHA does not replace any certification requirement and arrives later in a career.
Both credentials use the word "fellow" and both appear on ASHA pages, which is why online searches often blur them. One marks the start of clinical practice; the other marks a distinguished career. The shared word does not mean shared requirements.
If you are finishing graduate school and need a mentored clinical experience, you want the Clinical Fellowship. If you are an experienced ASHA member or international affiliate with a long record of teaching, research, service, or leadership, FASHA is the recognition to understand. Use the Clinical Fellowship while you are a student or new graduate; think about FASHA only after you have built a body of work.
For step-by-step CF supervision hours, timelines, and documentation, see the CCC-SLP and Clinical Fellowship guides on this site.
What does it actually take to earn the FASHA credential, and who can nominate you? The short answer: FASHA is the Fellowship of the Association, one of the highest honors ASHA bestows, and it is not tied to a single role or degree level.
ASHA's Fellowship of the Association page, updated in October 2026, describes the honor as recognition for "outstanding contributions" to communication sciences and disorders. The standard is both high and specific. A nominee's work must be outstanding not only locally but also beyond their community or state.
To be eligible, a nominee must be an ASHA member in good standing or an international affiliate in good standing. ASHA's published criteria do not set a fixed minimum number of years of experience. Instead, the focus is on documented contributions in exactly three of six areas:
The same accomplishment cannot be counted in more than one area. Reviewers assess the significance of the contributions rather than the total number.
You do not need every nominator to be an ASHA Fellow, but most do need that status. A complete nomination requires one sponsor and two co-sponsors. All three must be ASHA members or international affiliates, and two of the three must be ASHA Fellows. In addition, two of the three cannot have been related to you as a fellow student or co-worker at any point in the past ten years. The sponsor and co-sponsors must agree on the three contribution areas they will evaluate.
The sponsor statement must include a résumé of the nominee's educational and professional activities and emphasize the three selected areas. Co-sponsors submit individual support letters. The page reviewed does not specify length or formatting rules for those materials.
These labels sit in different buckets: Clinical Fellowship is a supervised experience, CCC-SLP is the baseline professional credential, specialty certification signals advanced clinical expertise in one area, and FASHA is an honor layered on top. For audiologists, CCC-A serves the same baseline certification role as CCC-SLP does for speech-language pathologists.
| Item | What it is | Who earns it | How you get it | Credential or honor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Fellowship (CF) | A mentored professional experience following completion of SLP academic coursework and clinical practicum | An aspiring speech-language pathologist who has completed the required academic coursework and clinical practicum | Complete 36 weeks of full-time experience supervised by an individual holding the CCC | A supervised professional experience, not a certificate or honor |
| CCC-SLP | ASHA's Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology | Speech-language pathologists providing clinical services, or individuals in the certification process under supervision by a person holding the appropriate CCC | Meet ASHA certification requirements, complete the Clinical Fellowship, and have CF mentors verify clinical hours, weeks worked, and required skills | A professional certification credential |
| Board Certified Specialist recognition | An advanced specialty certification demonstrating training, experience, and clinical expertise in a specialty area | A professional who already holds ASHA's CCC and meets the specialty board's requirements | Meet experiential requirements, demonstrate clinical expertise, complete continuing education, and pass the board's required assessment | A Board Certified Specialist (BCS) specialty credential |
| FASHA | An ASHA honor recognizing outstanding professional contributions in three selected areas of accomplishment | An ASHA member or international affiliate in good standing who demonstrates outstanding contributions to the professions | Be nominated by a sponsor and two co-sponsors, with two of the three nominators being ASHA Fellows, and submit nomination materials documenting outstanding contributions in three eligible areas | An honorary ASHA fellowship distinction |
FASHA nomination is a formal, documentation-driven review that turns a career of scholarship, teaching, and service into a structured evidence file the Committee on Honors evaluates each summer.
ASHA's published cycle opens each January with a call for nominations in The ASHA Leader and on ASHA's website. The nomination window typically closes between mid-March and early April. For the 2026 cycle, ASHA has not published a separate fixed deadline, so the annual window is the one to plan around. After the nomination window closes, National Office staff complete administrative checks, including confirming ASHA membership for the nominee, sponsor, and co-sponsors. The Committee on Honors reviews materials over two days in June and requires a two-thirds vote to approve. New Fellows are announced in The ASHA Leader and recognized at the ASHA Awards Ceremony during the ASHA Convention, which in 2026 runs November 19 to 21 in Indianapolis. ASHA's Fellowship of the Association and Awards FAQ pages confirm these dates.
The sponsor and nominee agree on three of ASHA's six eligible accomplishment areas. A specific accomplishment cannot be reused across areas, so if one achievement touches research and teaching, choose the strongest match and use different evidence elsewhere.
Everything must be combined into a single PDF of no more than 15 pages, including letters and vita. All supporting documentation must be single-spaced and at least 12-point font, including inserted graphs, charts, certificates, and photos. Do not include active hyperlinks; the committee will not click or consider them. Noncompliance can lead to rejection or disqualification.
A practical planning window is 12 to 18 months. Begin the CV and evidence file a year before you plan to submit, then align sponsor conversations with the January call. This leaves time to confirm the vita template and check the 15-page PDF before the mid-March to early April closing.
When the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced in October 2026 that Samuel Atcherson, Ph.D., had received one of ASHA's highest honors, the notice laid out exactly what Fellowship rewards. According to the UAMS announcement, nominators cited three threads: clinical education and teaching, a distinguished research record, and service in professional organizations other than ASHA.
Atcherson has taught primarily in the Doctor of Audiology program at UAMS since 2008, and his scholarship includes 70 peer-reviewed articles, five books, several book chapters, and more than 300 presentations. That combination of classroom instruction and published work shows how teaching and research can reinforce each other over nearly two decades.
The outside leadership roles cited are just as telling. Atcherson co-founded the Association of Audiologists with Hearing Loss, served as president of the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses, and was vice president of Audiology and Hearing Services in the Arkansas Speech-Language-Hearing Association. He also served as a governor-appointed trustee of the Arkansas School for the Deaf and Blind.
Atcherson's primary appointment is in the UAMS College of Health Professions' Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, with a secondary appointment in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. For SLP students and educators, that shared departmental home signals that audiology and speech-language pathology can work as connected fields, with advocacy and clinical education goals that reinforce one another.
Fellowship rewards decades of sustained, varied contribution. It is not one standout achievement, but a pattern of teaching, publishing, and serving that accumulates over time.
What do this year's ASHA Fellows actually do day to day? The 2026 cohort offers a partial answer, and it is not one setting.
ASHA's 2026 Fellows list names 21 honorees, including Donna Scarborough, whose recognition Miami University announced Oct. 12.1 That announcement framed Scarborough's fellowship as honoring lifelong service to patients and students,1 a reminder that clinical care and mentorship count as much as research.
The public list alone doesn't detail each honoree's contribution area; the picture comes from university and health-system announcements. The UAMS example highlights clinical education, academic teaching, research, and leadership outside ASHA. Together, these examples point to a recurring pattern: most Fellows build a record across multiple areas over many years, rather than excelling in a single category.
This matters for SLPs outside academia. A clinician in a hospital or school can point to patient service, student supervision, and committee leadership as fellowship material. A university faculty member might pair teaching with publications and professional advocacy. The settings differ, but the through line is sustained contribution. For students and new clinicians, the actionable takeaway is to start small, stay consistent, and document service, teaching moments, and leadership roles that extend beyond the job description. No single path defines the honor. That is why the 2026 examples matter: they show what the credential looks like in practice.
Starting early versus waiting until mid-career: Fellowship rarely comes from one big year. It rewards a record built across multiple areas over time.
ASHA does not publish a fixed annual quota or selection rate. In 2026 it named 21 Fellows and seven recipients of the higher Honors of the Association. Fellowship requires an ASHA member or international affiliate in good standing who shows outstanding contributions across at least three qualifying areas, elected by a two-thirds vote of the Committee on Honors. ASHA does not set a minimum number of years of experience, but the record described is usually sustained. For most nominees, this is a late-career honor rather than an early milestone.
FASHA recognition is an honor, not a licensure step, and it does not come with an automatic salary increase. The 2025 BLS wage and employment figures below are approximate national estimates and do not isolate ASHA Fellows, but they show the two settings where Fellows often work: direct speech-language pathology practice and postsecondary health specialties teaching. Fellowship can strengthen your credibility for leadership appointments, academic promotion, and advocacy roles.
| Occupation | Employment | Mean annual wage | 25th percentile wage | Median annual wage | 75th percentile wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speech-Language Pathologists | 183,390 | $98,170 | $77,730 | $97,870 | $114,570 |
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | 221,270 | $147,570 | $75,690 | $107,310 | $210,370 |
The pull to finish today's requirements can overshadow the long game of becoming an ASHA Fellow. Start narrow and concrete: use the site's graduate school guides to choose a program, complete your Clinical Fellowship, then earn the CCC-SLP. Those guides walk through each stage, including supervision hours and exam timing. After certification, shift from checking boxes to building evidence that mirrors FASHA criteria: join a state association committee, contribute to a clinical or research project, and keep a running log of presentations, teaching, publications, and leadership roles. Fellowship nominations usually come years later, so that log becomes the paper trail nominators need. This month, pick one low-lift action: email your state speech-language-hearing association about joining a committee or volunteer task force. That single step starts the contributions record you will cite when the nomination window opens.
