College of Health and Human Development

Felicia Sison Conlan

When Felicia came to CSUN for graduate school, she jumped right in to her usual level of activity and involvement - immersion. She quickly became an invaluable assistant in the Distance Learning Master’s program in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences.

Graduating last May with a 3.99 Grade Point Average, she dealt with significant personal medical problems even as she helped a family member through a serious illness.

Her academic excellence won her the Dean's Award for Outstanding Graduate Student, 2009. She quickly let the college know about her desire to combine one of her prior careers with her new one: An award winning broadcast journalist, Felicia wants to increase awareness of the speech/language pathology profession locally and globally. She's already started - soon after graduating, Felicia had a piece published in American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Leader Magazine.

Her article, "A New Profession and a New Passion" was featured in the column, "First Person on the Last Page," in the magazine. Felicia also recently gave a presentation at the ASHA Convention in Chicago, at which she provided ASHA with some video testimony about the Speech Language Pathology profession. Soon after arriving home, Felicia received a request from ASHA to use some of her comments in a DVD they are presenting to Congress in September.

Her awards and scholarships include the American Speech-Language Hearing Association Minority Student Leadership Program Scholarship (2008), the Progressus Therapy SLP Scholarship (2008), the Zeta Tau Alpha Service Award scholarship (2008), and membership in the Golden Key International Honor Society.

Felicia has volunteered for youth sports teams, the Medical Speech Pathology Council of California symposia and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. She is executive board officer of the San Fernando Valley Alumnae of Zeta Tau Alpha.