Associate Professor, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Volunteers are an essential part of ASHA’s Academic and Research Mentoring (ARM) Network programs. This month, we’re highlighting Dr. Karen Chenausky. She has both mentored and participated as an awardee in several ARM Network programs, which she learned about through ASHA emails. Dr. Chenausky shares how impactful volunteer mentoring was on her career and her pathway from protégé to mentor.
How has participation supported your career growth?
Certainly, the experiences where I was a trainee helped improve my skills and [helped] teach me important lessons about how to be a professional teacher and researcher. ASHA’s ARM Network offerings have helped me meet mentors who have given me great advice and support as well as helped me to acquire skills like grant- and article-writing.
The experiences where I was a mentor also really helped me, though. They helped me solidify and crystallize the knowledge I’d learned to DO so that I could then EXPLAIN it to others. And that still helps my own work—as well as being emotionally satisfying.
What surprised you most about the experience?
How willing mentors were to respond to my requests—and how much I learned from being a mentor.
What inspires you to continue volunteering?
It is so emotionally satisfying. It is reassuring that the hard things I went through mean something because I can use those experiences to help others.
What advice would you give to someone considering participating in the ARM Network?
Do it! You’ll meet some amazing people—first as mentors, then as mentees. These friendships are what bring joy to our profession.
ARM Network Participation
Dr. Chenausky has participated in several ARM Network programs as both a protégé/awardee and a volunteer. She participated as a protégé in Lessons for Success (LfS) and was invited back to give an alumna lecture, received the Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Award (RMPTA) twice as a protégé and once as a mentor, and volunteered as a mentor twice for Mentoring Academic-Research Careers (MARC).
Karen’s story reflects the heart of the ARM Network. Her journey highlights shared learning, mentorship, and a commitment to strengthening the research and academic pipeline in communication sciences and disorders.
