In 1975, the Montana Legislative Assembly passed a bill creating the Board of Speech Pathologists and Audiologists "to protect the public from being misled by incompetent, unscrupulous, and unauthorized persons, and to protect the public from unprofessional conduct by qualified speech pathologists and audiologists, and to help assure the availability of the highest possible quality speech pathology and audiology services to the communicatively handicapped people" of Montana.
The Board consists of five members, four of whom are appointed by the governor from names submitted to him by the Montana Speech and Hearing Association. At least two members are to be speech pathologists, and two audiologists. One member is "to be a public member who is a consumer of speech pathology or audiology services." The Board's functions include evaluating the qualifications of applicants for licenses, investigating alleged violations of the law, and governing the ethical standards of practice, as well as serving as an advisory body to the governor and other state officials regarding audiology and speech therapy. The original members of the Board included Charles Parker, Missoula; Darrell Micken, Bozeman; Shirley DeVoe, Helena; Douglas Wing, Great Falls; and Jeanne Holtz, Helena.
As of 2025, the Board of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists operates within the Professional and Occupational Licensing Bureau, which falls under the Employment Standards Division of the Department of Labor and Industry.
This collection consists of general correspondence (1974-1984) to and from the Board of Speech Pathologists and Audiologists concerning general Board business, meetings, etc.
Arranged at the collection level. No box-level folder inventory is available.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 498, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives catalog, and to follow best archival practices.
Collections from Montana Department of Labor and Industry's various Divisions and Bureaus
that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Research Center catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.