CSU Chico Communication Sciences and Disorders
Program Summary
Program Design
The Communication Sciences and Disorders program (CMSD) is housed within the Department of Communication Arts in Sciences in the College of Communication and Education. Leadership within the program consists of a Program Director, Graduate Coordinator, Clinic Director, Associate Clinic Director, and Internship Coordinator. All positions have release time commensurate to the intensity of their duties. Additionally, the current Department Chair is a faculty member from CMSD, which has afforded us frequent and easy communication between the program and administration at the Chair, Dean and Provost levels. Our program boasts a collaborative team approach with regular meetings and excellent communication between CMSD full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and staff.
The Communication Sciences and Disorders program is nationally accredited through the Council on Academic Programs, American Speech Language Hearing Association, and is accredited through NCATE and CTC. The program offers the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Master of Arts (M.A.) degrees. A total of 120 units are required for the B.A. and of those, 51 are required for the major. Undergraduate major courses are prerequisites for the graduate program. We have an extremely high demand for our graduate program: For 2014-15 academic year, 24 classified graduate students were admitted into the graduate program out of the 267 qualified applicants. The graduate curriculum consists of 39 graded units and 15 to 24 units of clinical practica that students take over a two-year period. Courses are set in a required sequence to ensure the highest quality learning experience that guides students from introductory to mastery levels.
During the two-year graduate program, students participate in clinical practica each semester. Students enroll the first year in on-campus clinic at our Center for Communication Disorders. After two semesters of on-campus practica, and at least three clients and 50 hours of experience, they are eligible to apply for off-campus placements (internships). To participate in off-campus placements, each student must submit a written application requesting an internship and must receive prior approval from the CMSD program to take part in an internship experience. Once they are approved, students are advanced to candidacy and complete their final year of coursework and off-campus practica. Internships are required for at least two semesters, one in second year fall and one in spring— one educational setting, one medical or private practice. The majority of students chose the optional first summer internship. At program completion, students have acquired at least 400 total clinical education hours, with at least 375 of those supervised direct client contact hours in a minimum of three distinct settings.
Over the past two years CMSD has made several improvements to the academic program and clinical program. Regarding general program changes, the faculty have made extensive revision to the strategic plan, gradually increased the number of graduate students accepted each year (up to 24 for fall 2014), revised the Graduate Academic & Clinic Handbook, and created a web-based data management system to efficiently record, organize, and store pertinent student and program data. Clinic-related changes have focused around improving operations through the addition of an Associate Clinic Director position. To improve the student clinician’s learning experience, we have created more standardization of the supervisory process, required evidence-based practice activities associated with each student’s client, and added two of several planned specialized clinic groups—interdisciplinary autism clinic with Kinesiology and Adult neurogenic communication disorders. Additionally, our program has received an upgraded audio-visual recording system, and we have improved the aesthetics in clinical spaces with new carpet and furniture.
Curricular changes have included a new single subject design requirement at the graduate level in CMSD 632 and collaborative workshops with Education/Special Education on AAC and critical education-based topics not currently covered in our CMSD courses.
The CMSD program has several ways to gather stakeholder input. Students provide input through Student Evaluations of Teaching in each class, Evaluation of Internship Supervisor and Site, Center for Communication Disorders Student Evaluation of Supervisor, and exit surveys. Internship supervisors provide feedback through meetings with the campus Internship Supervisor and through the Supervisor Evaluation of Student. Additionally, many of our field supervisors, along with community members sit on our Advisory Board, which meets annually. To determine how we are preparing students professionally, we gather survey data from employers and clients from our Center.
Course of Study
Prerequisite knowledge is attained through two years of sequenced coursework at the undergraduate level. Graduate level courses are also sequenced to provide a strong theoretical and practical framework and are taught with a clinical emphasis; many have clinically focused assignments, involve clinical problem-solving skills, and some include community service and/or service learning activities.
Students in their first year of clinic have had undergraduate prerequisite courses that are introductory in the study of various disorders, all dealing with nature, basic assessment and treatment. Additionally, students have had courses that detail the clinical process, normal processes, and a course that overviews the profession. As graduate students take on their initial clinical practicum, they are concurrently enrolled in graduate level courses that extend their prerequisite knowledge. The majority of graduate courses are taken prior to off-campus clinical experiences.
Through graduate topical seminars (CMSD 632: Evidence Based Practice & Experimental Design and CMSD 675: Methods in Speech- Language Pathology), the program has a mechanism to quickly instill learning experiences on topics of very current interest and those that reflect professional trends. Also, the faculty demonstrates significant flexibility in modifying their courses to include important clinical areas in which a full course is not currently offered. Recently, these areas have included autism, evidence-based practice, single-subject research design, service delivery models, pediatric swallowing, and medically fragile clients in the schools.
Special Workshops have been designed collaboratively with Education/Special Education to provide education-based knowledge and practice in areas not covered in CMSD courses. These workshops have allowed us topic flexibility.
We have over 70 internship sites in local and extended areas that include our university Center, private and public school sites, private practice, acute care, skilled nursing, and rehabilitation facilities. All students acquire experience in at least three settings: (1) at our Center, (2) in a school-based facility and a non-educational setting, and 3) work with clients of significant diversity (e.g., race, gender, culture, socioeconomic status).
All supervision is conducted under the following restrictions: For therapy sessions, students must have at least .25 supervision, and diagnostic sessions must be supervised at least .50 of the time. However, supervision must be commensurate with level of student clinician experience and confidence. The program utilizes a standard evaluation form based on CAA-ASHA skills and requires mid, final, and self-evaluations in our Center, and at least a final evaluation for off-campus settings. At semester’s end, the supervisor determines what skills can be signed off on the skills form, based on the ratings the candidate receives on the evaluation. Our internship supervisor oversees all interns and provides support for the student and the site supervisor. Students utilize their handbook for policies and procedures. An internship supervisor handbook is currently being updated and will be distributed to all field supervisors. Candidates evaluate supervisors and the adequacy of the site. Data are used to determine the appropriateness of that site to the program’s mission and goals.
Assessment of Candidates
Candidates are assessed both with formative and summative measures through the KASA skills form, Performance Review, Comprehensive Examination, Exit Review, and the PRAXIS. Candidates obtain signatures on the KASA Skills form as they acquire skills across the nine disorder areas. A signature is obtained when candidate achieves a rating of 4 or 5/5 on the Evaluation form for a particular skill for a particular disorder and age range. Portfolios provide evidence of formative learning in their Performance Review. Candidates submit portfolios in March during their first graduate year and in November as a 2nd year. A progress report is provided to the student to indicate their performance to date and suggestions for improvement. If performance is unsatisfactory, the candidate is called in before the faculty for an interview. A remediation plan is developed at that time. Comprehensive Examination is given in the spring semester of the final graduate year and comprises six hours of writing across two days; questions address the major disorder areas. Additionally, students are required to take the national PRAXIS exam before graduating. The Exit Review assesses all of the candidate’s materials, test results and academic and clinical performance. Once full compliance to all program, CAA-ASHA, CTC, NCATE, and licensing standards has been determined, certification, licensing, and credential paperwork is signed off, and students are given the opportunity to provide feedback on their academic and clinical experiences through an online exit survey.
Prior to the start of their first semester in the graduate program, candidates attend a mandatory graduate student orientation. Information regarding how they are assessed and informed of their progress is provided orally and they are directed to written descriptions in the Student Handbook. Additionally, several graduate student meetings are held, conducted by the Program Director and/or Graduate Coordinator, throughout the two graduate years, which focus on portfolios, what to expect with performance reviews, comprehensive examinations process and procedure, and training on the data management system. Students are further directed to written descriptions in the Graduate Academic and Clinic Handbook.