USU offering new degree specialization

    USU is now offering a new degree specialization in speech-language pathology.

    The doctorate-level emphasis was added this year because of a demand nationwide for speech-language pathologists. The department of communicative disorders and deaf education also received new doctoral level faculty that has allowed them to expand their programs, said Ron Gillam, a professor in the department.

    “There are a number of reasons why this program is needed. There is a shortage of doctoral level speech-language pathologists across the nation,” Gillam said. “The department of communicative disorders and deaf education has grown rapidly. We now have a critical mass of doctoral level faculty who have active research programs. This enables us to offer a strong doctoral training program.”

    To receive the degree, students are required to take 67 credits of doctoral seminars and graduate courses, Gillam said. They must also have internships involving teaching, grant writing, researching and publication. He said doctoral dissertation must also be completed.

    The program helps students learn to become teachers and help people who struggle in developing language and speech, said Tim Slocum, professor in special education and chair of the Disability Disciplines Doctoral Program.

    Those who get Ph.D.s typically become professors at universities, Gillam said. A small number also work in clinics.

    Aside from benefiting the field, Gillam said this will be an advantage to the university as well.

    “We hope that this specialization will increase the capacity for research, training, service and grant development in a critical area of the College of Education and Human Services,” he said. “Increasing doctoral training should enhance the national reputation of the department.”

    Slocum said only one student has enrolled so far. However, he said he does not expect the program to see large amounts of students in the coming year. He also said programs of this level are typically small in number.

    “This program is never going to be huge. We are talking dozens,” Slocum said. “Down the road there may be five to 10 graduate students. It will grow to that size. Doctorate programs are always really small.”

    Doug Petersen, the only student currently working to receive a degree in speech-language pathology, said he is very excited USU is offering this emphasis.

    “I was accepted to many prestigious schools in the field, but just the attention I was going to receive here and the line of research the professors and faculty do here at Utah State is so close to my personal interests, I couldn’t deny it,” he said.

    With the help of Gillman, Petersen said he is researching language impairments in bilingual children.

    He also said he is working on an early childhood screening that can predict whether or not the child will have reading problems in the future.

    “The brilliance of it is that the child doesn’t have to be able to read for us to know if they will have problems later,” Petersen said. “This is to enforce the method of prevention to help the child before they have problems.”

    After completing his doctorate, Petersen said he wants to continue conducting research and would like to teach at a university.

    “It is a perfect marriage of the continuing work at universities,” he said. “I want to make a difference and help children. I want to have a broader impact and thereby help thousands of children.”

–arie.k@aggiemail.usu.edu