CSD graduate program receives accreditation

Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø received welcome news after a four-year accreditation process and after an 11-month and $3.5-million construction project on Brodahl Hall. 

Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø professors and students were thrilled to earn accreditation for a new graduate program in speech-language pathology by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

With new classrooms, labs, therapy rooms, conference spaces, offices and observation rooms to use, the first classes in the master's program will begin this fall. It will be a 24-month program that includes extensive coursework, four semesters of clinical practice in the on-campus center, and two full-time clinical externships.

The first cohort will graduate in 2022. Faculty members anticipate gradual growth and eventually having 20 graduate students each year. 

¡°Because of the aging population, advances in health care and other factors, we predict that the demand for speech-language pathologists and audiologists will remain consistently high for the foreseeable future,¡± said Dr. Allison Haskill, professor of communication sciences and disorders.

Dr. Haskill noted the much-needed space more than doubled the size of Brodahl Hall. 

Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø¡¯s speech, language, and hearing center is the oldest college clinic in the nation, and it serves as a resource to the entire Quad-Cities area. During a typical semester, the Å·ÖÞ±­ÍøͶ_Å·ÖÞ±­ÍâΧapp-Ͷע¹ÙÍø clinic provides assessment and intervention services for communication disorders to 95 members of the Quad-Cities community.

Dr. Kathy Jakielski, professor of communication sciences and disorders, said, ¡°We are suited to expand the clinical and community-based services we provide to the Quad-Cities area. The beneficiaries are numerous, including our clients, students and faculty.¡±