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| Home | Programs | Faculty & Staff | Financial Support | Clinical Services | ||||||||||||||||
Department of Communicative Disorders Strategic Plan |
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2009-2014 |
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VISION STATEMENT The program will be a national and international leader
in providing educational excellence in master’s, doctoral and continuing
education in communication sciences and disorders that
nurtures the development of practitioners, researchers
and future leaders and advances
the well-being of individuals with communication disorders.
MISSION STATEMENT The Department of Communicative Disorders adopted the following mission statement in 1997: “To understand how communication works and how it breaks down so that we can design better intervention procedures to enable individuals with communication disorders to lead richer, fuller and more productive lives.” For the Master’s of Science program, therefore, our mission is to prepare individuals to function professionally and ethically as speech/language pathologists in a variety of employment settings, to educate individuals who are able to serve as resource persons to families of the communicatively handicapped and to the community at large, and to provide graduate students the opportunity to learn to use research as a viable clinical tool and to become a discriminating consumer of the research of others. The following 5 focus areas were identified by the departmental faculty based on input from students, graduates of the program, off-campus supervisors/employers & clients and/or parents of clients receiving services through the on-campus clinic. Each focus area was then aligned with a strategic imperative from the University’s strategic plan. The University imperative for each focus area is given in parentheses below. |
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FOCUS AREA: CURRICULUM (Quality Education
and Improved Student Learning)
OUTCOMES
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
STRATEGIES: Multiple Years—2009 - 2014
Update 2012 All of the 6 strategies have been implemented each year with somewhat mixed results. In 2009, 100% of students were satisfied to very satisfied with the relationship between their coursework and their clinical experiences with an average rating of 5.29 on a 6 pt scale. This fell to 70% and an average rating of 3.65 in 2010 but with continued attention to increasing clinical projects in classes and other strategies the percentage of students giving a rating of satisfied or higher increased to 100% with an average rating of 4.75. Employer data is more limited with only 4 responses but 100% were satisfied or very satisfied with clinical background and training and clinical skills of UL, Lafayette students they have employed. While the responses were limited, they were based on 25+ employees who received their Master ’s degree from UL, Lafayette |
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FOCUS AREA: CLINICAL EDUCATION (Quality Education
and Improved Student Learning)
STRATEGIES: Multiple Years—2009
- 2014
Update 2012 The preschool and neurogenic specialty clinics were piloted in Summer, 2010 and now are continued on a year-round basis. The fluency specialty clinic is scheduled to begin Summer, 2012. The number of individuals provided treatment services through the clinic has increased from 78 in 2009 to over 100 for 2010 and 2011. The department was able to hire an additional full-time clinical supervisor for the 2011-12 academic year and has received approval to hire an additional full-time supervisor for the 2012-13 academic year. As noted above, a recent survey of employers revealed 100% responding that they were satisfied with the clinical training of UL, Lafayette students. |
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FOCUS: COMMUNITY LIAISONS/COLLABORATION (Fostering Economic and Community Development)
OUTCOMES:
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS:
STRATEGIES: Multiple Years—2009 – 2014
Update 2012 The department has sponsored continuing education opportunities and offered one presentation for ASHA CEUs for a minimal fee in the Spring of 2010 but no individuals from the community attended. New off-campus sites have been added with the department now maintaining contracts with 52 external sites. The department now provides office space for the Aphasia Center of Acadiana and several faculty members serve on the board of this non-profit which has increased the visibility of the department throughout the Acadiana region as well as increased the number of adults with acquired neurogenic deficits seeking services through the clinic. The department recently co-sponsored a table at the 2011 Women’s Conference with the Aphasia Center to promote the clinical services available. Conversations have been initiated with the VA Hospital in Pineville to provide services for veterans of Mideast conflicts who may be returning to school. During the three year period, 5 faculty members (Drs Roussel, Arehole, Nelson and Ms Whittington and Andries) have served on the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Speech Language Hearing Association with Dr. Roussel serving as President for one year |
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FOCUS AREA: STUDENT RECRUITMENT (Enhancement of student recruitment, retention and success)
OUTCOMES
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
STRATEGIES: Multiple Years—2010-2012
Update 2012 The department has sent representatives to the Texas Speech Language Hearing Association convention for the past 2 years to promote our MS and PhD graduate programs. Master’s students now attend at least 1 research colloquium presentation within the department. The applied research class for Master’s students (CODI 550) has been extended over 2 semesters in the second year of graduate study. Over the past two years (2010, 2011) only 30 % of graduates with the PhD completed their studies in 4 years or less. In this same time span, at least 1 student from our Master’s program was accepted into the PhD program each year and 2 were supported with fellowships. The number of MS graduates has increased from 16 in 2008 to 22 in 2011 which meets our benchmark of a 10% increase each year.
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FOCUS AREA: PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION & FUNDING (Securing our future physical & strategic place)
OUTCOMES:
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS:
STRATEGIES: Multiple Years—2009-2014
Update 2012 The department has received one BoRSF Enhancement grant and several
smaller private foundation grants to establish the CODI Eye Tracking
Research and Education Lab. A clinical fee was added to all clinical
practicum courses to generate funds to support clinical education. To
date these funds have been used to support travel, certification and
continuing education of the clinical faculty, purchase of new equipment
for AAC use, and maintenance of existing clinical infrastructure. Plans
to expand and upgrade the existing clinical monitoring systems using
monies generated by this fee are in place. A committee was appointed
by the department head and the CODI Enhancement Fund was established
through the UL, Lafayette Foundation. A campaign to appeal to alumni
for support is in the planning stages. |
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Document last revised Thursday, March 22, 2012 5:51 PM
© Copyright 2006 by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Communicative Disorders · P.O. Box 43170,
Lafayette LA 70504-3170
Burke-Hawthorne Hall, Room 236· ncroussel@louisiana.edu
Telephone: 337/482-6721 · Fax: 337/482-1540