Communication Sciences and Disorders, BS

Chair:

Kathy Vander Werff, Ph.D.
621 Skytop Road
Suite 1200
315-443-9637

Contact:

Phone: 315-443-9637

csd@syr.edu

Faculty

Academic: Jamie Desjardins, Karen Doherty, Soren Lowell, Stephanie McMillen Jonathan Preston, Beth Prieve, Ellyn Riley, Victoria Tumanova and Kathy Vander Werff, Clinical: Colleen Gargan, Joseph Pellegrino, Brianna Hammerie, Kristen Kennedy, Tammy Kordas, Anita Lightburn, Meghan Lister, Laura Vincent and Ramani Voleti; Adjunct Instructor, Bonnie Hulslander, and Emeritus Professors, Raymond Colton, Mary Louise Edwards, Janet Ford and Linda Milosky.

Program Description

The program in communication sciences and disorders provides students with a broad education in human communication sciences and disorders. Students may participate in clinical experiences in the Gebbie Speech-Language- Hearing Clinic. The program prepares students for graduate study in speech-language pathology and audiology and other related fields in health, education, and science. Interested students have the opportunity to participate in research in faculty laboratories.

A master’s degree is required to practice speech-language pathology, and a clinical doctoral degree (Au.D.) is required to practice audiology. Minimally, a student will need a 3.0 GPA to be considered for these graduate programs. Many graduate programs require a higher GPA.

For all Arts and Sciences|Maxwell students, successful completion of a bachelor’s degree in this major requires a minimum of 120 credits, 96 of which must be Arts and Sciences|Maxwell credits, completion of the Liberal Arts Core requirements, and the requirements for this major that are listed below.

Dual Enrollments:

Students dually enrolled in Newhouse* and Arts and Sciences|Maxwell will complete a minimum of 122 credits, with at least 90 credits in Arts and Sciences|Maxwell coursework and an Arts and Sciences|Maxwell major.

*Students dually enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences|Maxwell as first year students must complete the Liberal Arts Core. Students who transfer to the dual program after their first year as singly enrolled students in the Newhouse School will satisfy general requirements for the dual degree program by completing the Newhouse Core Requirements.

Degree Awarded:

Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Total Credits required: 120

Prerequisites for admission into the major:

Students interested in this major should contact the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at csd@syr.edu as early as possible. Students are formally admitted to the major after consulting a department advisor on a plan of study and successfully completing CSD 212 with a B- or better, or by petition.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Human Communication Process and Disorders. Identify the developmental norms for speech/language acquisition, the theoretical and scientific foundations of CSD, and general knowledge of speech, language, and hearing disorders.

2. Clinical Practices for Communication Disorders. Understand and explain the basic clinical process for the prevention, identification, evaluation, and remediation of communication disorders.

3. Critical Thinking. Apply critical thinking, problem solving, and logical reasoning skills to problems, issues, and/or clinical case studies in communication sciences and disorders.

4. Scientific Inquiry and Research Skills. Explain “evidence-based decision making” as a lifelong learning process in communication sciences and disorders.

5. Professional Communication Skills. Demonstrate effective professional written communication skills as they pertain to clinical topics and situations in communication sciences and disorders. Demonstrate effective spoken communication skills to explain and describe content and/or research knowledge as it pertains to topics in communication sciences and disorders.

6. Ethics, Integrity, and Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion. Identify how individual, cultural, and linguistic differences influence speech, language, and hearing, and the disorders of communication that individuals may experience. Recognize and explain professional ethical principles in the fields of speech language pathology and audiology.

Major Requirements

The B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders requires students to fulfill the quantitative skills requirement for the liberal arts core and to complete 34 credits in CSD courses, plus 12-13 non-CSD credits that can also be counted towards the Liberal Arts Core, as outlined below. (Total 46-47 credits)

CSD required courses

CSD 212 - Introduction to Communication Sciences and Disorders

Normal Processes (18 credits)

Disorders (7 credits)

CSD Electives (6 credits)

Non-departmental requirements:

A minimum of 3 credits in behavioral sciences
PSY 205 - Foundations of Human Behavior
PSY 209 - Foundations of Human Behavior/ Honors Section
PSY 374 - Social Psychology
PSY 335 - Psychology of Childhood
PSY 336 - Psychology of the Adolescent
PSY 337 - Psychology of Adult Life: Maturity and Old Age
SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology
SOC 102 - Social Problems
SOC 248 - Racial and Ethnic Inequalities
SOC 281 - Sociology of Families
SOC 364 - Aging and Society
ANT 111 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
ANT 121 - Peoples and Cultures of the World
Other courses may meet this requirement with approval.
A minimum of 3 credits of biological science
BIO 121 - General Biology I or
BIO 211 - Introduction to Neuroscience
or equivalent
3-4 credits of physical science
CHE 106 - General Chemistry Lecture I
CHE 107 - General Chemistry Laboratory I
PHY 101 - Major Concepts of Physics I or
PHY 211 - General Physics I
or equivalent
A minimum of 3 credits of statistics
MAT 121 - Probability and Statistics for the Liberal Arts I
MAT 221 - Elementary Probability and Statistics I
PSY 252 - Statistical Methods II

Distinction in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Overview of Eligibility Requirements for Distinction in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD):

CSD major or dual major
Overall GPA of 3.70 or better by the end of the semester prior to graduation (typically through Fall of the senior year, prior to May graduation)
No CSD course grades below B (including courses that were later retaken, even if the final grade on the transcript is a B or better), including CSD classes in the final semester before graduation. Final grades will be verified by CSD faculty prior to graduation and awarding of the distinction.
Completion of a research experience, as defined below, with CSD faculty or faculty in a related field.
Member of NSSHLA, SAA, or other approved CSD-related student groups for at least 2 semesters.

Significant Research Experience:

A significant research experience in CSD may vary somewhat in scope based on the experience and topic but should constitute substantial participation in one or more components including the development of a project, data collection in an ongoing project, analyses of existing data, and/or synthesis and interpretation of results. The following experiences may be approved to meet this requirement:

Renee Crown honors project in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders (or related discipline) under the supervision of a faculty advisor
Independent study project for academic credit (CSD 490 or in another related department)
An approved research rotation in a CSD faculty lab or related field faculty lab. Research rotations must be a minimum of one semester in length and include a written component. The format of the written component is at the discretion of the research advisor and may include portions of a research proposal or summary paper, article summaries/critique, or reflections of outcomes and skills developed through work on the project.

Students should discuss the research experience with their academic advisor and/or talk with faculty member(s) who have research in areas of interest about available experiences in their lab. Students should do this as early as possible to ensure completion prior to the application to distinction. Projects outside of CSD need to be approved by CSD faculty and should be discussed with the CSD academic advisor ahead of time.