Expanding a program in challenging financial times 

The 2011-2012 academic year will mark an important milestone in the history of the SPHR department. As a result of the efforts of our faculty, the encouragement of our community, students, and advisory board, and the support of our administration, we admitted 50 graduate students for Fall 2011 - an increase in student enrollment of 66 percent. The impetus for this change came from our desire to make room for more of the extraordinary and highly qualified students who seek admission to our graduate program. We will manage this growth by assigning the students to one of two cohorts, adding sections of courses, better utilizing the summer term, strengthening community partnerships, and hiring two additional faculty members to join us in the 2012-2013 academic year.

We will also unveil programmatic changes that we hope will better serve students and are shaped by current advances in professional practice. The number of required credits has been reduced to 75 from PSU's previous average of 90 and the curriculum has been revised to reflect faculty expertise and research and increased depth and breadth of study. This effort includes expanded elective coursework, an innovative bilingual concentration, and several newly revised courses. Clinical practice will be introduced to students more gradually, will incorporate increasingly varied opportunities, and will strengthen the integration of academic and clinical experiences.

We are excited and proud of our accomplishments. With your help and support, we are confident that our success will continue as together we define our priorities and establish our goals for the year ahead.

To keep in closer touch, we are transitioning Speaking Out to a shorter, more frequent eNewsletter format. This issue features dispatches from community members about their exciting summer adventures, as well as profiles of some of our incredible 2011 graduates.  

- Shelly Chabon, PhD, Department Chair, chabonr@pdx.edu  

Stories of summer from our community

With the support of Dr. Mandulak and my committee for my graduate project, I spent the summer bringing SLP services to Musana Children's Home in Iganga, Uganda. -Sally Carlson, graduate class of 2011

I spent the summer organizing data from our 2009 and 2010 Stroke Camp Northwest conversation groups. Our faculty team will begin analyzing the data soon, and we'll report how life participation changed for stroke survivors with aphasia over a two-year period. -Lynn Fox, PhD, CCC-SLP, Faculty Emerita

I spent my summer in Quito, Ecuador completing an all-Spanish clinical practicum, taking Spanish classes, and attending a bilingual SLP class taught by Dr. Gildersleeve-Neumann! -Kelli Harrington, graduate class of 2013

I volunteered at Camp Yakety-Yak where I worked with children with special needs, providing them a  supportive place to experience the fun of summer camp and practice their social skills with peers. I also attended Stroke Camp Northwest. I camped in the woods with thirty fellow students, and worked with stroke survivors and their caregivers in a socially interactive environment with plenty of opportunity for conversation. -Krystin Overstreet, graduate class of 2013

I interned at Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp where I helped create visual supports such as pictorial schedules and rule posters for campers who needed them. -Leslie Sundquist, undergraduate class of 2012

My weekly SPHR observation course allowed me time to zoom back and forth between Portland and Smith Rock to rock climb. I acted as a "fly on the wall" in both places. -Jaci Paulson, undergraduate class of 2013

I accompanied three graduate students to Kampfe Management Services, a local residential facility for survivors of brain injury for an interactive six-week book group clinical practicum. We all had a blast and learned from each other! -Rik Lemoncello, PhD, CCC-SLP, Associate Professor

Highlighting just a few of PSU's stellar 2011 graduates

By Jillian Sherrodd, Kim Mahi, and Sara Vank

Kim Mahi

Kim combined her professional experience in home child development services with her undergraduate degree in psychology from Willamette University to prosper as a colleague and fellow student. She was honored with the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences Class of 2011 Student Award in acknowledgment of her intelligence, hard work, and kind heart. Ms. Mahi is now completing her CFY in the pediatric development and rehabilitation department of Portland's Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel.

Sally Carlson

Sally brought several critical experiences to her graduate career. She was an SLPA for Denver Public Schools and a cofounder of the Musana Children's Home for orphans in Uganda. Ms. Carlson contributed her unique knowledge to students and faculty, and ended her graduate career at PSU with a special project outlining the ways in which SLPs could volunteer services for orphans in Uganda.

Isabel García-Fullana

Isabel grew up in Puerto Rico and earned her undergraduate degree in Vermont. An inspiration to fellow students, Ms. García-Fullana focused on bilingual speech and language services, as well as bilingual assessment research. In addition, she was among the first students to complete the new bilingual concentration offered by PSU's Speech and Hearing Sciences Department. This summer Ms. García-Fullana traveled to Ecuador with PSU faculty and students for an intensive month of speech-language pathology training and services.

Jessica Ashford

Jessica entered graduate school with a strong medical background, having previously worked as a nursing assistant. Ms. Ashford knew she wanted to continue her career in a medical setting and sought out externships and classes to foster this passion. During her last year as a graduate student she completed a research project entitled "Clinical Utility of Spectral Moment Analysis," under the mentorship of Dr. Kerry Mandulak, and attended
the annual meeting of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association with Dr. Mandulak in Puerto Rico. The Craniofacial team at Children's Hospital Los Angeles is now the proud employer of Ms. Ashford as she completes her CFY.

September 2011 Speaking Out editorial staff:  

Laurie Koh, Tricia Thomas, and David Rathmann