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Master of Science in Communication Disorders - Virtual Information Session

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OK. Good afternoon, everybody. We will be starting our information session within the next minute or two. We're just going to allow everyone who registered for the webinar to hop in. So we'll be starting within the next two minutes. And once again, thank you for joining us today.

Good afternoon, everybody. In case you didn't catch my spiel from before, thank you for coming to our virtual information session today.

Specifically around our program for Master Science and Communications Disorders, I'm going to give everybody about two more minutes now just to hop in to make sure that we get as many registrants in here before we open up our session. Once again though, thank you very much for attending today and we'll be starting shortly.

Matthew Shaw

11:03:47 AM

Welcome everyone! I will be monitoring the chat if you have any questions during today's webinar. I will do my best to respond during, but can circle back to questions at the end of today's presentation

Alrighty. Let's go ahead and jump in. Let me introduce myself. My name is Matthew Shoa. I work within the Office of Graduate Admissions here at Stockton. I oversee our slate system. So one of the systems that you will be applying through if you're applying to our program. So this is our virtual information session around the Master of Science Communications Disorders program. Thank you for being here.

A little Klaus House cleaning items. There is a chat, so if you have any questions during the session, feel free to drop your questions within the chat. I will be there responding to as many questions as I can.

During the session, however, at the end, we'll open it up and answer your questions in real time. Whatever questions we did not respond to within the chat feature. All right, so from here I'm going to open it up to Doctor Hadley. Doctor Hadley is an Associate Professor here at Stockton University. She is the Program Chair for the Master of Science, Communications Disorders program and she will be doing leading today's session. Like I said, if you have any questions during today's session, feel free to utilize that chat and I'll be here in the background answering as quick as I can.

Doctor Hadley, welcome and thank you for being here today.

Boy.

Thank you, Matt. Welcome, everyone. Thank you for attending our webinar and thank you for your interest in our program. I will be talking to you about some of the highlights of our program today and I'd like to start with our program mission. The mission of our program is to prepare students for certification by the American Speech Language Hearing Association or Asha in the area of speech Language Pathology. We prepare students to be speech language specialists.

By the New Jersey Department of Education and you will also be prepared to apply for New Jersey licensure. We demonstrate the principles of evidence based practice within our program. We provide opportunities for continuing education to professionals in the area and we do have a speech and hearing clinic that provides clinical services to the surrounding community.

Our program is accredited, we're fully accredited through 2029 by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology of the American Speech Language Hearing Association.

This is our accreditation statement. If you do have any questions about accreditation, you're welcome to contact the Council on Academic Accreditation. This information can also be found on our website.

This is our current faculty, so I am Doctor Hadley, the program chair for the current year.

Doctor Stacy Castle is an Associate Professor whose area of specialty is Medical Speech Language Pathology. Dr. Amanda Copes is the Director of our Speech and Hearing Clinic. Professor Kelly Maslany is a Clinical education specialist who teaches both content courses as well as teaches clinic.

In the Speech and Hearing Clinic, Doctor Philip Hernandez is a bilingual speech language Pathologist and an associate professor. Doctor Monica Povloska is an associate professor and her specialty area is research.

Marianne Scatterella is our academic Field work coordinator.

We also have some adjunct faculty members. Currently, Lauren Padula is an assistive technology specialist.

Jennifer Mcilvain will also be joining us this year as an assistive technology specialist. Megan Mapes is our Audiology Adjunct professor and Lindsay Lyelli is an adjunct Clinical instructor as well.

We do try to enroll a cohort of 32 students each year. The cohort model is such that once you enter with that group of students, except for a few electives, you will be enrolled in all of your required courses with that group of students over the two years of the program.

Our program prerequisites are very similar to what are required from other graduate programs because they're based on the current certification standards for Speech Language Pathology set through Asha.

We do not list course numbers because we're interested in the course content, so as long as you have had a course that covers this content, it should meet the prerequisite requirement. You can of course reach out to us if you.

Need some clarification on that? So we look for content in speech and hearing Sciences, Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and hearing, an introductory course in communication disorders, a class that covers language development, and a class in phonetics.

Also tied to the Astra certification standards, we do require a course in biology, a course in either physics or chemistry, a statistics course, and a social science course such as psychology or sociology.

Although it's not required, we do find it beneficial for students to take an undergraduate course in audiology as well as in linguistics.

Matthew Shaw

11:09:21 AM

Matthew Shaw

11:09:24 AM

https://stockton.edu/graduate/communication-disorders.html

The degree requirements for the Master of Science in Communication Disorders result in 63 credit hours, of course, work that's both academic and clinical, including 400 supervised clinical practicum hours.

25 of those hours must be in guided observation. If you're able to obtain those hours prior to matriculation, we will ask you for documentation of that. If you come to us with partial completion or you weren't able to obtain any guided hours, we can assist you in obtaining those hours during the first semester that you're matriculated at Stockton.

If you were in a situation where you were able to gain undergraduate clinical experience beyond the observation, a total of 75 hours may be counted from the undergraduate experience.

At the end of our program, you will need to take a comprehensive exam and you will discuss with your preceptor, which is your academic advisor, your plan for taking the Praxis exam in Speech Language Pathology. That exam is required for licensure and certification in Speech Language Pathology.

Here's a slide of a past graduate student poster session.

This is a layout of how the courses fall within the program, so students are very busy beginning with that first fall semester.

Students will take a class in Speech Sound Disorders, a language disorders in children. Class is divided up between the 1st and 2nd semester, so the first semester covers ages 0 to 3:00 and then the second semester looks at preschool children up through adolescence.

That first semester you'll also have a course in Neurological basis of Communication Disorders and you'll take a research course. I'll talk about what the application course is in just a moment. You'll have an advanced Clinical Methods class as well as a clinical Methods application course. I'm also going to come back to the Social Justice module in just a moment. So if you notice the term application tied to a course, that means that you will have a smaller section that deals with some hands on skills.

Related to that particular area. So for example, in the research course you would have a course with the full cohort and then break out into a smaller section for one hour a week to meet with the professor to work directly on some of the research skills.

In the advanced clinical methods application, that's where you're actually working with clients your first semester. So you would be paired with a partner and you and the partner would work with a client under the direction of a faculty member here in our speech and hearing clinic.

And that class as well as our other clinical coursework on campus uses a problem based learning model.

About the module and social justice We do have a concurrent social justice curriculum that runs along with our clinical and academic curriculum that deals with issues related to social justice and how we would like you to prepare yourself as a professional to be an agent of change.

During the spring semester of the first year, as I mentioned, you'll take that second class in language acquisition along with an application section and then you'll take some more adult coursework, so acquired adult language disorders that deals with topics like aphasia and traumatic brain injury. The dysphagia course, a diagnostic methods course where you'll learn about methods of evaluation and then the diagnostic methods application, you'll actually have some hands on experience practicing those methods.

During Spring One, you'll have your first opportunity to engage in a clinical practicum.

Without a partner, but still under the direction of a faculty member in our speech and hearing clinic. And you're most likely will have two clients assigned to you during that semester. That's also your first opportunity to take a program elective and you will attend another non credit module in social justice issues.

The summer session is required and during the summer you will take the Clinical Audiology class. For Speech Language Pathologists, the Advanced Cultural Linguistic Issues in Communication Disorders is a two credit course that is also part of the Social Justice curriculum.

You'll take the Motor speech disorders class, and if you did not take the clinical course in the spring, you may have the opportunity to take it in the summer semester as well as.

Some electives. So some of these items you will discuss with your preceptor or your academic advisor once you enroll in Stockton to help you determine when is the best time for you to take your clinicals as well as your electives.

During the second year, students are off campus during the day at Externships, and I'll talk about those in just a moment. You will also have some coursework to finish, so there'll be a course, Communication Disorders and Special Populations, that covers topics like genetic syndrome, autism, craniofacial disorders, and continue in the social justice curriculum that last semester in addition to finishing up your clinic.

Experiences. You'll have a Communication Disorders capstone which is tied to the Social Justice modules and also the class in Augmentative and Alternative Communication, as well as a course invoice and fluency.

This is a listing of some of our current elective courses. So there's a Medical Speech Pathology class which is quite popular, as is Speech Language Pathology Services in the schools, Counseling for Speech Language Pathology, Educational Audiology Management. And if you're interested in doing an independent research project, you can register for the research seminar and work with one of our faculty members on completing a research project.

I'll talk a little bit about our clinical practica. So as I mentioned, you begin gaining clinical experience with clients that very first semester in our clinic. As I also referenced, we use a problem based learning approach. If you're not familiar with that problem based learning approach, what it is, is it's really preparing students to be problem solvers as clinicians. So students work in groups with other student clinicians.

With the faculty member being more of a facilitator.

So instead of that faculty person just answering all of the students questions, we guide the students as to how they might go about answering their own questions. And they work together as sort of a think tank to problem solve and prepare for the following week session with the various clients.

Clinical practicum 1, as I mentioned, is also in our speech and hearing clinic and clinical practical 2 and three are off campus. Some of the external sites include hospitals, other clinical facilities such as private practices, skilled nursing facilities or rehab centers and they are supervised by our external clinical educators. The placements are arranged by Professor Scatterella who is our academic field work coordinator.

In the clinic, we do provide both assessment and treatment to clients across the lifespan, so we see both children and adults, and it provides an environment where students can begin to acquire the knowledge and skills needed by speech language pathologists in the field.

Lourdes Fuentes

11:18:05 AM

about how far away are the clinical external sites from campus?

We do have a Hispanic emphasis specialization for students interested in becoming able to treat clients who are Spanish speaking.

Within the scope of Speech Language Pathology.

Here is an example of some students speaking with a parent group in the community.

If you're interested in the Hispanic emphasis specialization, there is some supplementary information that you need to complete when you apply to Stockton.

That includes A brief essay on the reason you want to participate in the Hispanic emphasis specialization, and that essay is written in Spanish. There is a prerequisite course in second language acquisition, and you do have to demonstrate some level of language proficiency with a phone or a Zoom interview, And we recommend that you complete the graduate assistant application at the time of applying as well.

So prior to completing the Hess program, the Hispanic Emphasis Specialization students will have special assignments infused within their courses. They'll have clinical experiences with bilingual clients, and they will complete either a capstone or a research project tied to their learning. They will also complete some community engagement activities within the community for a minimum of 10 hours.

Again, some student researchers.

So we are very proud of our student researchers. We've had students present at state, national as well as international conferences.

These are some examples of some research projects that students have completed so experiences of racially and ethnically diverse undergraduate students pursuing speech language pathology, the impact of rapport on therapeutic outcomes, treatment of persistent articulation errors using biofeedback tools, pitch perception and people with and without musical training, And the influence of having a therapy dog present in treatment sessions for stuttering. So you can see.

Matthew Shaw

11:20:31 AM

Hey Lourdes! The sites will vary, but the Speech and Hearing Clinic is 5 minutes down the road from our Galloway Campus

Quite diverse in interest areas.

Naomi Louis

11:20:52 AM

Where can I find more information about graduate assistantships?

Our faculty works very closely together to make connections between classroom and clinic. So one example is students learn about language based literacy skills in their coursework on child language disorders and then the faculty and the clinical faculty work together to plan treatment for language based literacy disorders for our clinic clients.

In the research class students learn about.

Multiple baseline, single subject design and in the clinic. Students may use that option to begin to track progress for their clinic. That is a method to discover whether or not the treatment that you've selected is really beneficial to your client.

Matthew Shaw

11:21:23 AM

Hey Naomi, click here for more information: https://stockton.edu/graduate/financial-information/graduate-assistantships.html

In the language courses also, you'll learn about using Salt software, which students will then apply and see how they can analyze a child's language using that particular piece of software.

Ipshita Tamjid

11:21:40 AM

Can you choose your own placements or are they given to you?

These are some frequently asked questions that students may have, so our current emission cycle is open right now.

Matthew Shaw

11:21:49 AM

You can also apply to a Graduate Assistantship right within your Applicant Status Portal as well

Students do have to submit all of their information by the deadline, and we do use SIDCAS, which is the centralized application system and the link can be found on our web page.

The requirements for applying You do have to have a bachelor's degree or be enrolled in the last term of your program at the time of application. You need to complete your prerequisite coursework with a minimum grade of C by the end of the summer semester of the academic year in which you're applying for admission. So if you're interested in coming to Stockton for the fall, you would need to finish up that prerequisite coursework by the end of this summer.

Matthew Shaw

11:22:51 AM

You will collaborate with the site coordinator on your site locations

We do ask for a GPA of 3.2 or higher, and you will need to submit transcripts from all accredited colleges and universities that you've attended, and you'll do that through Sidcast. We also ask for three letters of recommendation, and those will be uploaded through SIDCAS. Those letters do not have to be from faculty members, but they should be from someone who can speak to your ability to perform well in a graduate program.

Matthew Shaw

11:23:29 AM

As part of the communication disorders curriculum, students receive numerous opportunities to connect knowledge and theory to application through experiential learning. In the first semester of the program, students develop critical thinking and collaboration skills through problem-based learning and the opportunity to co-treat in the campus Speech and Hearing Clinic. During the second semester, students will broaden their clinical skills by independently treating clients in the campus clinic with the support of our experienced clinical faculty. Students also can engage in clinical opportunities in the community according to their preferences such as aphasia communication groups and augmentative communication camps. Our students will have completed a minimum of 25 hours of supervised, clinical activity as a foundation for the first of 2 off-campus practicums. These experiences prepare students academically, clinically, and professionally to be compassionate and knowledgeable student clinicians eager to serve an increasingly diverse community in an external site.

I also encourage you to go to our website and examine the document on Core functions. So the Core Functions document was developed to inform individuals about the core functions associated with the professions of audiology and speech language Pathology. It is so that we can begin discussions with students about how we can help students be successful. It empowers students to make informed choices.

Guarding their pursuit of the professions, it facilitates strategies to achieve student success. It helps us to advocate for resources and accommodations for students that may need reasonable accommodations to perform the core functions, and advances the professions of audiology and speech pathology through a lens of justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. And this is the link, and it is titled A Guide for Future Practitioners and Audiology and Speech Language Pathology.

Core functions, so it does talk about some of the skills that a person would need to demonstrate.

With accommodations, if necessary in order to be successful in a career in Speech Language Pathology.

So as I mentioned, we do admit students on a cohort basis. We have only followed missions. In addition to Stockton, we've admitted students from numerous schools. This is not an all inclusive list, but some of the program students have attended in the past for undergrad or University of Delaware, James Madison, Westchester, Montclair, George Washington University, University of Georgia, Rutgers and we do have some students from TC and J in our cohort this year as well.

Varsha Sangeetha Vijayanand

11:24:53 AM

Just wanted to know if WES evaluation is needed to submited for international students.

So what do we consider? We do use a holistic approach to admissions. So yes, we look at the GPA. We look at the quality and the content of the graduate admission essay. We read your letters of recommendation. We do give some preference to Stockton alumni.

But we want you to realize that we do weight heavily the life experience sections of your application. So what do we mean by life experiences? It's the things that you would bring to the cohort.

Matthew Shaw

11:25:29 AM

The WES evaluation would be necessary for international coursework

That make you unique. So it's things like involvement in campus organizations or athletics.

Lourdes Fuentes

11:25:43 AM

if accepted, is there a way to connect with other stockton slp students to" get to know" our cohort or discuss living situations/apartments?

Volunteer experience related work experience. So sometimes that might be related to a Human Services profession, such as being a substitute teacher or a classroom assistant, but there are other work experiences that we value just as highly.

Any previous research experience that you may have had leadership experience, so examples might be as a resident assistant or a club officer.

Matthew Shaw

11:26:10 AM

Yes! You will have several opportunities to meet your cohort before and after orientation

Please spend time preparing this part of the of the application. Our program places emphasis on that section, and we do read it very carefully.

Matthew Shaw

11:26:26 AM

Discussing living arrangements with your cohort is typical during those events

How else can you increase your odds of admission? So build a strong resume, that's that life experience section, and write an excellent essay. Make sure you address the prompt and have someone proofread it for mechanics and clarity.

We do have some graduate assistantships available. Those credits are awarded to the program annually by the university. The application is located on the graduate admissions website and you should complete that application and submit it at the time that you make an application to the program.

Any questions specifically about Sid Cast or the admissions process should be directed to the Office of Graduate Admissions. Matt, do we have some chat questions that I can assist with at this time?

Uh.

Yeah, absolutely. I think I've been doing pretty good staying on top of them. So I've answered just about everything that's came into the chat. So from a graduate admissions perspective, thank you Doctor Hadley for going over all the information very thorough about your program. So just as a as a reminder, the verification due date, if you are going to apply to the program for Fall 24, you will need to have your SIDCASS application verified.

Matthew Shaw

11:27:36 AM

Verification Due Date January 16, 2024

By January 16th, so I'm going to go ahead and drop that within the chat. What that means is if you have not started a SIDCAS application, you should think about starting one soon.

There is typical there's a typical wait time in regards to when your application becomes complete, so when it becomes verified. So you should give yourself the best opportunity to get all of your items in there, get all your transcripts sent directly to the Cast system so that cast can verify your application from verification. You are then imported into our Stockton application system. So it's the system that you're actually watching this webinar today with us.

So once you are verified, you will get an e-mail from our stock and system that says log in to complete your applicant status portal. You'll go in, submit a $50 supplemental stocking fee, and then from there all decision releases will be released directly to the status portal. Within the status portal, you'll also be able to apply to a graduate assistantship if you are interested in that. It is an optional form. Obviously you do not need to do that application to Stockton if you're not interested in becoming a grad assistant.

Mia Kehnast

11:28:50 AM

Can you go over some examples of where we would be offered clinical externships?

But it is very helpful in regards to getting some credit, assistance and hands on experience partnering with the Communications Disorders program. So just keep it in mind if you are interested, there's plenty of time, but I wouldn't hesitate to go ahead and start the Cass application just so that you get comfortable with it and understand exactly how long it may take to get your application verified.

All right. So I have a new question within the chat doctor, can you go over some examples of where you would be offered clinical externships?

Yes. So we do have contracts throughout the state of New Jersey as well as some of the neighboring areas in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Because Asha requires students to have experience across the lifespan. What we do and our clinical field work coordinator is primarily responsible for this is we look at your experiences that you had here in the speech and hearing clinic and then we try to balance that so that you've had.

Varied experiences when you go off campus, I would say in general, most students tend to have one pediatric experience, so that might be in a public school, It might be in a Children's Hospital for example.

Weissman Children's Hospital, possibly?

Matthew Shaw

11:30:09 AM

https://stockton.edu/graduate/communication-disorders.html

Marissa Alda

11:30:22 AM

Are graduate assistantship positions offered along with an admissions offer?

Inspira Hospital does have a unit where they work with Pediatrics as well as adults. And then your second externship is usually with an adult population. So that might be in a skilled nursing facility. It might be in a facility that specifically works with brain injured adults.

Naomi Louis

11:30:25 AM

The application asks us to list our recommendations, but we also have to do this on CSDCAS. Do my evaluators have to upload twice? Or once i submit my CSDCAS application, it will fill in that information on Stockton's application.

There are quite a few possibilities for that.

Thank you.

Yes.

Mia Kehnast

11:30:53 AM

Can you go over a typical schedule? Do we come to campus everyday?

I would like to go back Matt. There was a question about connecting with other students on a get to know you basis. So we do have a meet and greet session that we do usually virtually as soon as we know the bulk of who the cohort will be. And that just gives us a chance to meet one another, meet the faculty. We usually ask people to tell us where they're going to be living at the time they're attending Stockton, so that.

Ipshita Tamjid

11:31:10 AM

If in the first clinical practicum, the caseload is 2 clients. What will the caseload be like for the other two sites?

Matthew Shaw

11:31:22 AM

Hey Marissa, you should apply to be a GA as you apply to the program. GA decisions will go out typically in March for the Fall term

If there is a need for some roommates or some carpool friends, we can make those connections at that time and then graduate admissions assist us in the orientation, which will happen in the summer. And that's where we take care of some of the more formal matters going over the handbook and the requirements for the program. But that would be a face to face opportunity again early in the summer where you would have a chance to make connections with both faculty and other students.

OK. I see a question about a typical schedule. So that's a very good question. So as I mentioned, you're very busy beginning in that very first semester. So this is a full time commitment.

Lourdes Fuentes

11:31:58 AM

is there a separate application for scholarship opportunities stockton offers?

Matthew Shaw

11:32:06 AM

Hey Naomi! You may have started a graduate application. We will not require you to do recommendations out of the Stockton system

Generally though, you have classes all day, Tuesdays and Thursdays that first year that you're here. But we do ask you to reserve some time on Mondays and Wednesdays to see clients in the clinic. Friday is usually a catch up day, we don't normally see clients or have classes on Fridays.

But there may be sometimes on Fridays when you're asked to come to campus, for example, we do have a guest speaker that comes to speak to the students with regard to the social justice module.

Awesome. And I see.

Yeah, I see.

There is a question about the clinical practicum, the caseload.

So yeah, yeah.

Yes, yes, I was going to answer that as well. So yes, the very first semester you're partnered and you have a partner from your cohort and you see one client. The next semester you usually have two clients. It could be 3 clients when you go off campus for the externship, that is the equivalent to being in a job experience. So the clinical supervisor is going to gauge your readiness.

Matthew Shaw

11:33:15 AM

You should apply through CSDCAS here: https://csdcas.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/logout

For how you take on the caseload, but by the end of that experience, you should be seeing a full caseload just as you would if you were an employee in that site. Now again, that is going to be somewhat dependent on the complexity of the site and your readiness as a clinician, but the expectation is that you will leave here with a minimum of 400 hours of clinical experience.

Matthew Shaw

11:33:31 AM

When verified, your application will import into our Stockton Application system and receive notification

Naomi Louis

11:33:54 AM

got it! Thank you Matthew

Awesome. Thank you. And then we have, is there a separate application for scholarship opportunities Stockton offers. So we have some new student scholarship opportunities. All new students are actually put into the pool, so you are automatically reviewed for a scholarship when you are applying to the university. There's also foundation scholarships through Stockton as well. Graduate assistantships, which we've discussed are a real great Ave. for graduate students here at Stockton. It's a great opportunity to get some.

Credit assistance. Umm, but we do have new student scholarships. It's it's not a massive pool for new student scholarships, but all students are considered when you are admitted to Stockton University at the graduate level. And then going forward as a continuing graduate student, you can look into the foundation scholarships. So if you type in scholarships on stockton.edu, you'll be able to read up on all the opportunities you will have here as a graduate student.

OK, awesome. So if we don't have any more questions or if I haven't missed any questions.

Matthew Shaw

11:34:51 AM

Matthew.shaw@stockton.edu

I'm going to drop my e-mail right here within the chat, so feel free to reach out to me as an individual here in the office. Or you can reach out to graduate.studies@stockton.edu. If you have any application questions, you can come to our office. We'll be the point of contact for you through your application process, so if you have any questions or want any more information, feel free to reach out to us.

Umm, after this webinar, Umm. Once again, thank you so much for coming today to this information session. Doctor Hadley, thank you once again for talking about your program so eloquently. And as always, I appreciate everything that you do for your program.

Always a pleasure.

Allison Bailey

11:35:26 AM

Thank you!

Jaxie Ford

11:35:32 AM

Thank you!

Ipshita Tamjid

11:35:33 AM

Thank you!

Jacqueline Rubino

11:35:33 AM

Thank you!

Shelby Albankis

11:35:35 AM

Thank you!

Paige Brogan

11:35:35 AM

Thank you!

Hailey Mckeown

11:35:37 AM

Thank you!

Absolutely. Thank you guys so much for coming. And again reach out to us if you have any questions about your application process and your verification deadline once again is January 16th. Thank you guys so much and have a great day.

Lourdes Fuentes

11:35:37 AM

thank you!

Morgan Kranowski

11:35:43 AM

Thank you

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGNbP7c4_BA