Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders - Virtual Information Session

Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. Give us just a moment for all of our folks joining us live to just make sure your sound is on, that you can hear us OK, and we'll get started in just a moment.

We're very excited to see you all. If you are watching this pre recorded later on, you can feel free to Fast forward a couple of seconds as we wait for our virtual live guests to join us.

Alright, looks like we're set. All right. Hello everyone, my name is Jen Radwanski. I am the Associate Director for Graduate Admissions here at Stockton University. And I'm so glad that you are willing to take some time to learn more about our Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Umm, couple of things. Before we get started, I am joined by some of my colleagues. Matt, would you like to introduce yourself next?

Sure. Good morning, everybody, or good afternoon. Uh, thank you for being here today. My name is Matthew Shaw. I work in the Office of Graduate Admissions and I work very closely with the MCSD committee, uh, and know everything about the CAS application, which we will get into today. Thank you again for being here.

Awesome. Uh, and before I introduce our, our guest speaker, I just want to give you a couple of things. Matt and I will be here to, uh, help to emcee the event today. We, there is a, for those of you joining us live, a chat feature. Please feel free to use the chat. However, I would encourage you that if you have, uh, questions, UH-2 items, number one, wait until the very end of the session today because we have a lot of information that will be sharing with you and more than likely we will get to all of your questions.

Through the slides that we have prepared today, but if we don't, we'll take questions at the end. And for any of you who are watching the pre recording, we will also give everyone our contact information to reach out as well.

Uh, secondly, if you have anything of a personal nature, I would strongly recommend not putting that in the chat. We are recording this and we'll be sharing it with others after today's event. Umm, So again, please refrain from any personal questions in there and we're happy to take those offline and answer those for you. Umm, so don't don't hesitate in asking, but just not in the chat feature. So without further ado, I am very excited to introduce to you our program chair, uh, Doctor Phil Hernandez, who is here to join us to tell you more about why you should consider.

Coming to Stockton and being a part of our MCSD program. So Phil, without further ado, take it away. Thanks for being here.

Thank you Jen. Thank you Matt. Welcome everyone again Doctor Phil Hernandez, Co chair of the program, other colleague Dr. Stacy Castle says her says her regards she had a personal matter that she's dealing with, but we're going to move forward with the presentation. So the first thing we're going to talk about is the program mission right to prepare. So what is the purpose of our program is to prepare.

Speech language pathologists to be Ash asserted.

To become certified to work in a school setting by the New Jersey Education department and for New Jersey licensure in our program students have to demonstrate principles of evidence based practice. So what they're doing a therapy plan or create or implementing a certain approach. Why why is you know why are you implementing that approach and what evidence is out there by peer reviewed publications that.

Support what you're doing and why you're doing it OK?

We do that all throughout the program. We also provide opportunities for continuing education. That's for speech language pathologists who are out in the field already and need continued education credit on various different topics within our field. And we also provide direct clinical services to our surrounding community in Atlantic County, Hamilton, Galloway, where they come from all over the place, Landing, Atlantic City, Pleasantville, where they, you know.

To our clinic for services and we'll talk about our clinic later on.

Umm, So what is our accreditation? So we are fully accrued accredited by the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association through 2029. Our next cycle starts in 2028. During our last visit we had stellar rapport on reviews and where we had the.

We were. We were recommended for recreation in eight years versus five years. So if you don't do well, you get 5 years, but we did the eight years. So we're excited about that.

These are my wonder. Faculty members, right? Doctor Stacy Castle, who teaches a lot of the adult language courses, The aphasia.

The the.

Feeding issues that you know, we deal with, with our clients. She's worked at a medical setting. So she has that, that that experience. All her faculties have worked at medical clinic, private practice, educational early intervention and a lot of them are also researchers. So I do a lot of the school based communication disorders. I work in the school system for 34 years.

In Philly public schools, where I also.

To work with the bilingual population where I provided bilingual services to our clients, diagnostic or therapeutic services. Also we have Doctor Monica Poblosca who is a linguist and she does she teaches a lot of the language child language courses and is our one of our major researchers in our program. Also with Doctor Schwartz who also does a lot of research.

Works with speech, sound disorders, childhood practice, speech.

Voice, that's where area expertise. Dr. Amanda Cobbs is our speech and hearing clinic director. We do have a clinic on campus. Not every program has a clinic on campus. So we do have a clinical on campus here in Galloway where we service clients across the lifespan, all ages, all disorders.

And.

That's what you know, that's, that's her role. Kelly Maslany is a clinical education specialist who works in a clinic, supports Dr. Cokes in providing.

Supervision to our students in our clinic. And then we have Doctor Scatarella, who is the academic field work coordinator. She's the one in charge of scheduling and placing students in our externships. So you have two semesters.

Chips, So we'll talk about that also. We also have our adjunct faculty, Lauren Padula, who is our AAC specialty, the alternative communication specialist. Deborah Bennick is our audiologist on staff. And then you look at Nicolette Messina is also an adjunct faculty member and also a member of the bilingual evidence specialization where she does a lot of the supervision in her clinic.

So what I want to do now is.

Share.

OK, so that's that video does a nice job of describing the settings, the populations that we work with or, you know, accreditation standards and everything that's, you know, related to our field of speech seminars, pathology.

Next, we have our program prerequisites. So this is all this information is on Ash's website, which is the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association.

Lots of great resources on that website, if you know, for students, for parents, for professionals, for professors related to our field. Tons and tons of resources in there. So I highly recommend you take a look at that. But on that website, we have the standards indicated there, so there is that link.

So in order to be admitted to our program, you need these are the required program requests requisites. And this is required across the nation. It's not just Stockton, right, so.

Every student who goes into a speech language pathology program needs a course in speech and language hearing science, anatomy and Physiology of the speech and hearing mechanism. Introduction to communication disorders where we talk about the things that we provide services for, the different types of disorders and settings and populations, speech and language development and phonetics.

Additionally, you need to take a course in biology.

The biology has to have a lab component to it, a course in chemistry or physics, right? A statistics course and a social science course like psychology, sociology, something of that nature. OK, and if you know.

If you are not sure if a course that you've taken or will be taking satisfy these additional courses requirements, please feel free to reach out to me, Doctor Castle or the Graduate Office, OK?

Umm, you're not required, but it's beneficial to take an audiology course or course in linguistics any maybe a second language, including sign language. Sign language is considered a language, so umm, during our process.

Application process review, we look at for these things also and we give extra points for any students who've taken audiology, any students have taken linguistics, anyone has taken French, Spanish, second language.

Sign language, Any of those courses OK.

So program requirements, so it's 60 credit hours of coursework that's type O, sorry about that, which include academic and clinical. So moving the NUKES cohort is 60 credits.

Uh, 400 hours of supervised clinical practical hours.

So 25 must be within a guided observation. So prior to starting your clinical rotation in our clinic, you have to observe at least 25 hours of different therapy sessions, right. There are some undergraduate programs that this is infused within their curricula. But there if not, no need to worry. We do you know provide you those, those observations, those opportunities in our clinic.

During that first semester and then you may.

Transfer over a minimum of 75 hours from the undergraduate experience. So if there is there are some undergraduate programs with clinics and the students are doing clinical experiences, then you can bring at least 75 hours from those programs into that's going to be counted towards your 400 hours.

Towards the end of this program, during the second years last semester, you have a comprehensive exam, security exam that you know, assesses your knowledge about all the content that you learned in the past two years of grad school. And then at the end, you also have to take the practice exam and speak sentence with us, which is the national exam to certify you as a speech language pathologist, OK.

Um, our students, we, our target role, you know, enrollment is 32 full-time graduates students or no part time students. We do not accept part time. It's a full time cohort model. So you're going to have 32 students for the same courses for the next two years. You'll get to know each other very, very well.

So, you know, and our students do really great things out in the field. So they attended A Yasha convention, Magicia, which is the New Jersey speech in Herring Association.

Convention where they share their research. Lots of our students have shared research at the National Convention, which is the American Speech Engineering Association, and also internationally. Our students have also shared their findings or research at different venues.

At the first year, second semester, we have a white coat ceremony, right? So that is the next step. So you have your first year, first semester taking courses clinical.

Your preclinicals. Then that second semester of your first year start working.

In her clinic, clinic 1. So then this symbolizes that next transition, OK.

Um, these are core sequence rates. So you have fall semester 1, you have courses plus clinical applications. That's where that's that preclinic where we.

You start with a client from semester one, right? However, we walk you through that process. We don't just throw you in our clinic with a client. There is a process problem based learning that we use in our program where there are 4 faculty members, they're assigned each approximately 6 to 8 students and those that's who they focus on developing those skills to work with their clients.

We also have a spring semester one which are courses plus the option of clinic 1.

Um, or you can take clinic one in the summer. So there's a discussion that's had between all of you in your cohort where you know the 1st 16 who's going to take clinic in the spring and who's going to take clinic in the summer. You also have summer 2 courses in clinic practical 2, practical 2 is your externship and also practicum 3 is your externship during the spring semester.

OK, here we have a robust list of our courses. You will be taking all of these courses.

You also have the option to take elective courses, right? So 6 credits of the 60 are elective. So those are two credits, right? Two courses. Excuse me. So you could take medical speech pathology, speech pathology in schools, advance counseling, communication disorders.

Bilingual Specialty Clinic If you're interested in working with bilingual clients, you don't have to be bilingual. We provide we provide you with you know the skills on how to work with a multilingual speaker.

Also, we have the now we have a Parkinson's Voice Project Specialty clinic, which is a grant that was granted to Stockton. We're the only institution, the only program within New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware that has this, where we work with clients with Parkinson's and their voice. It's called the Parkinson's Voice.

Project, if you go into our website, we provide a lot of research and evidence and information about that, that project, right? And then we have research seminar. We have individuals, students who are interested in doing research, Doctor Pulaski or any faculty member within our faculty to do research. And then like I said, they present internationally, nationally and locally at different venues, OK.

All right, so course description. So the courses encourage conversation, right? A lot of self reflection, a lot of case based scenarios, case studies. We provide guest speakers that come in and from out in the field and talk about the different topics. If it's dysphagia, that individual will talk about the different assessments and treatments based on how to work within.

A.

Some with dysphasia, OK. We also use a lot of materials, diagnostic tools in our clinic. We have tons of materials, tons of diagnostic and therapy materials. We have 7 therapy rooms so.

We have lots and lots of resources at your disposal and then we provide interview opportunities with practicing Sops, OK.

Clinical practice, so in fall one we utilize, you know, the, the clinical methods application course utilizes the problem based learning approach, right where we're giving a file a case study and then you have to develop those skills, ask those questions. How do you gather information to try to get a better picture of what your clients needs are?

Because a lot of times the information that's provided is very limited, so you have to do your detective work.

To try to get some information in order to prepare for your client, right? Because you have no idea what's going on at that point.

Students treat one client right individually, not in pairs. That's changed this semester also. We have clinic one that can occur like I said.

Spring semester or the summer and that's up to the cohort. So that's a discussion. The entire group just, you know, decides who's going to do in the spring semester and who's going to do the summer sessions only because we only have 4 supervisors and trying to supervise.

1664 clients, it's very difficult, right? So we can't do that. So that's why we split that. And then clinic two and three, there are external sites that could be hospitals, clinic facilities, skilled nursing facilities, rehab center, private practice.

Schools, right? And they're supervised out in the field by a certified speech language pathologist. Thank you.

Um, first of clinic 2, So this is their first day. This is the covert that's going to be graduating this spring. It says cohort first day clinical practice 2 all excited.

Their experiences have been phenomenal. I've been reaching out to many of them. They're loving their placements, their supervisors. They're, you know, the, the students are starting to speak. They're starting to find out what their niche is, whether it's a population.

Or whether it's a disorder that they want to focus on, maybe it's AAC, augmentative communication disorder. So or is it bilingual, right? Is it a bilingual population that you're really interested in? So these students are out in their placements now they're in two, they'll be in three next semester. And that's where they get to find out what they really like, what they enjoy, which population setting and disorders they want to work with, right? Always have your mind open. I would tell my students, come in, you know, first semester they're like, oh, I want to work.

Hospital, but then towards the end, the end of year 2, they're working in schools because they love schools better. So always have that that mind open, OK?

Umm, and like I said, we do have our speech in hearing clinic on campus. Uh, there's a video that's coming up that will talk about that, umm, where we provide assessment and treatment across the lifespan, right from one years to 99. Umm, uh, and students are providing an environment where students can provide, you know, acquire their knowledge and skills needed by speech science pathologists and you're supervised by certified speech science pathologists. OK, So what I'm going to do now is share a video of our.

Hearing clinic and then we'll talk about the best program.

Alrighty. So yes, so that's a nice little glimpse of what we do in our speech and hearing clinic. Feel free to go into our website, the Master of Science Communication Sciences Disorders program website. There is a link to the speech and hearing clinic if you need some more information, would like some more information regarding the clinic, OK.

So something that's unique about our program in the state of New Jersey.

Say hello where I'm trying to think New Pennsylvania, we're the only program that offers a bilingual emphasis specialization, which is a bilingual English Spanish specialization.

And it the purpose is to, you know, prepare future bilingual SLP's with a special interest in working with the English, Spanish, English individuals within the scope of practice of speech science pathology. OK, there are two ways you can get into this program, right? So pathway one, which is when you're filling out your application on.

Sikash, indicate that you're interested in this track, right? And there is a question on that application that says are you interested? Invest in the best track? You indicate. Yes, you'll write a short essay, no more than 500 words in Spanish of why you want to be part of the best program. And then you're going to demonstrate Spanish fluency, language fluency through an interview. So you'll meet with me or other faculty members via Zoom and just have a informal conversation just to get a sense of your, you know.

Grammar and sentence structure and those type of things regarding Spanish language, OK. And also there are some applicants that could apply for.

For graduate citizenships, there are GA associateships available for our best students. OK, let's see what else the second pathway is. If you don't indicate that on your application that you're interested in best, then you have the the option to let me know.

Once you get into the program, at least three weeks or two weeks, once you still the program said that you're interested in the program. So you, you know, classes start. You have until the second week of classes to say, hey, Doctor Hernandez, I'm interested in the program. The same requirements, your interview, your essay and there's a prerequisite course they need to take you regarding second language acquisition and all that infinite information is on the website.

And feel free to text me.

You text me, e-mail me. I say text me because I all our students in our program have our texts, our phone number, so they text us whenever they want to talk to us. I have a question, so e-mail me via the Stockton website or the program website.

So the outcomes are So the the way this program works is that students in the best program will.

Do an assignment in each course that's focused on the Hispanic population. So if your class is doing a language sample, everyone has to do a language sample, but the best students will do a language sample on a Spanish speaking client. OK, so everything is.

Not extra work. It's the same assignments within the courses, but you're going to be focusing on the Hispanic population. You will have some clinical experiences with bilingual clients. You're definitely in our clinic, Clinic 1 and maybe the clinical methods application course. You will have a bilingual, at least one bilingual client to work in our clinic and you're going to be supervised by bilingual speech science pathologists. It could be myself.

It would be Nicole de Massino, who is also a bilingualist about speech language pathologist.

Students in the best program always also have to complete a minimum of 10 hours UMM of activities or community engagement activity within the Hispanic community. So it could be either doing a homework club. So a lot of our students have done homework club, UMM where they go to Pleasantville in the library and they work with Spanish speaking kids who are developing language skills, English language skills to do their homework, their easel work. We also do workshops with the preschool program.

On the preschool program in Pleasantville, where we, the best students, do a presentation and they talk about what is speech science pathology and our target population, our parents who speak Spanish and English, mainly Spanish, What is speech language pathology? What are some red flags? What is the process to get your child tested? What to look for in the second language acquisition process? What's normal, what's typical, what's not typical on those type of things.

And then you also have to complete either a capstone project or a research project. A research project being.

You have a conduct research reductive Pavlovska right and a capstone projects you you present on a topic that you're highly interested in based on what you learned in the best program to meet that requirement.

OK.

So here are some of the things that we've done in the past. Like I said, we attended the Atlantic City Latino Festival where we provided literature to families about our clinic and about second language acquisition.

Process and that we do offer bilingual services in our clinic, Spanish, English, we've done like I said, parent teacher training services.

Umm, we have our capstone projects presented in addition, internationally, nationally and umm, our students do the multicultural symposium which we collaborate with the New Jersey Speech and Language Hearing Association multicultural committee. They come, they present on implicit, explicit biases and at that time second hour and then at the end they.

Our students, our best students, present on their projects. So this was minimizing bias and assessments for culturally linguistic diverse population, the role of monolingual Sops in a multilingual world. So that was a fantastic presentation. Kids, you know, students learned a lot, faculty learned a lot. We welcome faculty members also and community members who come to our presentations so they share that information.

OK. And then at the end, since it's a multicultural?

Symposia, everyone, every student is required to bring a ethnic dish for wherever they're from, right? And, and then we all eat at the end. It's very delicious.

Either 10 lbs heavier.

All right. And like I said, our students have, you know, presented the research at the state level, national level and international levels.

So examples of student faculty research projects. So we've had experiences of racially, ethnically diverse undergraduate students pursuing speech language pathology. That was one of the topics. The impact of rapport on therapeutic outcomes, the treatment of persistent articulation. You're using biofilm feedback, biofeed, biofeedback tools. It's a device that you put in your mouth on your tongue. So it's like a, when they say a sound or a word.

You can see it visually on a computer and that helps with, umm, with therapy, improving your production of sounds. So they've done that pitch perception in people with and without musical training. Umm, influence of having a therapy dog present in treatment sessions of stuttering. So we had a, this was an actual study in our clinic where umm, our students, umm, brought a dog to a therapy session and we saw the difference between, you know, students who had, you know, clients with the anxiety.

And so forth when the difference that, you know, having that dog in front of you made. We also have cultural competence, recent practices and humility across the curriculum. OK.

Here are some of our student researchers. We also do Stockton has the day of scholarship. Where our students do present is a requirement for Doctor Pablos class where they present their research there also.

We also emphasize the importance of connecting.

The classroom in the clinic, right, So everything that's done in the classroom is supposed to transfer over to the clinic in real life situations. So we provide a lot of those opportunities. So treating language based literacy skills, problem based learning and simulations and our program we're infusing more and more simulations where we have character actors come in and for maybe.

You know.

It's a parent who's, uh, who's concerned about, umm, their child's stuttering. Uh, so they have like the case scenarios and actors that come in and act like the parent and you are the clinician providing either counseling or support. Umm, so everything is try, we try to make everything real life, right? So infusing what you learn in a classroom to, you know, simulations and problem based learning. Umm, and we also do language analysis.

Software right where this is published in Spanish and English and students.

They will analyze the language sample based on this, this, you know, based on the, umm, standardization of the salt. Is the client's speech or not speech, Umm, language development, syntactic skills, morphology, all that stuff appropriate for their age. Umm, and you do that comparison, OK.

So those are some fun activities that we do in class. Also making the connection, just like I said, making those connections between the clinic and the classroom.

Uh, frequently asked questions.

I could take over now, Phil.

OK, sure.

So let's, let's speak about the fun part. Let's talk about your application. So right now the Sid cast application is up and it's live and it's been up since August, but that application is the Cidcast application. So, umm, when we're talking about CAS, it's the centralized app system. Uh, think of Sid Cath as your common app at the graduate level, right? Whether you're applying to our.

Or you're applying to other institutions. This is going to be a major Ave. to seek out speech programs. Okay, one big difference for our program here at Stockton this year is that we've moved from a verified deadline date to a rolling admission. We still utilize a verified deadline. So I'm going to explain what that deadline means. Although we're rolling umm, November 20th is the deadline for your application to be verified. What that means is that you need to have all.

Of your academic information within CAS, all your transcripts need to officially be received by CAS and it gets verified by that umm entity, that company. When your application is verified, you get imported into slate, umm, which is our local application here at Stockton and from there, umm, more information will come thereafter. Umm, like I said, CAS is your major application. Uh, what I'm gonna drop in our chat right there is the statuses.

How you could reach verified? My suggestion is if you have not started your Sid cast application and you're looking to start in fall of 26, I would like to ask you to start umm, whether it's today or tomorrow, definitely this week if your interest is within our program. Umm, like I said, we do have a new process. Umm, so I'll go into that and what that is going to involve. Umm, But let's first talk about our admissions requirements.

So when you're applying, umm, what is really, really important is the prerequisites. Umm, we did have a question in the chat. Your undergrad degree is not within a pre speech or Health Sciences. That is OK. What what really should be occurring is the focus of the prerequisites.

Naturally, if that is your undergrad major, you're likely going to find yourself completing those prerequisites because that's your path. However, if you're not in those majors, just ensure that you're taking those courses because the prerequisites, they are the core requirements to gain admission into the program. Umm, so you're looking to have those prerequisites done and then ultimately, no matter the major, you do need to graduate. So a bachelor's degree, uh, from your institution as well. So in order to enter into this program.

Prerequisites must be accomplished and you must have earned a bachelor's degree. What's very important with the prerequisite courses, if you're going back in and you are reviewing the grades that you've gotten in this free rec courses, Please ensure that you got a minimum of AC in that course. If you have lower grades than AC in a prereq course, what we'll ask is that you retake that course to accomplish umm, the grade that is expected to gain admission into this program.

Um, you may have an opportunity to retake a course post being admitted to the program where that prereq may be one that is outstanding. That is okay. Each time we admit this cohort, there are outstanding requirements such as you need to graduate or you have speech and hearing, umm, mechanism. You're in that course. We just need to see that course completed. These are all natural things for an applicant to have certain things outstanding.

Umm, but what I would say is that if you are planning on applying.

Try to have the majority of your prerequisites accomplished at the time that you're submitting your application. I say that because our committee is academically reviewing you. If they do not have enough prerequisites, umm, to give you a proper review, umm, you're likely going to ask to reapply for next cycle when you have these prerequisites accomplished. It's really important to have these courses done and to also have a plan of action that is clear within CAS, uh, if you're in progress with these uh, courses as well.

So our admissions requirements, um, this is previous term, but right now we are looking for a 3.0 cumulative GPA, undergrad GPA. Um, what that means is if you went to Stockton, but you transferred into Stockton and you came from Atlantic Cape first or regardless of the school, if you went to multiple institutions, umm, all those Gpas are put together to form a cumulative GPA. Umm, additionally with that being said is that if you went to multiple institutions.

Please list all those schools within your CIDCAS application. What would happen is if I forgot that I had went to a Community College and I only listed my UH institution that I'm getting my bachelors from. Your application would not be verified by Cass because they would see on your transcript that you went elsewhere. So every single school that you went to must be accounted for within your CAS application. You need to put in your academic history exactly as it states on your transcript and if there.

A misstep, your application may go into an undelivered or on an on hold status. Uh, so you would have to correct that. Umm, it really is all about timing. So like I said, if you had not started an application today and are thinking about joining the cohort for 26, I would start an application today, tomorrow or definitely at least this week. Umm, I say that because if your application doesn't get verified, it might, uh, put uh, an additional week or two in your timeline. Uh, and it's really important to try to get your.

Location verified by November 20th. Now in relation to rolling admission, we have verified files. What's going to happen starting next week is that applicants that are verified and have met the academic standard to be admitted into the program, you will be invited, umm, to an interview. That process is new this year. Umm, it's a very nice umm, alternate way of of introducing you to the program.

And, umm, being right there in person at our site.

Right down the street. So umm, as Phil showed videos and spoke about our clinic, the interviews are taking part right at the clinic, which is really an exciting thing that we could showcase our institution. As you're applying, umm, and you will go through an interview. These interviews are one-on-one. Umm, if you're invited to an interview, those invites will start happening towards the back end of next week. And as you get verified, umm, just be on the lookout with your e-mail, whatever e-mail you apply to Stockton with, please make sure that you're monitoring that because.

Once you are verified, all emails are coming out of our Stockton system to the e-mail address that you applied to in CAS interview invites, like I said, they'll start going out, you'll register for an interview slot, and after an interview is completed, a final decision will ultimately occur on your application, uh, file after that time, umm, the, uh, cohort, just so everyone is aware, is a cohort of 32. Umm, the real big difference between a deadline and a.

Admission is that during our rolling admission process, if we have candidates and applicants that met the criteria of admission, um, they are admitted after that interview. So what that states is that if you were not umm, verified in a timely fashion or if there were other interviews prior to your interview, there is an ability to have the cohort umm, filled to an extent. So what that states is that you really should be getting after your application, getting your materials and, and ensuring.

That you reach verification ASAP. That is really important to focus in on that Sid cast application if your intention is to gain admission in the fall Twenty-six cohort.

Other items that are a part of the application, it's all listed on our site, right? So like I stated, all official transcripts you are going to have letters of recommendation. What I would say about letters of recommendation, no personal letters. My mom would definitely be a great reference and a great recommendation for me for the program. However, Please ensure that you're using at least one academic and you should be having somebody that could speak on you from a professional standpoint from an academic.

Standpoint again, our families would give glowing recommendations, but please avoid doing that as it is a requirement to at least have one academic, umm, letter of recommendation. This all occurs within the Cdcas application, so umm, if you ever have any doubt that a material must be external from that application, everything is within Cidcast, which includes the recommendation requests. They're sent directly through an e-mail request.

The recommendation, uh recommender receives it via e-mail, they open it, they put information in uh recommending you, and then they could upload a letter as well.

OK. So core functions, what I would ask is to visit our program website here. It's a guide for future practitioners and audiology and speech language pathology there. That website right there is actually our communications disorders programs. Please go back to that if you have any additional questions about prerequisite requirements, about requirements of your CAS application. We also have an FAQ section there where if there's nothing that we covered, if it didn't come up today in our conversation, it is likely going.

To be listed under our FAQs on the SIDCAS Communications Disorders Program page.

All right, so I went over this. It is a rolling admission process. Interviews. The invites for interviews will start going out next week. So please monitor your emails and then reply to whatever the action is in a timely fashion. If you're invited for an interview, just scope your availability and I would say register for a session as soon as you can when you get that e-mail.

And as I stated, because it's a cohort model and we are rolling, there is an ability to to fill that cohort pretty quickly. It would depend on if the offers are accepted from the students and then they confirm. But at this point, it's in your best interest to just be timely in your application process to ensure you're giving yourself the the greatest opportunity to be admitted and confirmed for the upcoming cohort.

So what does the committee consider everything within your application they will consider, right. So you are reviewed from a holistic standpoint. But as I stated, I'm really excited about the interviews this year because it's it's an ability for you to answer questions and also ask questions and understand the program through your process. But within your application, do not be bashful or shy.

What I mean is that every single area of the CAS application, if it's usable, please use it. So there's an experience section, right where it's the time to talk yourself up. Umm, it's not the time to be bashful because you really have to sell yourself to the program. Umm So try to recall things that you've had experience and try to recall things that you've been certified in or that you've volunteered for. Umm, my, uh, what I would say is have a conversation with your family, have a conversation with your peers.

Sometimes they may recall things that you do not recall and they'll remind you of the Rockstar that you are. So Please ensure that you're including that within your application because it is the time to give yourself a full image of yourself so that the committee is making you know an answer on all the information that you've provided. So do not be bashful. Utilize the experience section, the volunteer section, the work section, everything within that application.

Is meant and can be utilized by you, so at that time when when you're applying.

Um, don't limit what you're putting in there. Really show the full gamut of who you are as an applicant.

So how can I increase my odds of admission? What I would say so don't mind this essay section here on the CAS app. The essay that is required is if you are applying to the best track that Phil has spoke about prior. What I would say is get your application verified as soon as you can. I would say that is ultimately.

Number one, because if the application is not verified, you're not going to reach the stage of review that you would need to be admitted into the program.

Umm, fill out your application and be extremely critical and careful with your academic section. That is what holds up applications the most. So as silly as it sounds, if I say that I got a B minus in, uh, speech and hearing mechanism and it's actually AB plus, that is technically not correct and Cass wouldn't verify that because you've actually put a grade in that your official transcript is stating.

Not that great right? So it could be a misstep as easy as not listing the grade properly. Uh, the application would then go into a hold cast would tell you, hey, can you just fix this for us and then you would fix it uh, with that being said, depending on how many files are coming through to CAS at one time.

It might be held up, right? They might put you on hold and it might take them a little bit to get you re verified because it's actually a company that as applications reach a status of received and then completed, they look at the completed apps to verify them right? So if you were going through the process of verified and they had to put you on hold, you're now here in regards to the other verified files that are seeking verification. So be very careful when you're putting your academic history in, uh.

Questions that I get are can I pay for the service? You can pay to have somebody put in your academic UMM section.

There's pros and cons to both. I, I really enjoy the fact that if I was applying, it's in my hands to, to get this accurate, It's my application, umm, because to be honest, I have seen missteps even paying for the service. Umm, so I'll just say that umm, but it is, it is very, very important to get your academic history correct. That is, that is the big thing that I'll always say, uh, other statements that I've said, really talk yourself up. Do not be shy, do not be bashful. Stay on top of your emails because as you get communication, it's.

Very important to react to that communication, especially because we are now a rolling admission process. And I would say if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to the office of Graduate admissions. Uh, we'll be happy to, umm, assist you and help you reach that level of verification, umm, to, to the way that we can. But ultimately, if there are any real legitimate errors, umm, feel free to reach out to CAS because they are the company that is servicing the application. I have a lot of insight of how you can reach verification, but if there's any.

Core issues and problems, don't hesitate to reach out to Sid Cast themselves.

All right. And graduate assistantships, umm, what I would say is that if you are thinking of being an, a grad assistant, just fill out the application. Umm, when you are verified, you come into our Stockton system, you'll create your applicant status portal. And what you'll see in there is an optional form, which is the graduate assistantship application. It's an optional form because you don't have to be a grad assistant to be within our program. You don't have to be a grad assistant at all, but if you want to be, uh, fill out that application to be.

Considered you can be considered to be a grad assistant within the program within other offices if there's open spots, but in essence, you would be working and getting credits allocated that are going to help you and assist you in paying your bill, right. So if you were given an assistantship that cover 2 credits, uh, courses typically 3 credits at the grad level. So you would have 2/3 of the class paid for through an assistantship. So it's a great method of assistance, umm, and it's really good hands on experience. So what I would say is if, if.

Trusted you might as well apply and then see if if you're offered an assistantship and then like I said, it's it's typically inexperienced within your program. So it's great hands on.

Graduate Assistantships.

All right. I know that was a lot of information. So now what I would say is I'm going to open it up to general questions about the program, about your application process. So let's get started on our chat.

Yep, thank you both so much and for those of you who are joining us virtually, uh, pre recorded, this is the contact information to follow up with us. And then for all of you who are joining us live, just a reminder not to put any personal information in the chat. This is being recorded and any questions you have about your specific application, we would encourage you to give us a call in the office after the session later today or sometime this week. Umm, so going back, we do have a list of questions. So I'm going to start diving in and, and sharing them with you all. Umm, so first questions for the clinical practicum.

Externship site. What areas or countries will you send students to? In other words, how far away will they be from the main campus?

So our, our externship supervisor, you know, we do up to two hours. I mean, we try to work within your wherever you live, but there are some sites right there because sites are very difficult to get, especially medical settings where we're competing with a lot of programs. So sometimes you might have to make that sacrifice. But for the most part, Doctor Skyrella does an excellent job of getting you within.

An hour? I would say no, probably no more than an hour.

So great question.

So to follow up, and I think the answer is just yes, but is the program good for those who are interested in working in a hospital setting?

Absolutely. So we do provide those umm externship experiences. We also have clinical faculty, UMM, that work in a hospital setting that you know can give you some more insight on that information.

Great, uh, question about verification and letters of recommendation. So umm, is having the letters of recommendation completed part of the verification process?

So it's technically not, umm, but what you should ensure is that when you are submitting, you have those evaluation emails out and you've, you've sent the requests for recommendations out the recommendations, they technically can be completed, umm, post, uh, submitting your application. But what I want to say is that your recommend, your recommendations should be as fast as possible because say there's some way that you do get verified the academic profile.

Strong.

By the time you get to your interview, those recommendations are in there. It's not that is a requirement, right? Like you need those recommendations. It won't stop your verification. However, that would be a program material that has not been received and can kind of mess up your process. Umm, what I would say is that the committee is probably going to give you the ability to get those in ASAP prior to like your interview. But you can reach verification with certain materials outstanding that.

Whose recommendation requests right?

I had certain conversations. What I would say is please be very transparent with your recommend recommendations and recommenders. If somebody said to me, yes, I can do a recommendation for you, but I can't get it to you until December 20th, think of utilizing somebody else. I'm going to be very open and transparent about that.

It's a rolling admission process. It's a cohort program, so you know there's limited seats and there's limited time. So if a recommender tells you they cannot turn around a recommendation letter for you within a two week period, I would really think about pivoting and that's just being honest about it.

They need to be advocates for you. So if they're not able to advocate for you and if they're not able to recommend you in a timely fashion, think of somebody else that can that. That would be my my honest advice.

Yes, it's very polite to do that. Yes, definitely ask them first. Yes.

And I would, yeah. And I, and to add on to that, I would also suggest, make sure you let your recommenders know your deadline. Make sure you tell them that you're adding their name before you put them on your application. Umm, yes, it's just good etiquette. Yeah. Umm, and, and have that conversation about what the timeline looks like ahead of time before even starting. You'd be surprised how many, uh, recommenders reach out and they're like, I didn't even know this person wanted me to be a recommender. And it's like, Oh yeah, they should probably talk to you. So, umm, I would add that to.

The piece too. Next question, what is the schedule like for years one and two considering class and clinical times?

So year one is packed, right? Is a packed year. So you have Monday, Tuesdays, Thursdays, you have classes from 8:00 to about.

Wanna, uh, trying to think 2:30 to about 2:30 and in the afternoons we leave for clinical experiences. Wednesday, the entire day is your clinical day. That entire day we dedicate to clinic, umm, And then on Fridays, umm, we do have umm, other functions that students are required to attend, but you'll let, we'll let you know ahead of time those dates. But yeah, consider it. It's a full, you know, it's a.

Full-time program Monday through Friday. Umm, so umm, and most programs are that way.

Great, uh, interview. Two interview questions. I'm going to combine them. Umm, the first one is, is the interview strictly in person or will you accept online interviews if they're out of state? And the second part is, after the interview, how long does it take until, uh, an acceptance or information is sent?

Sure, Yep. So we are able and willing to pivot if you are like 2 1/2 hours out of a range, right? Like so it's, it's really the three hour limit. So if you're out of state, umm, just let us know that you are in need of a virtual interview if you're invited, and then we'll pivot and create that umm, one-on-one session to be in a virtual space. So yes, we do have the ability to give you a virtual interview if you are outside the scope of a three hour drive. Umm, again, it's like it, it would be in the best interest of the program and you.

You can to come down and view that, that beautiful site and have that interview one-on-one. Um, you know, it's a really great experience. However, obviously if you're out of state, if you're interim at your other institution, we fully understand that and we can offer a virtual, uh, interview when we need to. Umm, how long after the interviews until you find out if you're accepted? Umm, the process it, it should be within the next week. It should be within five to seven days post-interview. You should have a decision, uh, and that decision will be a virtual.

Decision Again, be very close to your e-mail. I'll be on top of your e-mail because we will be very transparent and close to you through the e-mail service. But you should have a decision post interview. Five to seven days is what I would say.

Yup.

Sure.

All right. And then we had a question, just a clarification on the essay of what was needed for the essay where it's loaded. Bess versus CAS versus yeah.

Yep. So the, umm, there is no, uh, general essay. What you can do is if you have a personal statement, if it allows you to upload a document in the document section, you can upload a personal statement. That's absolutely fine. The only true essay is if you're applying for the best of the bilingual emphasis specialization. Umm, that's the only requirement, umm, within the cast section. But you would click yes, you're interested, and then you would see the essay and you would respond to it there. Umm, so there is no additional.

Essay outside the scope if you're selecting to apply for Bess UM, but if you have a personal statement, you may upload that via the documents section as an additional document.

Great. And that looks like the last question we have is whether this will be this recording will be available after the fact. Yes, it usually takes about 24 hours and we will post it to the site. We will not have a print out, but there will be a video recording that we will share on our website. So good question.

All right, excellent. Well, thank you all so much for taking the time to, to be present, to ask great questions. And more importantly to our presenters, I will share with you all that as a, a recruiter and marketer for all of our programs, uh, my favorite question I always get asked is why should I consider Stockton? And without question, my answer is always our faculty. And that goes without saying with, uh, Doctor Hernandez and Doctor Castle who could not be here today, but umm, you will get to meet shortly our faculty in this program.

Care so much about this program.

Are experts in their field and they are just a pleasure to work with. They really care about their students. And so I'm going to just speak on your behalf, Phil, in sharing that you know this this another great reason to consider coming to Stockton. So thank you for spending the time today for presenting being here with us and thank you to our attendees and we hope you all have a wonderful day. Take care everyone. Bye bye.

Thank you.