Five-year strategic plan
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Preamble: The current strategic plan was developed drawing on the strengths and opportunities that exist in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Oklahoma State University. This document will be revised annually based on the input of the faculty.
Focus area 1: Integration of academic and clinical training to enhance graduate education experience.
The goal of the graduate training program is to provide a well-rounded educational experience to our graduate students to that they are abreast with evidence-based practices. To this end, the clinical and research faculty will work together to teach classes as well as provide clinical experience to our graduate students.
Individual(s) responsible: Academic faculty teaching graduate courses and clinical supervisors.
Focus area 2: Recruiting a diverse body of top graduate students.
In the recent years, our graduate cohort has included about 20% of diverse students. We will be working to steadily increase that percentage to about 30%. To this end, the program will reach out to all the ASHA minority caucuses to recruit students from minority background to our graduate program.
Individuals responsible: Program Director/Department Head, Graduate Program Coordinator, and Graduate Committee.
Focus area 3: Increasing student as well as faculty research productivity.
Over the last 3 years, the research productivity has improved considerably as measured by the number of peer-reviewed publications as well as the external/internal funding support. The program will be working with the college Dean to identify the feasibility of starting a doctoral program. This will further help the program to boost the research productivity. Additionally, the program director will be encouraging the graduate students to be involved in graduate theses.
Individual(s) Responsible: Ph.D. Faculty
Focus area 4: Continuing the ongoing efforts in community engagement
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Oklahoma State University has a rich history of serving the community through the Oklahoma State University Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. Some of the ongoing community engagement projects include the Cowboy Aphasia Camp, Hearing Screenings offered in partnership with ABLE Tech at Oklahoma State University, accent modification program offered to student trainee pilots at the College of Education, Oklahoma State University, to name a few. Additionally, the program has received community engagement grants from the College of Arts and Sciences, Oklahoma State University each of the past three consecutive years.
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders will continue its efforts to serve the community by identifying appropriate community engagement partners.
Individual(s) Responsible: Academic Faculty and Clinical Supervisors
Assessment of the strategic plan
The current strategic plan will be evaluated every year during the department faculty meeting during which the progress made in each focus area will be documented. If there is lack of progress for one or more focus areas, remedial measures will be discussed and implemented during the meeting.