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Mission Statement

The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô prepares compassionate, practice-ready leaders in audiology, speech-language pathology, and related communication sciences through excellence and innovation in education, clinical learning, research, and community engagement. We foster student success, evidence-informed and culturally responsive practice, interprofessional collaboration, and research that advances practice and community needs while advancing communication health, access, and quality of life for individuals and communities in Texas and beyond.

Vision Statement

To establish Speech and Hearing Sciences at Â鶹ӳ»­Ó°Òô as a first-choice destination for students, faculty, clinical partners, and communities seeking innovative education, clinical excellence, and leadership in communication sciences and disorders.

Strategic Plan

1. Academic Excellence

• Accreditation & Continuous Quality Improvement: Maintain accreditation excellence in the Au.D. and M.S.-SLP programs and a department-wide culture of continuous quality improvement, assessment, and data-informed program evaluation.
• Academic Programs & Innovation: Review and strengthen undergraduate, leveling, graduate, assistant level, and certificate offerings; pursue curricular and program innovations responsive to student, professional, workforce, and community needs.
• Teaching & Clinical Learning Excellence: Advance evidence-informed, culturally responsive, interprofessional, and technology-enhanced teaching and clinical education that develops practice-ready graduates.
• Academic and Clinical Outcomes: Monitor licensure/certification preparation, Praxis outcomes, completion, employment, clinical competency, and other program outcomes, using results to guide improvement.

2. Faculty Development & Research

• Recruitment & Retention: Recruit, support, and retain qualified academic and clinical faculty whose expertise advances departmental programs, accreditation, clinical education, and strategic priorities.
• Faculty Advancement & Leadership: Provide transparent pathways, mentoring, and professional development supporting promotion, tenure where applicable, clinical faculty advancement, leadership development, and succession planning.
• Research & Scholarship: Strengthen meaningful scholarly productivity through publications and presentations, external and internal grant activity, interdisciplinary collaborations, clinical research, and scholarship of teaching and learning, with progress reviewed annually.
• Student Research & Mentorship: Expand opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in faculty-mentored research, dissemination, and scholarly activities.

3. Student Success

• Enrollment, Retention & Completion: Use data-informed recruitment and retention strategies to sustain healthy enrollment, support timely progression, and strengthen graduation outcomes across departmental programs.
• Career Readiness & Experiential Learning: Prepare students for professional practice through high impact clinical experiences, simulations, research, leadership, service, and engagement with employers and professional organizations. 
• Student Support & Belonging: Strengthen proactive advising, mentoring, academic support, professional identity development, and an inclusive learning environment in which students are respected, supported, and prepared to succeed.
• Pathways & Recruitment: Strengthen relationships with schools, community colleges, universities, alumni, and other partners to build pathways into communication sciences and disorders and related professions. 

4. Community Engagement & Partnerships

• Clinical and Community Impact: Expand the impact of departmental clinics, screenings, support groups, outreach, education, and other initiatives that respond to communication-health needs in Southeast Texas and beyond.
• Partnership Development: Strengthen mutually beneficial partnerships with health systems, schools, rehabilitation settings, community organizations, industry, and other clinical education partners.
• Advisory & Alumni Engagement: Establish and sustain meaningful advisory council and alumni engagement to inform programs, strengthen professional networks, support recruitment, and expand community connections.
• Workforce Development & Advocacy: Contribute to workforce development through continuing education, professional collaboration, community education, and advocacy that advances access to audiology and speech-language pathology services.

5. Infrastructure & Technology

• Facilities & Clinical Infrastructure: Maintain and strategically modernize classrooms, laboratories, clinics, research spaces, and equipment to support safe, high-quality education, clinical service, research, and program growth.
• Clinical Capacity: Assess and strengthen on-campus clinic space, off-site placement capacity, equipment, and technology to support student clinical education, client services, accreditation needs, and sustainable program growth.
• Digital Innovation: Leverage emerging technologies, simulation, telepractice/telehealth where appropriate, learning technologies, and data systems to enhance educational delivery, clinical preparation, research, and workforce readiness.
• Operational Excellence: Strengthen departmental effectiveness through clear governance, efficient workflows, responsible resource stewardship, transparent communication, and data-informed decision making.
• Strategic Resource Development: Align budget priorities, fundraising, grants, partnerships, and other resources with accreditation requirements, student success, faculty productivity, clinical excellence, and sustainable growth.

Document Last Reviewed: September 30, 2026

Implementation and Assessment

The department will translate these strategic priorities into attainable annual objectives with defined measures, responsible parties, timelines, and evidence of achievement. Annual objectives will be mapped to the strategic priorities and reviewed at least annually through departmental governance and program evaluation processes.Targets may be refined as baseline data, accreditation standards, student and workforce needs, university and college priorities, and departmental needs evolve.

2026–2030 Department-Level Measures and Targets

• Accreditation & Quality Improvement: Maintain accreditation requirements for the Au.D. and M.S.-SLP programs; complete annual program assessment and document continuous-improvement actions each year.
• Student Outcomes: Monitor enrollment, retention, progression, and graduation annually; maintain or improve the current three-year Praxis pass rate and employment outcomes, with improvement plans documented when targets are not met.
• Faculty Development & Scholarship: Provide at least two department-supported professional-development opportunities per academic year and review annually the number of publications/presentations, grant submissions and awards, collaborations, advancement, and leadership activities.
• Student Engagement: Establish and review annual participation data for clinical education, research, leadership, service, and other high-impact experiences, using the baseline to set subsequent annual improvement targets.
• Community & Partnerships: Document clinical/community reach and partnership activity annually and conduct at least one structured advisory or alumni engagement activity each academic year to inform programs and strengthen community connections.
• Infrastructure & Clinical Capacity: Review facility, clinic-space, placement-capacity, equipment, and technology needs annually; identify prioritized actions and document progress on approved operational and resource-allocation improvements.