Communicative Sciences and Disorders
Advancing Knowledge - Transforming Lives
Making People Matter

As you may know, the Dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and theProvost at Michigan State University are proposing the elimination of the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. This department educates and trains speech-language pathologists for work in: schools, at all levels; hospitals; rehabilitation centers; private practice; etc.; working with those with speech, language, voice, hearing disorders, as well as those with stroke, autism, PDD, mental retardation, etc. Virtually, if not literally, every intermediate school district, hospital, rehabilitation center, family, etc. in Michigan (and the nation), has great need for more speech-language pathologists. Likewise, virtually, if not literally, every intermediate school district, hospital, rehabilitation center, family, etc, in Michigan has greatly benefited from the outstanding knowledge and skills of an MSU-educated speech-language pathologist.

At this important time in the nation's and Michigan's economy graduates of this program are all about jobs, jobs, jobs. They get in-state, tax paying jobs; and work to habilitate and rehabilitate those with disabilities to allow them also to be employed, tax-paying citizens. The elimination of the department will actually lead to a loss of funds for MSU, not a savings. Students will go to another university for the speech-language pathology major, not just to another MSU major. The proposed elimination was done without consultation with students, faculty, staff, or other
important stakeholders. The department has not been allowed to have a permanent
chairperson over the past few years, and it has struggled without the benefit of a permanent chairperson who would give leadership and voice to its important needs and development.

We need your help. Please read this information, and then send or email letters of support for the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders to the MSU President Dr. Louanna K. Simon (presmail@msu.edu) , members of its Board of Trustees (http://trustees.msu.edu/contact.php), its Provost, Dr. Kim Wilcox (kwilcox@msu.edu), Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824

• Over 43 million people in the United States have communication impairments.
• Communication impairments affect the most vulnerable in our society - the young, the aged, the poor, the disabled.
  
• By all indications, trends, and rating systems there is a dire state and national need for speech-language pathologists and audiologists.
• The professions of speech-language pathology and audiology demonstrate tremendous growth opportunities. The U.S. Bureau of Labor rates both speech-language pathology and audiology among the "highest need" professions, and reports an expected need for a 36 % increase in the next decade.
• Graduates get good, well-paying, rewarding, contributing, tax-paying, professional positions. The employment rate is virtually 100%+, given that most graduates have a choice of positions; and many, many positions continue to go unfilled.
• The Department is ranked in the top quarter of such programs in the country, with markedly fewer resources than average.

Nationally, on average per program:

• the undergraduate enrollment is 125 -- MSU's - over 250.
• there are 100 applicants to master's degree programs per year, --MSU's -190.
• there are 12 institutionally supported faculty -- MSU's-- 8.
  
• there are 5 institutionally supported clinical supervisors --MSU's--zero.
• the pass rate on the national certifying exam is 76% -- MSU's-- 98%.

Further,

• The Department has been awarded national accreditation from the Council on Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
• Departmental faculty and academic staff are engaged across the University's mission and vision of multidimensional excellence in teaching, service, and research.
• Faculty are involved in distance learning initiatives.
• Faculty are actively involved with numerous trans-collegiate projects and programs to include: cognitive sciences, education, infant and early childhood studies, genetics,radiology, epidemiology, physics, etc.
• The Department has several overseas' initiatives to include study abroad activities, and humanitarian based projects in Mexico, for example.
• Departmental faculty and academic staff are actively involved at the professional levels with such groups as the Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Council for Exceptional Children, the National Black Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists, etc.
• The faculty has had extramural funding from the NIH and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as from numerous private sources.
• It presently holds extramural funding from the NIH, the NSF, and private sources.
  
• Ph.D. students in the program have received numerous prestigious grants and awards from extra-mural and intra-mural programs, (i.e., NIH, Bamford-Lahey Foundation, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation, Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association, MSU Cognitive Sciences Program.
• The Department's students are among the highest in GPA, and honors' college enrollment.
• Undergraduate, master's and doctoral students have been recognized with local. state and national awards.
  
• The Department provides real-life academics-in-action externships providing thousands of student-service learning hours to the state each semester.
  
• The Department uniquely serves the very important land-grant/outreach mission and vision for Michigan State University. There are thousands of service contact hours annually via the unit's on- and off-campus practicum education and training facilities and activities.
• The Department is, should be recognized and supported as, core to the MSU mission and its guiding principles of: advancing knowledge and transforming lives, assisting people in gaining access to an improved quality of life, advancing diversity, and making people matter within the community.

CSD epitomizes Michigan State University's guiding principle: we advance knowledge in many ways.....perhaps more importantly, we transform lives of our students and the patients we serve.