State-of-the-art facility ushers in new era for COMD

September 11, 2014

Literacy Research

Among COMD’s new initiatives is the development
of a literacy research group and clinic.

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is making history.

For the first time in its 46 years, the clinical faculty who support the USC’s Speech and Hearing Center and the majority of the remaining department’s faculty are housed under the same roof.  Graduate students in the COMD program and clients who come to the clinic for myriad services also will be under that roof in a newly renovated, 17,000-square-foot building in downtown Columbia.

Over the summer, the department and center moved to the Keenan Building, located at 1224 Sumter St. and accessed through the garage at 1229 Marion St. Visitors to the building will enter the garage and go to the second level where a garnet wall marks the entrance to the new facility.

An Open House will be held from 4 – 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, to showcase COMD’s new home. The event is free and open to the University community and the public.

Dr. Kenn Apel, COMD chair, said the location will enhance the opportunities for collaborations among researchers and those providing clinical services. “It certainly helps our students to see the connection and collaborations among clinical and research faculty.”

Among the new initiatives in the department is the development of a literacy research group and clinic. Faculty involved in this effort with Apel are Drs. Suzanne Adlof and Krystal Werfel. Dr. Lesly Wade-Woolley will join the literacy faculty in January.

The push is needed in a state where literacy rates are low, said Apel.

A new S.C. law creating “Read to Succeed” will expand free 4-year-old kindergarten and intervention if a child is behind in reading in the third grade.

Apel’s goal is to strengthen literacy services for students of all ages, including adults, through workshops for teachers and other school specialists.

“I believe that we have an opportunity to make a valuable contribution to children in our state and to be a model for other states who are working to overcome illiteracy,” he said. “We also know it is never too late to improve literacy skills, so we also are prepared to help individuals of all ages who struggle with their literacy skills.”

The department offers the Master of Speech Pathology (MSP), a traditional, “on-campus” program, and the Master of Communication Disorders (MCD), which is intended for individuals who, because of geographic, financial, and/or work-related circumstances, are unable to attend the full-time program in Columbia. Courses are taken on a part-time basis (generally two courses each fall and spring semester) with summers being reserved for clinical practicum experience.

In their final semester of their program, master’s-degree students are required to complete a full-time clinical experience which includes four to five days a week for a 10-week period, Apel said.

“This gives our students a varied and broader clinical experience. Their supervisors tell us that the students are well-prepared, and they always are eager to hire our graduates because of the academic and clinical training that they receive.”

The master’s degree program is highly competitive. More than 400 people apply annually for the 70 slots available in the MSP and MCD programs, combined.

Among the department’s strengths: the 24 faculty members have professional recognition nationally and internationally; stroke rehabilitation research and clinical services are highly regarded, and the speech and hearing center provides services to people throughout South Carolina and has one of the nation’s best cochlear implant programs. The center serves 5,000 clients annually, ranging in age from 1 to 90.

And an impressive statistic especially important to graduates and their families: The department boasts 100 percent placement of its graduates in jobs that include school, hospitals, nursing homes, and private practice.

The department also offers a COMD minor and a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences and Disorders. The doctoral degree prepares professionals for academic careers and has an emphasis on research and the scholarly study of the science of human communication and its disorders.

Apel is quick to give his predecessor Dr. Elaine Frank credit for building the department’s clinical and research programs. “When Dr. Frank became the department chair, she took a clinical program and made it both clinical- and research-focused. Her leadership gave this department a strong foundation on which to grow.”

Click http://www.sph.sc.edu/email/comdmap.html for directions to the COMD Open House and new location.

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