Department Mission Statement

The basic missions of the department are:

(a) professional education and training of specialists to serve the needs of individuals who have communication disorders or differences, (b) provision of exemplary services in the Northern Utah, Southern Idaho, and Western Wyoming regional area, (c) research, development, and innovation within the discipline of Human Communication Sciences and Disorders, and (d) extension and life-span learning programs designed to meet the needs of the people in the State of Utah, the region, and the nation.

The primary consumers of the professionally prepared communicative disorders specialists are agencies providing clinical and educational services to children and adults who have communication disorders or differences. The largest employers of communication disorders specialists and teachers of the deaf are schools. Other employment settings include schools for the deaf and blind, preschool programs, clinics for the developmentally disabled, hospitals, medical clinics, nursing and rehabilitation facilities, community service agencies, university speech and hearing centers, and corporate and private practices.

At the present time, the State of Utah and surrounding states continue to experience a "critical shortage" of Communicative Disorders Specialists and Deaf Educators. Employment projections indicate that there will continue to be an unmet need for such specialists in the future and that the three institutions within the state preparing such specialists will be unable to meet these needs with current resources and enrollment patterns. The Department has developed innovative Second Bachelor’s Degree and Outreach Master’s Degree programs to help alleviate this critical shortage.

As part of the professional preparation program of Communicative Disorders Specialists, the Department has operated the USU Speech-Language-Hearing Center on campus as a practicum training center. This facility provides a professional clinical atmosphere for students in training. Students work with individuals needing services under the direction of fully credentialed and qualified clinical supervisors. Over 1,000 individuals in the region receive services at the clinic yearly. These services include a full range of exemplary audiological and speech-language pathology services, as well as services for the deaf and hard of hearing. These individuals represent the primary consumers of the Department's service role.

The Department has been highly visible in the nation as a leader in innovative research and programming serving the needs of individuals who have speech, language or hearing disorders or differences. Individuals within the regional area, the State of Utah, the nation as a whole, and the world, are the consumers in the broad sense of programs and knowledge advanced at USU.