CSD graduate program receives accreditation

Augustana College received welcome news after a four-year accreditation process and after an 11-month and $3.5-million construction project on Brodahl Hall. 

College professors and students were thrilled to earn accreditation for a new graduate program in speech-language pathology by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

With new classrooms, labs, therapy rooms, conference spaces, offices and observation rooms to use, the first classes in the master's program will begin this fall. It will be a 24-month program that includes extensive coursework, four semesters of clinical practice in the on-campus center, and two full-time clinical externships.

The first cohort will graduate in 2022. Faculty members anticipate gradual growth and eventually having 20 graduate students each year. 

“Because of the aging population, advances in health care and other factors, we predict that the demand for speech-language pathologists and audiologists will remain consistently high for the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Allison Haskill, professor of communication sciences and disorders.

Dr. Haskill noted the much-needed space more than doubled the size of Brodahl Hall. 

Augustana’s speech, language, and hearing center is the oldest college clinic in the nation, and it serves as a resource to the entire Quad-Cities area. During a typical semester, the Augustana clinic provides assessment and intervention services for communication disorders to 95 members of the Quad-Cities community.

Dr. Kathy Jakielski, professor of communication sciences and disorders, said, “We are suited to expand the clinical and community-based services we provide to the Quad-Cities area. The beneficiaries are numerous, including our clients, students and faculty.”