Strategic Plan

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Communication Sciences and Disorders

Approved by department April 2026

Vision Statement

The Communication Sciences and Disorders Department will be recognized by potential students, employers, and consumers as an exceptional training program of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists in the state of Wisconsin and as a community service provider in the area of speech and language, and audiology.

Mission Statements

The mission of the Master of Science graduate program in speech-language pathology in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is to provide a foundation of professional preparation in speech-language pathology. Students will engage in critical thinking by integrating the evidence base into clinical practice. Students will develop the necessary knowledge and skills to competently assess and treat individuals with communication, cognition, and/or swallowing disorders from diverse backgrounds in a variety of community and work settings. The program is designed to promote a healthy and thriving community by serving and advocating for the people of Central Wisconsin.

The mission of the undergraduate program in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is to provide students a liberal arts education that prepares them to be global citizens. Students will develop foundational knowledge and clinical skills in communication sciences and disorders. Upon completion of this pre-professional program, students will be eligible to apply to a graduate program.

ENVISIONED FUTURE

In 2032, the program will have maintained consistent levels of enrollment despite declining numbers of high school graduates. Students in the programs will have benefited from a variety of on-campus and off-campus clinical experiences. The faculty will have been innovative in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service.

Focus Area 1: Service Learning 

Issue Statement: Robust and diverse interprofessional opportunities ensure students have knowledge and experience with other professionals.  Service learning broadens the impact we have in central Wisconsin with the potential for driving business for the clinic.

Baseline Data: Interprofessional experiences (IPE) are required as part of accreditation. Currently, the opportunities for IPE are limited to guest lectures or short trainings by other departments.

Outcomes: The CSD department will look inside and outside the School of Health Sciences and Wellness for partners in developing IEP opportunities. This may include Athletic Training, Physical Therapy, Psychology, Adaptive PE, Clinical Lab Science, Master of Social Work, Dietetics, Disability Services.

Indicator of Success: The CSD department will have partnered with at least one discipline to create a service learning/interprofessional experience that is sustainable.

Strategies to Achieving Focus Area: 

  • Set up meetings with various departments to discuss IPE options
    • Provide information on our clinic and our scope of practice in speech language pathology and audiology
    • Discuss current service-learning opportunities in our department
    • Discuss options that may fit with the needs of the partnering department
  • Execute at least one IPE event per academic year with one partner program
  • Evaluate the IPE event, identify areas to improve and modify and plan for another year. In year 3, invite a second partner into the planning and implementation of the IEP experience.

Focus Area 2: Expanding diagnostic and clinical experiences as a way to boost clinical hours and market our program to students out of state.

Issue Statement: Over the years, the diagnostic opportunities for students have declined. The clinic had 4 separate teams each week and that has been reduced that to 4 teams every other week. AAC is the largest diagnostic pool, but there isn’t always adequate staffing to meet those demands.  If students are on a primarily AAC heavy team, they don’t get diagnostic hours in other categories which hampers them on their externship.

Baseline Data:  Over the past 7 years there has been a reduction in diagnostic hours earned by graduate students due to a shift in demand and specialty areas of assessment. Students may earn 8-12 hours during their formal diagnostic slot, down from 15-20 hours.

Outcome Statement: We will increase our diagnostic opportunities both in the clinic and in the community.  This will require creativity in finding new diagnostic opportunities as well as adjusting the clinical assignments to balance demand in high needs areas.

Indicator of success:  One indicator will be to increase number of diagnostic clock hours earned to an average of 15 per student during their diagnostic rotation. Another measure will be an expanded roster of community-based experiences that include assessment and treatment to increase diagnostic hours and depth of clinical experiences.

Strategies to achieve focus area:  

In house diagnostic hours:  

  • We will promote our diagnostic services around campus, including the Disability Resource Center, Department of Music and School of Education.
  • We will send letters to local providers with flyers encouraging them to refer patients to our clinic.
  • We will set up regular screening events with the daycare on campus.

Community-based hours:

  • Work with community-based groups to establish regular opportunities for screening days.  This includes hearing screenings and speech and language screenings. 
  • Set up an avenue for partners like the Aging and Disabilities Resource group, to refer directly or request teams come to their site for assessment days.
  • Set up communication with the area school districts for assisting in child find opportunities.

Focus Area 3: Improve exposure to research at the undergraduate level

Issue Statement: Undergraduates in CSD do not have a formal opportunity to learn about or engage in research.

Baseline Data: The current undergraduate curriculum does not address research directly in any coursework.

Outcome Statement: Students will be introduced to research in the undergraduate curriculum that will lead to reduced uncertainty about what research is all about and to extend invitations to undergraduates to participate in faculty research projects.

Indicator of Success: Learning outcomes around research will be added to 50% of undergraduate coursework by 2030. 

Strategies to Achieve Focus Area: 

  • Create reasonable learning outcomes for undergraduates per class.
  • Give credit to undergraduates who volunteer to help with research projects (CSD 499).
  • Provide training to staff on best practice for mentorship of undergraduates interested in research.

Statement on Anti-Racism and Equity

August 2020 The faculty and staff in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are committed to calling out and eliminating systemic racism in our department, university, community, and other networks. Our department and the greater UWSP community condemns racism, bigotry, and hatred. Events of this summer have brought to light the ongoing racism in the United States and we are prompted to examine our own implicit biases, personally and within the professions of speech-language pathology, audiology, education, and medicine. We are in agreement with the UWSP Diversity and Inclusion Statement, written by a working group of UWSP employees and endorsed by the 2019-2020 Diversity Council and Common Council. It states: “The students, faculty, and staff of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) recognize the lived experiences, identities, and contributions of past students, faculty, staff, and community members. In recognition of this history, we commit ourselves to the ongoing work of building and championing an inclusive UWSP. We strive to dismantle bias and hate by empowering voices of the marginalized and building relationships of trust across differences. Together we aim to develop and support a community where all can safely maintain integral, personal identities, be equitable participants, and learn from one another.

Each of us has a responsibility and role in actively educating ourselves while holding one another accountable. In so doing, we cultivate a reflective, engaged culture of learning and living which supports, embraces, and celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility. We are a university where all are encouraged to challenge and debate complex issues in order to sustain a campus culture that nurtures reflection, learning, holistic development, community engagement, and global citizenship. Our goal is equitable educational opportunities. As such, UWSP encourages inclusive pedagogy and the integration of differing perspectives across disciplines. Diverse needs and perspectives must be accounted for when making institutional decisions, and in turn, immediate action must be taken to address hate, bias, and harassment.None of this will be accomplished immediately. This process demands mindful reflection, continual commitment, and resources from the University of Wisconsin System, UWSP leaders, and each of us personally. We remain committed to the learning, development, safety, and well-being of all while working toward an inclusive community. Together, we build a better UWSP.”

The CSD faculty and staff are committed to inclusive education and to intentionally embedding content into classroom and clinical experiences that identifies systemic racism and bias within our professions, such as racial disparities in healthcare, over-referral of minority children and ESL children for special education, and the school-to-prison pipeline. Realizing that dismantling systems that reward privilege and punish minorities is challenging work, we will approach it with respect, commitment, and humility. We seek not to only give People of Color a seat at the table, but to amplify the marginalized voices of those in our immediate environment, community, and wider circles. In doing this work, even with the best intentions, we will surely make mistakes. Therefore, we endeavor to give grace to each other, learn from our missteps, and move forward in our growth and learning. As we seek justice, inclusion, and equity, we do so not only for People of Color, but for all those who are in the minority because of gender, sexuality, nationality, disability, religion, neurodiversity, and others.

It is not enough just to pledge to do these things. They must be followed with actionable steps. As an academic department, here is what we have done in the past two years:

  • We were the first academic department to complete the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning’s (CITL) “Toward a More Inclusive Campus” four-part training. The modules were:
    • Building Awareness/The Value of Diversity
    • Blindspots and their Consequences
    • Inclusive Interactions
    • Inclusive Pedagogy
  • We read and discussed the book, Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria (and Other Conversations about Race) by Beverly Daniel Tatum, as part of an all-college read with the College of Professional Studies
  • Graduate students, faculty, and staff completed a specially-designed workshop created by Lindsay Bernhagen, Director of the CITL. This workshop focused on how to respond to and diffuse racially or sexually charged comments in clinical settings.
  • Many faculty and staff are on committees that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion at the college, university, and state level.
  • Specific content that addressed systemic racism was embedded into graduate coursework during summer semester 2020.
  • The GRE requirement was waived for students applying to the master’s program in SLP for the 2020-2021 graduate admissions cycle.
  • We participated in a 2-part webinar “Addressing Racism in CSD Education” facilitated by the national Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences and Disorders organization.

Here is what we pledge to do as we move forward:

  • Remove the GRE as a requirement for admission into the graduate program, due to its known racial bias.
  • Form a committee of faculty, staff, students, and alumni to lead, monitor, and evaluate our department’s progress.
  • Create a form for students, alumni, clients, and community members to provide feedback and suggestions related to anti-racism initiatives.
  • Create a page on our website to share our progress and provide resources to students, alumni, clients, and the community.

We know that this is just a start. The goal of the College of Professional Studies is to be “proactive, resourceful, connected, and caring” and we endeavor to model those attributes as we collectively seek to confront systemic racism, amplify marginalized people, and eradicate bigotry and hatred within our university, professions, and communities.