Professionals in the field of communication disorders work in hospitals, clinics, schools, nonprofit agencies, and private practice. They might help a disabled client use a computer or teach parents how to help a hearing-impaired child.

It's a field that has taken on many new dimensions in recent years, combining technical and scientific expertise with the rewarding work of human services. Students learn basic sciences like anatomy, physiology, and acoustics and also participate in service projects and observations at clinics like Southern's Center for Communication Disorders, where graduate students get their professional training.

There are two major job descriptions in this field -- audiologist and speech language pathologist. Audiologists fit patients for hearing aids, screen newborns for hearing loss, develop plans to reduce noise at a factory, or design classrooms with quieter distractions for learning-disabled students. Speech language pathologists work with every age of patient. They might counsel students with language delays or head injuries, help autistic or developmentally disabled adults communicate better, or help doctors assess the language skills of a stroke victim.

Most undergraduates leave Southern ready for the entry-level positions in their fields, but the minimum credential to be a speech language pathologist or audiologist is a graduate degree. So undergraduates in the department of communication disorders are in a pre-professional program -- one of only two in the state -- preparing for graduate school. It is similar to a pre-law major in preparation for law school before becoming a lawyer. Our students don't major in communication disorders as undergraduates but earn a bachelor of arts degree in communications (in the School and Arts of Sciences) with a specialization in communication disorders. Students here benefit from close attention from a small faculty who teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.