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Home | School-Based | In the Spotlight

Program Philosophy/Mission

The distinct mission of the University of Missouri (MU) is to provide all Missourians the benefits of a world-class research university. The Communication Sciences and Disorders Program's mission aligns with the overall goals of MU. As Missouri's only state-supported member of the Association of American Universities, we are stewards and builders of a priceless state resource, a unique physical infrastructure and scholarly environment in which our tightly interlocked missions of teaching, research and service work together on behalf of all citizens. Students work side by side with some of the world's best faculty to advance the sciences, and the professions. Scholarship and teaching are daily driven by a sense of public service - the obligation to produce and disseminate knowledge that will improve the quality of life in the state, the nation and the world.

Program Description

The speech-language pathology program at MU has been continually accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) since 1965. The University of Missouri-Columbia offers the following degree programs in communication sciences and disorders: Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHS), Master of Health Sciences (MHS), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and a combined MHS/PhD option. In addition to our undergraduate (BHS) and master's (MHS) degree programs, we offer the only Ph.D. in Communication Science and Disorders at a public university in Missouri.

The undergraduate program in Communication Science and Disorders leads to a Bachelor of Health Science (BHS), which fully prepares each student for graduate study in speech-language pathology or audiology (a master's degree is required for professional practice in speech-language pathology and a doctoral degree is required for professional practice in audiology). The BHS can be designed either as a liberal arts and science degree for students whose goals do not include clinical practice, or as a pre-professional degree for those students who plan to pursue a clinical master's or doctoral degree.

The Master of Health Science (MHS) degree offered by the Department of Communication Science and Disorders prepares students for professional practice in speech-language pathology. Students in the MHS program receive a strong academic background in current theory and application in the field of communication disorders from faculty members who are involved in clinical and basic research and committed to excellence in teaching.

The doctoral studies program in Communication Science and Disorders offers flexible and innovative, yet rigorous preparation for students who desire an in depth education beyond the Master's degree in the profession. Doctoral students' programs in Communication Science and Disorders include advanced graduate coursework in communication disorders and additional studies in areas complementary to the students' professional interests from among over 95 PhD-granting departments on the comprehensive Columbia campus of the University of Missouri.

Faculty Research

Philip S. Dale, Professor and Department Chair, Ph.D., University of Michigan
Dr. Dale's research interests include assessment of individual differences; parent-child interaction, including joint book-reading; parent- and preschool-based intervention programs; and behavioral genetic analyses of communication development.

Judith Goodman, Associate Professor, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology, Ph.D., University of Chicago
Dr. Goodman's research addresses how linguistic knowledge is acquired and used by children from the very first stages of learning. Projects include investigations of the nature of children's semantic knowledge and how this knowledge is used in vocabulary acquisition, how parental input affects developing lexical, syntactic and pragmatic knowledge, the role of children's memory for linguistic input in syntax acquisition, and the relation between the vocabulary and grammatical development in early childhood.

Linda S. Day, Research Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Missouri-Columbia
Dr. Day's primary research interest is auditory memory, particularly memory for speech. Current research projects include investigations of memory for speech in normal and aphasic adults, the relationships among various language and memory variables in children, and the effect of birth-weight status on language ability and other outcomes (this is a large multi-investigator project).

Nandhu Radhakrishnan, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Bowling Green State University
Dr. Radhakrishnan's research interests include speech science, laryngeal physiology, and clinical and professional voice issues.

Barry L. Slansky, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Slansky's research interests are in aphasia, traumatic brain injury, and motor speech disorders. Current investigations include auditory linguistic distraction in traumatic brain injury, perceptual and acoustic cues of hypernasality in dysarthria, and the use of alphabet-board supplementation to improve speech intelligibility for individuals with dysarthria.

Stacy A. Wagovich, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, University of Georgia
Dr. Wagovich's research interests include specific language impairment and language-learning disabilities; incidental vocabulary acquisition in children with and without language disorders; and the impact of language on stuttering in childhood.

Barbara Brinkman, Clinical Associate Professor, Speech and Hearing Clinic Director, MA, CCC-SLP, University of Colorado

Dana Rissler Fritz, Clinical Instructor, Director of Robert G. Combs Pre-School, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, University of Missouri-Columbia

Barbara McLay, Clinical Associate Professor, MA, CCC-A, University of Iowa

Mary Ann Scheneman, Clinical Instructor, Me.D., CCC-SLP, University of Virginia

Grants and Projects

The Accent Modification Program: The Communication Science and Disorders Department has a program entitled The Accent Modification Program. In this program, clinicians use a variety of materials and computer programs designed to help reduce or modify accents to increase communication opportunities. The clinicians are graduate students in the Speech-Language Pathology program and are supervised by clinical faculty. This program is focused on accent modification (sometimes called accent reduction). It is not a course that teaches English as a Second Language.

Robert G. Combs Preschool: The MU Department of Communication Science and Disorders has recently opened the Robert G. Combs Language Preschool. This preschool will serve children aged 3 to 5 years with or without speech and language difficulties. MU Communication Science and Disorders seniors and graduate students are clinicians for this preschool under the direct supervision of certified faculty. Given the intense speech and language focus of this program, a very low clinician to student ratio is maintained, approximating 1 clinician for every 2-3 students.

Faculty Member Spotlight: Dana Rissler Fritz, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Missouri University, Clinical Assistant Professor
Director, MU Robert G. Combs Language Preschool

Short Bio
Dana Fritz graduated from Missouri University with a Bachelor's in Health Science, (1988), a Master's in Health Science (1990), and a PhD in 2000. Her dissertation studied parental prompts to 20- and 30-month old children under the mentorship of Judith Goodman and Linda Larrivee. Her work experience has been as a speech-language pathologist at Boone Hospital, Oakland Junior High School, and as a clinical instructor and assistant professor at Mizzou. She is currently the Director of the Robert G. Combs Language Preschool at Missouri University.

Personal Teaching Philosophy
Since I work with MU-CSD seniors and graduate students as well as preschool children with communication difficulties, I feel strongly about the elusive but ever-present "teachable moment." I think I need to be ready to take advantage of opportunities with my MU students, as well as train them to see these opportunities with their target preschoolers. I certainly demand that my MU students prepare themselves by thoroughly understanding the various etiologies, delays and disorders within our field, but I find that I lean hard on them to take advantage of opportunities to help the children learn as they present themselves, sometimes randomly and suddenly. I guess this sounds a lot like "carpe diem," but I can't deny it. I want my MU students to have excellent grounding in the basics of our profession, but I also want them to be adaptable and flexible, ready to take advantage of learning opportunities as they come.

Areas of Interest
Vocabulary learning, the role of parental prompts in language development, pragmatic language, phonology, accent modification and pronunciation.

Research/Areas Interests
My main focus is directing the MU Robert G. Combs Language Preschool. This is the first clinical placement for CSD seniors and first-year graduate students. I have worked with several undergraduate researchers in our department, preparing case studies for campus and regional presentations. Our case reports to date have focused on agenesis of the corpus callosum, fetal alcohol syndrome, and international adoption. Most recently, I expanded our department's services to international teaching assistants and visiting scholars with out Accent Modification and Pronunciation Program (AMP).

Classes Taught
At MU, I have taught or been the graduate teaching assistant for a number of courses, including diagnostics, clinical observation, survey of communication disorders and language disorders in children. Currently, I am teaching Clinical Practicum which involves directing the language preschool and supervising MU graduate students in individual treatment of preschool children as well as participants in the AMP program.

Favorite Textbooks Used or Recommended Readings
Building a language-focused curriculum for the preschool classroom (Volume I by Rice & Wilcox; Volume II by Bunce).