Undergraduate Program

The undergraduate program provides a broad liberal education as the foundation for entry into a professional area of study of speech, swallowing, language and hearing disorders across the life span.

The degree for entry into the profession of speech-language pathology or audiology is the graduate degree. In speech-language pathology the entry level degree is the master's degree whereas in audiology it is the clinical doctorate degree. There are many programs that offer the master's degree and other programs that offer the clinical doctorate degree in audiology. Examples of these programs are listed below:

• graduate education in speech-language pathology at FHSU or other programs in Kansas or across the United States.

• clinical doctorate in audiology at programs such as the University of Kansas, Wichita State University or the University of Oklahoma.

Some students apply to other areas of graduate education, such as special education, counseling, or psychology while others may want to take some time off prior to moving into graduate education. Some possible jobs might include working as a paraprofessional in preschool or school programs in special education or as an speech-language pathology assistant.

Bachelor of Science Degree
Suggested Course Sequence in Communication Disorders includes both traditional course work and hands-on learning in various clinical sites associated with FHSU. These sites include: (a) Herndon Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic with the Department of Communication Disorders at FHSU, (b) Tiger Tots Nurtury Center on the campus of FHSU, (c) Head Start classrooms located within various schools in Hays, USD #489, (d) Holy Family Elementary School, and (e) Hays Medical Center.

Classes have both traditional and hands-on learning experiences. The picture on the left is an example of a hands-learning experience called "baby day". This is an event that occurs during language development in which students design various activities to elicit cognitive, speech, and language skills in children between 3-months to 5 years of age. The activities are based on the developmental norms that they have been learning in this class.

The picture on the right is from a clinical class that meets once a week. Various topics related to assessment and intervention are discussed during this class. Clinical rounds also occurs as a part of this class where students present information about an individual with whom they are either assessing or treating in clinic.

The schedule below provides the sequence of courses for the undergraduate program in speech-language pathology. These professional courses would be taken with other general education or required education courses beginning the Freshman year and continuing through the Senior year. The curriculum is arranged so that it is easy for students who are transferring into speech-language pathology during their sophomore, junior or senior year to complete the professional courses in a three, two or one year period of time depending on the student's background in general education courses.

Highlight of the FHSU program:

• Seniors who meet the criteria for clinical education may be enrolled in the introductory course for clinical education (SLP 615) during their senior year

• These seniors are also enrolled in the clinical practicum course (SLP 626), which allows them to work in some of our clinical sites. This clinical enrollment does not occur in every undergraduate program, but the faculty at FHSU believes that this experience is important to form a foundation for your graduate education.

• See the FHSU University Catalog for a full description of policy and course descriptions