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From the Chair

      Welcome to USF鈥檚 Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Our department is home to a world-class faculty. We include speech-language pathologists, audiologists, sign-language interpreters, scholars of Deaf culture, linguists, hearing scientists, and speech scientists. We consider communication issues from a multidisciplinary perspective, and serve the greater Tampa Bay region in a variety of contexts and settings, including schools, medical centers and practices, and community centers. We serve the communication needs of our diverse and growing community and provide them with culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

      Our department trains a diverse student body in each of these different areas. We offer undergraduate degrees in language, speech and hearing, sign-language interpreter training, and Deaf Studies. Our graduate programs include a masters in speech-language pathology, a doctorate in audiology, and a doctoral research degree in communication sciences and disorders. We pride ourselves on giving students the strongest possible preparation for these careers. Our faculty regularly win teaching awards acknowledging their commitment to student success. For example, the excellence of our audiology and speech-language pathology graduate programs are reflected in their strong national rankings (currently 18and 55; U.S. News and World Report 2021). As a part of this pedagogical effort, we operate three clinics and a sign-language interpreter agency. These enterprises provide innovative services to clients while also training students with real-world, hand-on opportunities.

     In addition to this pedagogical and clinical work, CSD is engaged in transformational research. We have a diverse faculty that conducts interdisciplinary and translational research within communication sciences and disorders and in related fields such as medicine, biomedical engineering, aging, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. Our department cooperates with premier research and clinical facilities within USF and in the surrounding community. These partnerships include USF Health Department of Neurology, USF Health Department of Otolaryngology, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute, Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, James Haley Veterans' Hospital, and Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. Our faculty鈥檚 research excellence is recognized by national and international awards and through significant funding.

    Our scientists bring their work outside of their classrooms and laboratories to make a difference in the Tampa community and in the world at large. We host numerous support groups and summer programs for people of all ages with various communication needs.  Our students and faculty engage in international collaborations making, such as Israel, Spanish, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Belize, Thailand, and beyond.  CSD faculty members are making a difference in Tampa Bay and all over the world.

      The efforts described above demonstrate CSD鈥檚 commitment to our four-fold mission of pedagogical success, clinical excellence, innovative research, and community engagement. If we at USF鈥檚 Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders can be of help to you, please do not hesitate to be in touch.

Sincerely,

M. Adelaida Restrepo, Ph.D.- CCC-SLP 
ASHA Fellow, Fulbright Scholar
Professor and Chair, Communication Sciences and Disorders
College of Behavioral and Community Sciences
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