University at Buffalo (UB)
Vision: To be internationally recognized as a leader in conducting research in speech, language, and hearing sciences, preparing students as outstanding clinicians and life-long learners, and developing future leaders of the field. To achieve our mission, we also must increase diversity in the field so we can serve the US public and commit to reducing healthcare disparities.
Mission: The mission of the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences is to
Strategic Plan
UB's Communicative Disorders and Sciences is a highly transdisciplinary department comprised of scientists, practitioners, and support staff. Within the academic research side, researchers study a wide range of basic and applied areas including normal and abnormal functioning of hearing, perception, and balance, and normal and disordered speech and language in children and adults. Our researchers study new solutions to the problems our communities face through behavioral therapy, drug interventions, and technology, including AI. Similarly, in the professional/clinical side of our discipline, our clinical and teaching faculty cover a wide gamut of clinical specialties and provide classroom and clinical instruction to our 100+ graduate students in our professional program. Our clinical faculty serve our community through offering assessment and treatment for children and adults with speech, language, and hearing difficulties as well as through providing services on-site in Western New York community locations as well as serving patients across the country.
We have begun to transform our department through our strategic hires in recent years and intend to continue to grow in ways that will facilitate our research and scholarly activities, improve our rankings within the discipline, and contribute to UB's intention of moving to the top 25 percent in the AAU, which ultimately will improve our prospects for getting grants and attracting top graduate-professional and PhD students.
Goal: Enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our field through increased training of individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Objective 1: To increase enrollment and degree attainment by people from historically marginalized communities in our degree programs through intentional outreach.
Objective 2: To increase the diversity of our department faculty and staff, with particular emphasis on groups that have been historically underrepresented in speech, language, and hearing sciences.
Objective 3: To engage in continuous learning and personal improvement as faculty and staff to provide a supportive and anti-racist culture in the department.
Objective 4: To actively engage with our undergraduate and graduate students to increase belonging among students.
Objective 5: To increase the size and diversity of our undergraduate program through community engagement to advance awareness of our field.
Goal: International recognition as a leader in research impact and outcomes.
Objective 1: International recognition as leader in research impact and outcomes as demonstrated by a scholarly research index in the 95th percentile.
Objective 2: To increase the number of high-impact research publications and communication of our research to the the research and clinical communities as well as patients and families living with the disorders we study.
Objective 3: To increase total grant expenditures and the number of faculty with external grants.
Goal: National recognition as a leader in preparing future clinicians who provide exceptional clinical care, are life-long learners, and lead in advocating for equity and access.
Objective 1: To prepare clinicians to utilize evidence-based practice principles in their clinical practice.
Objective 2: To develop clinicians with knowledge of culturally and linguistically diverse communities and the tools to advocate for equity in healthcare access.
Objective 3: To educate students about interprofessional education to ensure our graduates can engage broadly within healthcare teams.
Objective 4: To use clinical experiences, community engagement, and supervised mentorship programs to cultivate students who understand their professional responsibility and serve the field by providing mentorship, guidance, and supervision to the next generation of clinicians.
Goal: National recognition as a leader in the preparation of doctoral students and post-doctoral trainees in our field.
Objective 1: To grow the size and diversity of our doctoral program.
Objective 2: To increase the number of post-doctoral scholars receiving training in the department.
Objective 3: To increase the number of trainees receiving support from external grants (faculty-led and trainee led).
Objective 4: To enhance PhD and post-doctoral training opportunities in professional development.