Department Policies

ASHA Position Statement:

It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that students and professionals in communication sciences and disorders who speak with accents and/or dialects can effectively provide speech, language, and audiological services to persons with communication disorders as long as they have the expected level of knowledge in normal and disordered communication, the expected level of diagnostic and clinical case management skills, and if modeling is necessary, are able to model the target phoneme, grammatical feature, or other aspect of speech and language that characterizes the client's particular problem. All individuals speak with an accent and/or dialect; thus, the nonacceptance of individuals into higher education programs or into the professions solely on the basis of the presence of an accent or dialect is discriminatory. Members of ASHA must not discriminate against persons who speak with an accent and/or dialect in educational programs, employment, or service delivery, and should encourage an understanding of linguistic differences among consumers and the general population.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1998). Students and Professionals Who Speak English With Accents and Nonstandard Dialects: Issues and Recommendations [Position Statement]. Available from www.asha.org/policy.

ACAE Standard 22: Required Knowledge & Competencies: 

The program must provide evidence that each student is able to, 1) Communicate effectively, both orally and in written form [ ... ], and 2) Produce professional written reports [ ... ] during clinical experiences.

Accreditation Commission for Audiology Education, available from ACAE Website

For the Policy and Procedures for the M.S. SLP State-side (Residential), the M.S. SLP Distance Learning Program, and the Doctor of Audiology Program, please see the Department's information pagelet:  

Spoken and Written Language Proficiencies

Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) is a valuable resource for many students in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences.  Current students, as well as potential students, are encouraged to include contact with DRES as students plan for the current semester in which they are enrolled, or once they have received an offer of admission.  The professionals at DRES collaborate closely with faculty and staff in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences in order to support, ". . . the attainment of academic, professional and personal goals for persons of all abilities." 

Nondiscrimination Policy and Complaint Procedures

CSUN is comprised of individuals from diverse backgrounds. The university takes pride in being a culturally pluralistic campus that promotes equal opportunity. It is essential that the entire university community recognize the need for an awareness of, sensitivity to and respect for the cultural heritage, gender and sexual orientation of others. Individual(s) or group(s) actions or activities that promote degrading or demeaning social stereotypes based on age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or veteran status will not be tolerated. Students who behave abusively toward members of the university community based on the aforementioned criteria will face serious consequences and will be subject to disciplinary action. Any student who commits acts of discrimination, harassment or retaliation manifested by acts or threats of physical abuse, verbal abuse and/or hazing activities may be subject to suspension or expulsion from the university.

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CAA Standard 4.2:  "The program must have a policy regarding proficiency in spoken and written English and other languages of instruction and service delivery and all other performance expectations", -and- "The program must demonstrate that its language proficiency policy is applied consistently."

• Professional Writing Skills and Oral Communication Skills for professional staff environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR or CD566).
• Oral Communication Skills for clinical practicum environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR or CD566). 
  • Oral communication skills that are monitored include: ability to model target phonemes/allophonic variations when in the clinical environment, use of grammatical forms and lexical forms when in the clinical environment, quality of voice when in the clinical environment, success of pragmatics while in the clinical environment. 
• Clinical Educators of CD565GR or CD566 discuss the outcome of CALIPSO documentation with the Coordinator of the Language, Speech and Hearing Center (LSHC) and/or the Director of the LSHC.  
• Based on the CALIPSO documentation from the Clinical Educators of CD565GR or CD566, recommendations are developed. 
• Recommendations may include:
  • Typical maintenance of monitoring of written and oral communication skills throughout the students' clinical practica, student teaching experiences, and externship experiences. 
  • Referral for evaluation of voice, fluency, articulation, language, and/or writing skills [NOTE:  the Program has the ability to referral students to community members if students do not wish to have evaluations conducted through CSUN's Language, Speech and Hearing Center]
  • Referral to other university resources that are available to CSUN students who exhibit difficulty with writing skills, organizational skills, or time management skills.

CAA Standard 4.2:  "The program must have a policy regarding proficiency in spoken and written English and other languages of instruction and service delivery and all other performance expectations", -and- "The program must demonstrate that its language proficiency policy is applied consistently.

• The CDS Distance Learning Program Coordinator serves as the advisor for all students in the program. 
• General information regarding advisement and requirements for proficiency in spoken and written English are provided to all students at the start and periodically throughout the program through group online sessions.
•  Individual advisement is provided as needed to address any of the following issues:
  • Program performance issues/concerns
  • Requests for leave of absence
  • Clinical performance issues/concerns including proficiency in spoken and written English
  • Student request to meet with the program advisor
• The program advisor works directly with faculty, as needed, in addressing academic performance issues and developing necessary remediation plans to address these issues.  Faculty follow the CDS department process for developing remediation plans.  The Distance Learning Program has a separate remediation policy and process specifically for the clinical practicum courses.
• Professional Writing Skills and Oral Communication Skills for professional staff environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR).
• Oral Communication Skills for clinical practicum environments are assessed using the criteria entered into CALIPSO during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD565GR). 
• • Oral communication skills that are monitored include: ability to model target phonemes/allophonic variations when in the clinical environment, use of grammatical forms and lexical forms when in the clinical environment, quality of voice when in the clinical environment, success of pragmatics while in the clinical environment. 
• Clinical Educators of CD565GR or CD566 discuss the outcome of CALIPSO documentation with the Distance Learning Program Coordinator.  
• Based on the CALIPSO documentation from the Clinical Educators of CD565GR, recommendations are developed. 
• Recommendations may include:
• • Typical maintenance of monitoring of written and oral communication skills throughout the students' clinical practica, student teaching experiences, and externship experiences. 
  • Referral for evaluation of voice, fluency, articulation, language, and/or writing skills [NOTE:  the Program has the ability to referral students to community members if students do not wish to have evaluations conducted through CSUN's Language, Speech and Hearing Center]
  • Referral to other university resources that are available to CSUN students who exhibit difficulty with writing skills, organizational skills, or time management skills.

ACAE Standard 22: Required Knowledge & Competencies: The program must provide evidence that each student is able to, 1) Communicate effectively, both orally and in written form [ ... ], and 2) Produce professional written reports [ ... ] during clinical experiences.

• Professional Writing Skills and Oral Communication Skills for professional staff environments are assessed using the criteria entered into TYPHON during students first two semesters of clinic (i.e., CD770 and CD771).
• Oral Communication Skills for clinical practicum environments are assessed using the criteria entered into TYPHON during students first semester of clinic (i.e., CD770 and CD771). 
  • Oral communication skills that are monitored include: ability to model target phonemes/allophonic variations when in the clinical environment, use of grammatical forms and lexical forms when in the clinical environment, quality of voice when in the clinical environment, success of pragmatics while in the clinical environment. 
• Clinical Educators of  CD770 and CD771 discuss the outcome of TYPHON documentation with the Program Director of the Doctor of Audiology program, and the Director of the Language, Speech and Hearing Center (LSHC).  
• Based on the TYPHON documentation from the Clinical Educators of CD770 and CD771, recommendations are developed. 
• Recommendations may include:
  • Typical maintenance of monitoring of written and oral communication skills throughout the students' clinical practica and and externship experiences. 
  • Referral for evaluation of voice, fluency, articulation, language, and/or writing skills [NOTE:  the Program has the ability to referral students to community members if students do not wish to have evaluations conducted through CSUN's Language, Speech and Hearing Center]
  • Referral to other university resources that are available to CSUN students who exhibit difficulty with writing skills, organizational skills, or time management skills.