ADVISING MANUAL
Communicative Disorders Program
GENERAL INFORMATION
2007-08 Edition


INDEX TO GENERAL INFORMATION SECTION (Click selection)

Introduction by Director of Communicative Disorders Program
Clinic Space
Disability Programs and Resource Center
Diversity at San Francisco State University
Faculty Research Interests
Financial Assistance
Health Precautions for Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists
Job Announcements and Placements
Library Collections
Mailboxes, Faculty
Mission of the College of Education
National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Plagiarism
Registration and Grading
Speech & Hearing Screening
Students with Special Needs
University Housing

INTRODUCTION

Welcome CD Students,

You are responsible for the information contained in this advising manual. Please read it carefully and refer to it throughout your training. The material contained within this manual is for your information purposes only. Changes may need to be made at any time at the discretion of the faculty. Please consult with your adviser each semester for official university requirements listed in the San Francisco State University Bulletin, 2007-08.

This manual contains information that is very important. It will help you decide on classes, provide information necessary for ASHA certification, state licensure and certification, provide procedural and general information, and describe the important components of the Communicative Disorders Program. Please refer to the appropriate sections of the manual before seeking information from your adviser. Your academic requirements are those listed in the Bulletin for the year you entered the program.

This manual should not be used in lieu of regular meetings with your adviser. Advising is an important component of any professional training program. You must make an appointment with your adviser to review and approve your academic selections each semester, and discuss your progress.

All clinical placements must be approved by the CD Clinic Coordinator. Appropriate forms for requesting placement are made available during advising week. It is your responsibility to complete the form, review it with your adviser and submit it to the CD Clinic Coordinator.

Although we have endeavored to cover all aspects of the program, some things may have been missed, or due to reevaluations of courses, budgetary restrictions, etc., changes may be necessary.

Nancy Robinson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Academic Coordinator of the Communicative Disorders Program

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CLINIC SPACE

The CD Clinic is housed on the first floor of Burk Hall,Wing A. A central feature is the Interdisciplinary Clinic. This is a space that the Communicative Disorders Program shares with the School of Nursing and the Department of Counseling. It offers unique opportunities for student clinicians to interact with students and faculty from other disciplines. Observation and recording facilities are state-of-the-art.

The reception room in the main clinic complex is to be used for clients and parents, and students waiting to see advisers. It should not be used as a place to socialize or discuss courses. Students are asked to use the Clinician's Workroom (BH 116) for this purpose. When in the reception room, students must refrain from discussing any clinical issue or client.

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DISABILITY PROGRAMS & RESOURCE CENTER (DPRC)

Any CD student requesting special assistance must be approved by DPRC and a copy of the approval placed in their file. Disability Programs & Resource Center (DPRC) is a resource that students with both permanent and temporary disabilities can use in managing their campus activities. DPRC works with other University departments so that students can be referred to appropriate units. DPRC actively promotes both physical and program accessibility in order for students to become fully involved in the campus community. DPRC is located in the Student Services Building (SSB 110). For more information, contact DPRC at 415.338.2472 (Voice/TDD) Monday through Friday.

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DIVERSITY AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

San Francisco State University has received national recognition for achievements in producing ethnic minority graduates by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accreditation Board. SFSU ranks fifth nationally on a list of the top 100 degree producers among all disciplines and all minority groups. In addition, the university ranks fourth out of the top 100 in granting baccalaureate degrees to Asian American students. In other rankings, SFSU placed second nationally out of 47 in awarding business degrees to students who are Asian or Pacific Islanders; fifth nationally in English degrees earned by those students and 47th out of the top 100 universities in granting bachelor degrees to Hispanics. SFSU also ranks 72 out of 98 baccalaureate degrees awarded to African American students, the highest ranking in this category in the California State University System.

The SFSU Commission on Human Relations has recommended five principles that the University adheres to that promote respect for diversity on our campus. The faculty and staff of the Communicative Disorders Program endorse these principles. These principles, outlined in the SFSU Student Handbook are listed below:

1. The University is an environment in which all members, regardless of background, shall have equal access to opportunities to develop their full potential.

2. The University is committed to the goal of a multicultural community that prepares and inspires its members for successful participation and effective leadership in a pluralistic society.

3. The University welcomes diversity as an opportunity for teaching, developing, and promoting multicultural competencies and understandings. Racial, ethnic, gender, sexual identify, disability, religious, and other individual or group differences shall not be regarded as hindrances to success. Rather they shall be treated as positive opportunities for the enrichment of our educational resources and the quality of our campus life.

4. Behaviors which are intolerant, insensitive, or discriminatory are deemed unacceptable. As such, they shall be addressed openly, promptly, and constructively by the University, its administrators, faculty, staff, and students.

5. Members of the San Francisco State University community shall willingly prepare for the future of this city, this state, and this nation in which there shall no longer be a "majority" society where all others are seen as "second class." Rather, we strive for a society in which each member has a genuine opportunity to be "first" and to achieve success and fulfillment.

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FACULTY RESEARCH INTERESTS

The faculty view research as a vital and necessary component of a training program. Through their ongoing research projects, the faculty of the Communicative Disorders Program has contributed to the theoretical understanding of communicative disorders and the development of clinical techniques in audiology and speech-language pathology. Their results are shared with students in both undergraduate and graduate seminars. Students are encouraged to discuss particular research interests with the faculty and participate in faculty research projects. The primary research interests of the full-time faculty appear below:

Dr. Laura Epstein: child language, multicultural/multilanguage issues

Dr. Minnie Graham: alaryngeal speech rehabilitation, voice disorders, stuttering
Dr. Nancy Robinson: augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), cultural diversity, child language

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FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Financial Aid. The Financial Aid Office is located in the One Stop Student Services Center on the ground floor. Information Specialists are available to answer questions at the front counter and via telephone (415.338.7000) during office hours. Financial Aid counselors are available on a "drop-in" basis from 8:30-7:30 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday hours are from 8:30 to 5:00. The basic application is the Student Aid Application for California (SAAC). This application is available in all school and colleges in January of each year for the following Fall and Spring semesters. To be considered for all Federal and State aid programs, financial aid applications (SAAC) must be submitted to the College Scholarship Service in Princeton, New Jersey by March 2nd. Students must re-apply for financial aid each school year.

Work Study Program. Each year a limited number of student work study positions become available in the CD Program and others throughout the University. This is a University funded program. The maximum number of hours a student can work is 20 hours per week. For more information contact the Financial Aid Office and the Department of Special Education.

College of Education Scholarships. The College of Education's scholarship fund has substantially increased over the past 5 years. Funds are available to both undergraduate and graduate students who are in financial need. Information and applications can be obtained through the School of Education Dean's Office, BH 5th Floor. Information, descriptions, eligibility requirements, and applications re: assistantships, scholarships, and fellows are available College of Education website, click Scholarship Listings .

Program Staff. Periodically, the Communicative Disorders Clinic employs students for various clerical functions. Openings are posted on the Student Bulletin Board outside the CD Clinic Office.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's Foundation has a yearly scholarship competition for full-time graduate students. Deadlines for submission usually are in the middle of June. Information regarding these scholarships and others involving research projects should be directed to the ASHA office at (301) 897-5700 or by visiting the Financial Aid portion of ASHA's website.

California Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Each year CSHA offers a limited number of scholarships to students enrolled in communicative disorders programs throughout the state. Announcements are posted on the Clinician's Bulletin Board. For more information call the CSHA office at (916) 921-0127 or visit the CSHA website.

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HEALTH PRECAUTIONS FOR AUDIOLOGISTS AND SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS

Universal precautions have been developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and are used by health facilities nationwide to prevent transmission of blood borne pathogens. ASHA has modified these precautions to meet the needs of audiologists and speech-language pathologists. Universal precautions assume all body fluids, especially blood or fluids containing blood are infectious and should be treated as such. Precautions must be applied to all interactions that involve potential for mucous membrane or skin contact with blood, body fluids or tissues containing blood or potential spills or splashes from them. See the Clinician's Handbook for further instructions re: precautions.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). One of the primary diseases against which we are trying to protect ourselves is HIV. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, a fatal disease for which there is neither a cure nor a vaccine. ASHA has resolved that HIV patients are entitled to civil rights protection, and refusal to treat, without just cause is seen as a violation of the code of ethics and possibly violates state licensure laws. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists are at extremely low risk for contracting HIV through work. They are typically exposed to saliva, cerumen, mucous membranes and tears. There is very little evidence of transmission through saliva, although oral lesions could produce blood in saliva. There is inconclusive evidence of transmission through cerumen, although it too may contain blood. The general reasons that HIV patients are seen are to obtain baselines of communication skills and for the training and use of AAC devices, ALDS/hearing aids, speech amplification and dysphagia.

Hepatitis B. Hepatitis B is another major health concern. There is a vaccine available for this potentially fatal condition of the liver. The vaccine is typically available through one’s personal physician or the student health center.

Tuberculosis (TB). The CDC has stated that there is an epidemic of TB in the United States. It is strongly recommend that CD students and pertinent faculty be tested for this disease. All of the off-campus internship and student teaching sites require evidence of this testing.

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JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PLACEMENT

In the course of an academic year, the CD program receives over 500 announcements for audiology and speech-language pathology position openings. Although most of the announcements are for California, many are sent from various parts of the country. These announcements are posted in BH 116.

Students are encouraged to use the Career Center for compiling letters of recommendations. When seeking a letter of recommendation from a faculty member the student supplies the faculty member with all the necessary information and forms. The faculty member should be contacted at least two weeks prior to the application deadline.

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LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

University Library. The J. Paul Leonard Library, the largest building at San Francisco State, is located in the center of the campus. It has seven floors and contains more than two million information items and more than 250 indexes and abstracting services.

Communicative Disorders Program Library. The CD Program Library (BH 116) has a limited selection of books, journals (JSHR, JSHD, AJSLP, AJA, LSHSS and ASHA), instructional videotapes, and audiotapes. The reference materials may be checked out, however, videotapes and audiotapes can only be used on campus.

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MAILBOXES

Faculty Mail Boxes. Messages and/or materials to the CD faculty may be left in the CD Clinic Office (BH 113/116) or the SPED Office (BH 154).

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MISSION OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

The primary mission of the College of Education is to develop and maintain rigorous professional preparation in pedagogical and clinical skills required for effective services to individuals of all ages and their families, especially those residing in ethnically and racially diverse communities. All programs are based on excellence in teaching and clinical services, and a commitment to research and scholarship focused on the integration of services to schools and community agencies. The Communicative Disorders Program is designed to prepare candidates for employment as certified or licensed speech-language pathologists in a wide variety of settings including public schools, university clinics, hospitals, community agencies, private practice, Veterans Administration, and other federal agencies.

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NATIONAL STUDENT SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION (NSSLHA) – SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY CHAPTER

The San Francisco State University chapter of NSSLHA is an active, important part of the Communicative Disorders Program. The members of the organization provide input to the CD faculty concerning academic and clinic issues, sponsor workshops and presentations, engage in social activities, and conduct fund-raising efforts. All students are strongly encouraged to join NSSLHA SFSU. Information on NSSLHA SFSU activities is posted on the bulletin board located in the CD Clinic hallway. Click to view the NSSLHA SFSU newsletter.

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PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism in connection with an academic program at San Francisco State University is punishable by expulsion, suspension or disciplinary probation. Plagiarism is defined as appropriating words or ideas of another person and offering them as one's own. A common violation is the use of another student's work without acknowledgment. The most common violation involves a student using published materials and failing to acknowledge the sources. Merely copying a direct quotation without offering quotation marks or crediting the source is considered plagiarism. Another form of plagiarism consists of paraphrasing an idea or use of an original idea without properly introducing or documenting the paraphrase or borrowed idea.

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REGISTRATION AND GRADING

Touch Tone Registration. Official registration for classes occurs through a touch-tone telephone procedure. Information on how to use the system is mailed to students by the University. Although touch-tone is the official way of registering for a class, all students need to be placed on a class eligibility list in order to be admitted into the class. Eligibility is acquired through a scheduled meeting with a CD Program adviser. For CD classes, every attempt will be made not to have any academic courses closed for CD majors or graduate students. Admittance by ADD forms in other programs and departments is by the discretion of the instructor.

Withdrawal from Classes (W). During the first four weeks of instruction withdrawal (dropping a course or courses) is permitted without restriction or penalty. No symbol is recorded on the student's permanent record. The procedure for dropping a course during this period is described in detail in the class schedule. After the first four weeks of instruction and before the beginning of the final three weeks of instruction withdrawal from a course or courses is permissible only for serious and compelling reasons. All requests for withdrawal during this period must be made in writing on the appropriate form and will be reviewed by the instructor and department chair or school dean.

Withdrawals are not permitted during the final three weeks except in verified cases of accident or serious illness where the cause of withdrawal is due to circumstances clearly beyond the student's control and where the assignment of an incomplete is not practicable. Ordinarily, withdrawals in this category will involve total withdrawal from the University. Requests are submitted on the same form as for withdrawal earlier in the term and must be reviewed by the instructor, department chair, and college dean. (SFSU Bulletin 04-05, pp. 113-114).

Unofficial Withdrawal From a Course or Courses. Students who leave a course or the University without officially withdrawing from their enrollment commitments are subject to failing grades in the courses (SFSU Bulletin 04-05, p. 115).

Incomplete Grade (I). An incomplete signifies that a portion of required course work has not been completed and evaluated in the prescribed time period due to unforeseen, but fully justified reasons and that there is still the possibility of earning credit. A request for a grade of incomplete may be initiated by the student. It is the responsibility of the student to provide a written "Petition for an Incomplete" form. An agreement will be reached with the instructor on the means by which the final grade is assigned when the work agreed upon has been completed and evaluated. An incomplete must be made up within one calendar year immediately following the end of the term in which it was assigned. In cases when a form has not been provided, a grade of "U" will be assigned.

CD Program Grading Criteria. The CD program recognizes and follows the San Francisco State University grading policy and procedures as published in the University Bulletin for basic definitions, grading systems, grade point averages, grade points and grade changes (SFSU Bulletin 07-08, pp. 85-88).

Criteria for Continuation in the CD Program. Any student who receives a letter grade of "D" of "F" will be evaluated by the CD faculty to determine the student’s capabilities for continuing in the program. Classified and/or Conditional Graduate students must maintain a "B" average in all courses and clinic to continue in the program. Any student unable to meet this minimum criteria will be counseled by their adviser.

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SPEECH AND HEARING SCREENING

The Communicative Disorders Program requires speech and hearing screening of all graduate students registered in the program. When a problem is identified that will interfere with the provision of therapy, a faculty member or graduate student is assigned to work with the individual. The student with a communication problem may have their practicum delayed until the problem no longer interferes with therapy. An example of this would be a foreign student whose pronunciation of certain phonemes could not be used as a model for articulation therapy.

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STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Faculty will modify examinations for individuals with certain types of learning disabilities, either in terms of allotted time or methods of responding (see requirements under DPRC section). All classrooms, offices and clinical facilities are wheelchair accessible. Interpreters for the deaf are available through the Disability Programs & Resource Center Office and the Special Education Office has a TTD available for telephone communication with deaf individuals.

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UNIVERSITY HOUSING

Residence Halls. Mary Park and Mary Ward Halls are co-educational. Single sex floors are also available. Most rooms are double occupancy; however, a limited number of suites and singles are available on a priority basis. Included in the layout of each hall are student rooms and staff apartments, study areas, lounges, vending machines, laundry rooms, reception desks and separate men's and women's bathrooms on each floor. A Computer Lab equipped with Apple Macintosh and IBM compatible computers is available in Park Hall. All special facilities are open to all residents at no additional charge. Students have flexibility and diversity in dining experiences when living in the residence halls. Students are given a "credit card" encoded with their meal plan option, enabling them to eat at any of three dining facilities.

Residence Apartments. The Village at Centennial Square residence apartments offers year-round housing to nearly 600 graduate, senior, and junior students. In an atmosphere that combines the dynamics of community living with the privacy of apartment life, the residence apartments provide a unique housing option for single students never before offered at SFSU. Forty-six one bedroom, one bath, and 121 two-bedroom, one bath apartment units accommodate 576 residents and staff. All apartments are fully furnished and have wall-to-wall carpeting, mini-blinds and access to basic cable television channels. Each bedroom is designed for double occupancy with two beds, desk, chairs, bookshelves and closets. A telephone line and a dedicated data line for computer use are also available in each room. Complete laundry facilities are available on the entry level of the building.

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