Baylor’s Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic Will Host Community Open House at its New Home Oct. 6

Follow us on Twitter:@BaylorUMedia
Contact: Terry Goodrich,(254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (Sept. 30, 2016) — Baylor University’s Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, which recently moved to a new location, will host an open house for the community from 5:15 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6.
The new location is in the renovated Cashion Academic Center on the Baylor campus.
In July 2015, Baylor announced a $10 million gift to the department of communication sciences and disorders to transform its students’ educational experience, expand its service to those with speech-language needs in Texas and position the department for national impact as a leader in the field of speech language pathology.
The gift – from Baylor alumni who wished to remain anonymous – funded the relocation of the department of communication sciences and disorders and its clinics from Neill Morris Hall, created an endowed chair to attract a prominent scholar to direct the program’s growth and established an endowed fund to expand the graduate program by modernizing clinical facilities, creating new faculty positions and upgrading technology.
“With this extraordinary gift, we are able to expand our graduate program, serve a greater number of individuals with communication disorders and provide the research needed that can change lives forever,” said Dr. Michaela (Mikie) Ritter, interim department chair and associate professor in the department of communication sciences and disorders.
“Speech-language pathology is a ministry, and we are thankful for this opportunity to grow and flourish, exemplifying the mission of Baylor University,” she said.
Baylor’s department of communication sciences and disorders, a component of Baylor’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, encompasses the areas of speech language pathology, audiology and deaf education and has graduated more than 1,200 speech-language pathologists who provide treatments to more than 60,000 speech-, language- and hearing-disabled children and adults every week throughout the country.
The department’s faculty members are expert clinicians who blend a wealth of academic expertise and more than 200 years of combined professional and clinical experiences in such settings as hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, long-term care facilities and public schools.
The department has five community clinics: Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, Neurorehabilitation Clinic, Language and Articulation Preschool Class, Audiology Clinic and Language and Literacy Clinic, as well as summer program (Camp Success). Under the guidance of licensed clinical faculty members, Baylor CSD graduate students provide affordable screenings, consultations and therapies designed to mitigate communication disorders experienced by children and adults.
The Cashion Academic Center is at 1401 S. Fourth St., with visitors parking in front of the building and the Speight Parking Facility at 1521 S. Fourth St., at the intersection of Speight Avenue and South Fourth Street.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT THE ROBBINS COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES

After more than three years of evaluation and input from Baylor regents, deans, faculty and staff, and external entities, the Baylor Board of Regents approved the creation of the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences on May 16, 2014. This was also a direct result of identified priorities for strengthening the health sciences through Baylor’s strategic vision, Pro Futuris, which serves as a compass for the University’s future. The anchor academic units that form the new College – Communication Sciences and Disorders, Family and Consumer Sciences and Health, Human Performance and Recreation – share a common purpose: improving health and the quality of life. The new College is working to create curricula that will promote a team-based approach to patient care and will establish interdisciplinary research collaborations to advance solutions for improving the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities.