News and Events
Student Travel Fund Established
In memory of Dr. Adele Miccio, Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, a memorial fund has been established by the graduate class of 2002 to assist CSD graduate students with their travel to professional conferences and meetings. Read more about this fund about ways to give.
Students Become Partially Deaf for a Day in Audiology Course
All students taking Dr. Judith Creuz’s introduction to audiology course (CSD 230) wear an ear plug for one day to experience what it would be like to have hearing loss. Creuz, who wears a hearing aid because of her own hearing loss, says she wants students to know what it’s like to live in her world. Students in Creuz’s class also have the opportunity to brush up on diagnostic skills in Penn State’s audiology clinic. All in all, the semester gives students a chance to get a first-hand look at audiology through the eyes of both patient and practitioner. Read the full story.
Faculty Receive U.S.D.E. Funding for Project MOSAIC
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Dr. Gordon Blood and Dr. Ingrid Blood a new training grant for graduate students for the next four years. The million dollar grant will address the critical shortage of speech-language pathologists serving children who are English language learners with communication disabilities. Project MOSAIC, Multiplying Opportunities for Services and Access for Immigrant Children, will fund a total of twenty-two graduate students over the four year period. Read the full story.
Professor Selected to Participate in Ethics Seminar
Ingrid Blood, professor of communication sciences and disorders, has been selected to participate in the 2009 Ethics Seminar for Faculty, hosted by the Rock Ethics Institute in Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts. The seminar supports research and teaching designed to promote ethical awareness and inquiry.
Participants will attend an intensive workshop in the summer of 2009 and a series of ethics seminars during the 2009-2010 academic year designed to assist faculty in developing or redesigning an honors course with an ethical emphasis. For more information, please see www.hhdev.psu.edu/news/2009/4_28_09_rock_ethics.html.
Undergraduate Student Places in Honors Thesis Competition
Congratulations to recent CSD graduate Kara Mekarski, who was awarded second place in the Honors Thesis Competition sponsored by the College of Health and Human Development. Kara’s thesis, titled “Normative Data on Behavioral Tests of Auditory, Spatial, and Language Processing and Memory” was supervised by Dr. Carol Miller.
CSD Students help Special Olympians
Five undergraduate students in the Communication Sciences and Disorders major along with students from California University of Pennsylvania and Bloomsburg University volunteered to give free hearing screenings to athletes and their families at the Special Olympics. Under the supervision of professionals from Geisinger Medical Center, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Bloomsburg University and Penn State (Judy Creuz, Instructor in Communication Sciences and Disorders) the volunteers looked for common hearing disorders. To read the full story, please see live.psu.edu/story/40107/email.
Graduate Student Awarded Kligman Graduate Fellowship
Aileen Costigan, Ph.D. candidate in Communication Sciences and Disorders, has been awarded a Kligman graduate fellowship from the College of Health and Human Development. This fellowship provides tuition support and a stipend for outstanding graduate students who are completing their thesis. Aileen's mentor is Janice Light, Distinguished Professor of Communcation Sciences and Disorders.
Fundraising Run/Walk Will Benefit Professor's Autism Research
A fundraising running/walking event will benefit the research of Dr. Janice Light, Distinguished Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The event, which will take place on Sunday, May 3, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, will be hosted by Equipment Depot (formerly known as Forklifts, Inc.). Read the full story.
Alumni Honored
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is pleased to announce that Dr. Rebecca Landa has been selected by the Alumni Society of the College of Health and Human Development to receive the 2009 Alumni Recognition Award.
The Alumni Recognition Award honors alumni who have demonstrated professional excellence and exemplary voluntary community involvement in a health and human development field. The College will honor Dr. Landa on Friday, October 23, 2009.
Elina Mainela-Arnold Receives the 2009 Conference Fellowship Travel Award
Dr. Elina Mainela-Arnold, (assistant professor) was selected to attend the 2009 Lessons for Success Research Conference: Developing the Emerging Scientist. Her conference fellowship-travel award is made available through sponsorship from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHF). The conference will be held at the ASHA National Office Thursday, April 30- Saturday, May 2, 2009.
Incoming Graduate Student Receives the Bunton-Waller Assistantship
Elizabeth Willis was selected for a Bunton-Waller Assistantship in the College of Health and Human Development. The Bunton-Waller Graduate awards are generally assistantships granted to incoming students as part of the University's comprehensive educational opportunity program. The Bunton-Waller Graduate Awards Program competition is open to incoming graduate degree candidates who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Applications will be evaluated on scholarly promise and upon receiving a commitment from the student's graduate major program to support the student.
Undergraduate Students Honored
Kelly McCoach was selected as Student Marshall in Communication Sciences and Disorders and Professor Robert Prosek will be the Faculty Marshall at the Spring Graduation Ceremony. Ms McCoach is an outstanding student and will carry the Departmental banner leading the procession of all CSD students at the Spring commencement ceremony. She will be the first CSD student to receive her diploma on stage.
Kara Mekarski was selected as the recipient of the CSD Alumni Recognition for Student Excellence Award. The HHD Alumni Society board of directors instituted an “Alumni Recognition for Student Excellence” award that honors one outstanding senior in each academic unit of the College. The award will be presented at a luncheon in conjunction with the HHD Alumni Board’s biannual meeting each spring.
Teaching Award
Congratulations to doctoral student Shelley Scarpino, recipient of the University's Howard F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award for outstanding teaching performance/effectiveness. Only ten awards are given each year throughout the University.
Robert Hillman to Receive 2008 Alumni Fellow Award
Dr. Robert Hillman ’74, ‘75g SPA has been selected to receive the 2008 Alumni Fellow Award. The Alumni Fellow Award is the highest honor bestowed upon alumni by the Penn State Alumni Association. Dr. Hillman is Co-Director and Research Director of the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation at Massachusetts General Hospital, and associate professor of surgery and health sciences and technology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Hillman will be visiting the University Park campus October 2-3. During his visit he will speak to several undergraduate and graduate Communication Sciences and Disorders classes.
Dr. Hillman has become widely recognized as one of the foremost clinical voice scientists in the world. He has authored over 80 publications and been awarded over 24 research grants from governmental and private sources to support his work, and his research has been featured in the national media. He serves both government and professional associations, and has been recognized with many professional awards and honors.
While at Penn State Dr. Hillman was co-captain of the cross-country team and recipient of the 1974 Ernest B. McCoy Award for the outstanding senior scholar-athlete. In addition to his degrees from Penn State, Dr. Hillman received a doctorate in speech science from Purdue University in 1980.
Janice Light Receives National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Grant
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research has awarded Dr. Janice Light a research grant for the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center. The $1.5 million grant will fund research to improve the lives of persons with communication disabilities. The research team also includes Penn State faculty Dr. Kathryn Drager, Dr. David McNaughton, and Barbara Roberts.
Scholarship Application Required
All HHD students wishing to be considered for scholarships for 2009-2010 must complete a College of Health and Human Development online scholarship application.