Strategic Plan

Florida State University – College of Communication and Information

School of Communication Science and Disorders

2021-2024 Strategic Plan

 

 

In keeping with Florida State University’s goal to continue to be a Top 20 University, the overarching goal of the School of Communication Science and Disorders (SCSD) strategic plan is to provide a framework for expanding the national reputation and ranking of the School and to advance our mission and vision aligned with our core values. The School has identified the following priorities as being critical for the continued advancement of our program. 

 Priority A: Increase innovation, research engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and external funding  

Grants 

  • Increase the number of new grant proposals 
  • Increase the number of resubmissions of grant proposals 
  • Diversify the agencies that we apply to for funding 
  • Increase T32 grants 
  • Increase capacity to support research activities, grant proposal submissions, and procurement 

Publications 

  • Increase the number of publications in interdisciplinary journals 
  • Increase publications and citations 

Fundraising 

  • Increase the number of external awards  
  • Increase fundraising with alumni from the School of Communication Science and Disorders 
  • Build the infrastructure to support future institutes and centers

     

Priority B: Demonstrate inclusive excellence in student recruitment, retention, and engagement   

Inclusive Excellence 

  • Extend and expand recruitment efforts to students at middle school, high school, community college, and undergraduate levels including historically black colleges and universities 
  • Expand efforts to increase acceptance of admissions offers by students from traditionally underrepresented groups (e.g., personal calls/emails) 
  • Increase retention activities including mentoring support for the retention of scholars from traditionally underrepresented groups (e.g., modules that all students take, peer mentoring) 
  • Review the activities around branding, web presence and social media to be sure they are representative.  
  • Revisit student mentoring for those from diverse backgrounds. 
  • Initiate faculty involvement and presence in, National Black Speech Language Hearing Association, and ASHA’s inclusive programs 
  • Identify student funding opportunities to support students of diverse backgrounds and students who want to related specialization (scholarships, early release of GA awards for recruiting) 
  • Recruit diverse faculty as role models and mentors  
  • Communicate our efforts and accomplishments in promoting and supporting a diverse student body to the College regularly 

Attract and support, through varied sources of funding outstanding undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students  

  • Continually review and improve how we recruit undergraduates 
  • Continually review and improve how we recruit graduate students 
  • Increase doctoral student recruitment to include adult-focused specialty areas, 
  • Sustain continued grant funding to support students 
  • Increase support for submission of T32 proposals 

Expand post-doc opportunities 

  • Obtain funding support for post-docs 
  • Increase the number of post-doc opportunities 

Priority C: Provide innovative and inclusive academic programs and experiences to ensure the professional success of our undergraduate and graduate students  

  • Revise undergraduate curriculum course sequences to align with rolling admissions. 
  • Determine the future of the summative exam and discuss alternatives to better align with the curriculum sequence and timeline. 
  • Conduct continuous review of curriculum, further aligning clinic and academic pieces, as we offer a 5-semester option for the program  
  • Establish a system to keep track of metrics and do better at aligning academic and clinical 
  • Closely monitor the diversity and quantity of clinical experiences 
  • Explore undergraduate curriculum to expand electives 
  • Improve data collection of outcomes and achievements of graduates from our undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs at exit and 1yr and 3 yr post-graduation to promote ongoing engagement with SCSD 
  • Evaluate and modify undergraduate and graduate curricula/programs of study to ensure consistency with current professional practice 
  • Expand curriculum to include cutting-edge experiences in  bilingual/multilingual language learning 
  • Offer brief lab experiences that faculty with expertise could implement with students (e.g., cleft palate, AAC, FEES) 
  • Evaluate clinical practicum placements to assess their adherence to best practices  
  • Expand training and research experience in the doctoral program and identify opportunities for strengthening and enhancing the overall experience 
  • Expand and promote specialized training opportunities (e.g., certificate programs) 
  • Evaluate audiology assistant program  
  • Evaluate undergraduate curriculum and revise with curriculum committee 
  • Engage in sustained data collection to evaluate the impact of curriculum changes  
  • Identify creative ways to collaborate with other depts or colleges for SLPA program development 

Priority D: Develop and advance outstanding, collaborative, and inclusive clinical and academic faculty  

Research 

  • Increase access and awareness of professional development opportunities for research and clinical practice to advance/broaden faculty expertise, and increase funding for personnel development 
  • Maintain high levels of research dissemination and increase externally funded research support by 10% annually. 
  • Increase collaborations among research and clinical faculty and community partners to promote translational research on an ongoing basis. 

Promotion and Advancement  

  • Retain current faculty with adequate resources to promote/maintain success on an ongoing basis with less than 7% attrition. 
  • Communicate regularly with the college about the accomplishments of our faculty and staff. 

Collaboration 

  • Establish collaborations with interdisciplinary faculty within FSU Health 
  • Recruit faculty with expertise in specialized areas to build the strengths of the program 
  • Seek funding to develop and staff community collaborations and model demonstration programs 
  • Increase interdisciplinary collaborations with diverse faculty, disciplines, and institutions