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Greetings from the Department Chair!

Welcome to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at the University of Maine. The department’s mission is to promote excellence in academic and clinical education, scholarship, and service in the areas of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

Our educational mission is achieved through classroom and clinical teaching. Students are given an opportunity to provide clinical services to people throughout the state of Maine under the supervision of trained professionals in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology in both our on-campus clinic and off-campus practicum sites. We further engage students in service opportunities through outreach programs that exist locally, nationally and internationally. Students are also encouraged to work closely with our faculty in their research programs that encompass a broad range of topics in communication sciences and disorders.

Please explore our website to learn about our undergraduate and graduate programs, the Madelyn E and Albert D. Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center, faculty research interests and this year’s exciting department events. If you would like more information, feel free to contact us directly. We look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,
Judy Walker, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Associate Professor and Department Chair

About Us

The University of Maine offers the only academic major in Speech-Language Pathology in the State of Maine. The Master's Program, which graduated its first students in the early 1970s and is accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), has graduated approximately 200 students in the last ten years. Over the past three years, over 84% of students entering into our graduate program have completed the program in five semesters and our pass rates for the Praxis examination in Speech-Language Pathology of 82% or better have exceeded the national average of 75%. Our employment rates over the past three years are 100%.

The Undergraduate Program in Communication Sciences and Disorders provides the background for students to apply for Master's study in either speech-language pathology or audiology. It also equips majors to pursue careers or graduate study in a variety of fields including education, business, and health care.

A major component of the graduate program is the department's on-site clinical facility, the Madelyn E. and Albert D. Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center. Within this venue and its outreach programs, faculty develop new procedures for assessment and therapy. Family-centered practice is a major focus of the Conley Center. The clinical, academic and research elements of the department's mission are well integrated, and student research is strongly emphasized. Faculty scholars work with student investigators in such laboratory and educational research areas as stuttering, phonological development of children with dyslexia, the effects of brain injury on communication, agenesis of the corpus callosum and international service delivery and professional preparation.

The department hosts an active chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association.