trategic Plan Executive Summary

Mission Statement

The Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) Department is committed to intentionally prepare students for the rigor of their careers through education and mentorship as they become competent, ethical, and culturally responsive speech, language and hearing professionals who empower the people they serve. 

Vision

The CSD Department at SCSU aims to be a pioneering program modeling classroom to clinic integration to develop future professionals who will affect change in their communities and those they serve by practicing as forward-thinking practitioners and leaders in the field of speech, language, and hearing.

In five years, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders will:

• Develop sustainable community partnerships
• Improve infrastructure to allow for expansion of clinical opportunities
• Diversify our student body
• Expand interprofessional and international collaborations to explore research and clinical interests of faculty and students

The CSD department’s mission and vision align with the University’s Husky Compact.  The Husky Compact represents St. Cloud State’s goal of having each student, who graduates from this institution, live out the following action items. 

The St. Cloud State University Communication Sciences and Disorders Department is committed to the University’s Husky Compact.

• Within our curriculum, we strive to increase our students’ ability to integrate knowledge from the classroom, to think critically, and to apply their knowledge to their clinical practice.
• We are committed to diversifying our undergraduate and graduate student body by offering various curricular opportunities to our state two-year institutions and increasing our undergraduate on-line course offerings, found to appeal to a wider, and more diverse, audience.
• We will extend our commitment to diversify our clinical practicum and internship opportunities.  In the coming years, we will cultivate new partnerships with stakeholders, that include underrepresented groups, by providing clinical services to those communities through face-to-face interactions and tele-practice options so that we reach the most remote, rural, and underserved communities.  
• Our faculty are committed to growing our program and mentoring our students, with the appropriate supports in place. These supports include, but are not limited to, appropriate financial, faculty, technology and space allocations.

Department Strategic Objectives

1. Engage in continuous, programmatic assessment for quality improvement.
2. Advance Interprofessional Education and Interprofessional Practice throughout curriculum and clinical experiences.
3. Enhance the knowledge and implementation of clinical research and evidence-based practice.
4. Enhance service delivery across the continuum of care to increase value and access to services for underrepresented community members (e.g., race, color, national origin, sex, or religion).
5. Increase Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) within our faculty, students and consumers.
6. Enhance international engagement and scholarship.
7. Increase faculty and students' cultural competence.

A copy of the strategic plan is available upon request.