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, is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CCA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 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 have been 100%. 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.