JMU CSD Undergraduate Advising

Dear sophomores, With registration for Fall of 2020 starting on April 13th, now is a great time to take stock of your hard work in your CSD courses and to plan ahead. As a friendly reminder, the foundation courses - CSD207, CSD208 and CSD209 - require a letter grade of C or better to move on to the upper level CSD coursework. Remember these grades also will be important for the graduate school applications in your future. Please take this opportunity to evaluate how you are doing in these courses. If you are doing well, congratulations and keep up the hard work! If you have any concerns about your current performance (such as one or more C grade across 207, 208, and 209), this is a good time to reflect on the goals for your undergraduate career. You are encouraged to communicate with your instructor(s) and advisor. If you decide that it would be beneficial to explore potential opportunities and major/...

Hi all! I have now set my weekly office hour times for peer advising. Tuesday's: 10:00am-11:00am Wednesday's: 12:00pm-1:00pm If you would like to stop by for office hours, please click on the link below. You just need to make sure you have WebEx installed on your computer! You are welcome to audio chat with me, or type in questions if you do not feel comfortable doing that. https://jmu.webex.com/meet/lavacckm  I will not have my video on due to hopes in preserving bandwidth! I hope to chat with you all soon, Kimberly LaVacca, Peer Advisor

Hello all! I will be holding an office hour tomorrow (3/27/2020) at 11:00am-12:00pm on WebEx. You can enter the meeting simply by clicking the link below and it will take you to my room.You just need to make sure you have WebEx installed on your computer! You are welcome to audio chat with me, or type in questions if you do not feel comfortable doing that. https://jmu.webex.com/meet/lavacckm  I hope that some of you are able to join in with me tomorrow! I will be holding more office hours, they just may not be at the same time for each session:) Please email me if you have questions at csdug@jmu.edu. Kimberly LaVacca, Peer Advisor

Dear CSD students,   You have received information from the University regarding the option of completing courses this semester as credit/no-credit. Here are some important considerations for your CSD courses.   SOPHOMORES: Per the University announcement, course prerequisites that require a letter grade will not be satisfied with a “CR” grade. CSD207, CSD208, and CSD209 require a letter grade of “C” or better to move onto the 300 level coursework. Thus, credit/no-credit would not meet this requirement.    FOR ALL OTHERS: For a large majority of students, an undergraduate education in CSD marks the beginning of a career in CSD, and so graduate school and professional certification requirements must be carefully considered before electing to take a course as credit/no-credit. For courses that require demonstration of competency (e.g., PHYS, CHEM), a letter grade of “C” is generally recommended. The CSD upper-class coursework fulfi...

Hello Freshman! Below is the recorded information session done by Peer Advisor, Kimberly LaVacca. Please note that this is not a comprehensive, just a few key things to start thinking about before going into Sophomore year regarding classes and organizations. If you have questions regarding the content covered, or want additional information please email csdug@jmu.edu. Not included in this powerpoint is information on CSD research opportunities. As an Undergraduate Student, there are many research opportunities available to you. Participating in research helps you become a competitive candidate for graduate school! If you would like to learn more please visit:  https://www.csd.jmu.edu/researchlabs.html . I hope you are all staying safe and well. Kimberly LaVacca, Peer Advisor

Hello Juniors! Below is the recorded information session done by Peer Advisor, Kimberly LaVacca. Please note that this is not a comprehensive, just a few key things to start thinking about before going into your senior year like observation hours and taking the GRE. If you have questions regarding the content covered, or want additional information please email csdug@jmu.edu. Another note that is not included in this powerpoint, is that to start thinking if you have not taken any cognate courses (physics, math, etc.) you should see if you already have the credits or plan to take them in your Fall semester. I hope you all are staying safe and well. Kimberly LaVacca, Peer Advisor

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is now accepting applications for the Robin C. McKay Memorial Scholarship This is a $2,100 scholarship for an undergraduate student in the CSD program.  This is not a need-based scholarship but, rather, is awarded to a well-rounded and academically proficient student studying in the fields of Speech-Language Pathology.                           To be eligible for the McKay Scholarship you must: ·       Be an Undergraduate student in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program who is studying speech pathology ·       Be well-rounded an academically proficient ·       Have a minimum GPA in the major of 3.25 ·       Be a rising senior (junior status) haven taken CSD 207, 208, 209, 300, ...

Attention Freshman and Junior CSD majors! Last week (3/5) I announced that I would be holding information sessions for the Freshman on March 20th and 27th from 11:00am-12:00pm, and for the Juniors on March 23rd and 30th from 11:30am-12:30pm. Details on the content of these sessions can be found on those separate posts. Due to JMU's policies in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, I will now be holding these sessions on a web-based platform. I will be able to share more information on this soon. Please email me at csdug@jmu.edu if you have any further questions. Peer Advisor, Kimberly LaVacca

The peer advisor will be holding information sessions on Friday March 20th and 27th from 11:00-12:00pm in HBS G045 regarding important class information going into Sophomore year as well as ways to get involved at JMU. If you would like more information or have specific questions about the session please email Peer Advisor Kimberly LaVacca at csdug@jmu.edu.

The peer advisor will be holding information sessions on Monday, March 23rd and 30th from 11:30-12:30 in HBS G050 regarding preparation for the next school year. T he talk will also include tips for getting ready to apply to graduate school and some helpful timeline information. If you would like more information or have specific questions about the session please email Peer Advisor Kimberly LaVacca at csdug@jmu.edu.