JMU CSD Undergraduate Advising

Good morning everyone, I hope you have enjoyed learning from our graduate students this past semester and maybe you have a new found appreciation for how different we all truly are.  This week will be the last week I am holding office hours 11:00am-12:00pm on Monday and Tuesday.  Here is a last short blurb about myself, as many of you have heard about what I did at JMU.                                                                   I knew that I wanted to be an SLP when I was 12. My youngest cousin was born bilaterally deaf and received cochlear implants at 11 months. His family decided not to use ASL after he picked up verbal language, but I continued to find all aspects of total communication fascinating. Since then, speech pathology has been my passion; however, in undergrad...

Good morning!! See below about an awesome opportunity to work as a camp counselor this summer  Hello Communication Sciences and Disorders Department:    I hope all is well and that you guys are having a good semester.  I would like to take a moment to introduce myself.  My name is Whitney Civitts and I am the Assistant Camp Director at Camp Easterseals.  Camp Easterseals is an overnight camp that serves both children and adults with disabilities.  We offer our campers and staff an unique, fun, and supportive camp experience.  Many of our staff have called their time at Camp Easterseals a “Life Changing” experience.     We are currently hiring staff to join us for Summer 2021. (Per the Governor’s recent executive orders Overnight Summer Camps can open and operate starting May 1 st ) We like to reach out to majors that we have had former staff and volunteers study to see if you could share our information with your students to see if ...

One of our last Graduate Student Spotlights is Ali! Ali gives great advice about choosing a profession that can be helpful to anyone, but especially the underclassmen here.   I entered JMU unsure of the academic path I would need to take to merge my dual passions of caring and advocating for people. I remember talking with a mentor freshman year, verbalizing my dilemma, ultimately unsure of which major I should pursue. She patiently sat with me, sifted through my thoughts, and steered me towards areas that complemented my passions. She works within a school system, and through her connection I was able to observe the SLP from her district. Through this experience I was able to first envision my passions merge as I discovered the profession of speech-language pathology. Specifically, I witnessed the empathy and feverous advocacy required of this SLP to ensure her student’s communication needs were met both inside and outside the classroom. Since, I have been inspired by the demand ...

 Good morning!  This week I will continue to have office hours from 11:00-12:00pm on Monday and Tuesday. Please email me with any questions!! SENIORS- See below for a message about the University of DC extending their application deadline for graduate school!!  As many of the competitive programs in communication science and disorders, are wrapping up their 2020-21 admission cycles, the University of the District of Columbia's Speech-Language Pathology Program extends a warm invitation to apply for the 2021-22 academic year through  May 15, 2021 . In the heart of Washington, DC, we represent a culturally-affirming and community-oriented graduate SLP program with a generalist clinical focus. We also offer opportunities for specialization in multilingualism, voice, transgendered voice, and early literacy. Through a holistic admissions process, we are excited to engage individuals who share our values in amplifying minoritized voices through inclusive excellence....

  Once again we have a Graduate Student Spotlight for Audiology!!! Noelle is a first year AuD student. Hi everyone! My name is Noelle Steele and I am from Pottsville, Pennsylvania. I am a first-year graduate student in JMU’s Doctor of Audiology program. I graduated from Marywood University in May of 2020 with my B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders. My journey to graduate school is a bit unique because I finished my undergraduate degree in just three years. I started in a 5-year speech pathology program (3 + 2 program) and decided to opt out of my master’s in speech pathology to pursue audiology instead. During my undergraduate career, I spent my time assisting and teaching in daycares both on campus and at home. This allowed me to work very closely with children and thus, I learned how to quickly build rapport with them. I worked as an early learner instructor for preschool age children at Kumon Math and Reading Center in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, which is an after-scho...

 Good morning!! This week I have notes about office hours. I will not be holding office hours tomorrow (4/13) from 11-12pm due to a doctors appointment, and instead, I will be available on WebEx from 2:30-3:30pm. Come by if you have questions about scheduling or classes. Seniors, this is the last week to come talk about graduate school decisions! I will still be available on Thursday 4/15 from 3:00-4:00pm   Monday 11:00-12:00pm Tuesday 2:30-3:30pm Thursday 3:00-4:00pm 

  Dear CSD students! Please see below an opportunity to get involved in the College’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts.     Hi all! My name is Kim, and I'm a senior Social Work student. I was recently tasked to work with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team of CHBS and to reach out to the racially diverse students and briefly talk about your experience attending a predominantly white institution. I have created a Google Form with five questions, and I would appreciate any feedback that you would like to give. Your contact information will remain confidential.    I am also willing to briefly meet via Zoom for anyone that would like to have a more in-depth conversation regarding the Google Form or if you have other concerns/feedback that aren’t mentioned on the form. My email address is  diggskm@dukes.jmu.edu , so feel free to directly reach out to me to schedule a Zoom meeting. Given the recurring events of acts of violence towards people ...

This week's graduate student spotlight is on Ana! She brings up a great point about applications- Always remember that you are more than just numbers on a test.  Hi everyone! I am from Richmond, VA, attended UVA for undergrad, and majored in Communication Sciences and Disorders there. I was lucky in that I knew I wanted to major in CSD when I got to UVA and luckily grew to love it even more throughout undergrad. I found it really helpful during the summers to try to find shadowing experiences to get a better idea of different settings I might want to work in as well as having some sort of hands-on experience before entering grad school. One of my shadowing experiences was with an SLP in early intervention, just for a week, but I loved it and hope to one day work in early intervention. I am also interested in various other pediatric settings such as hospital outpatient clinics and schools. In applying to grad school, what really drew me to JMU was the amazing reputation it has arou...