The mission of our department is to maintain an active research program as a source for the clinical and scientific education of our students, and as a vehicle for professional growth for our faculty. Through our commitment to academic and clinical excellence, the mission of the CDS Department continues to maintain a nationally and internationally recognized graduate program in Communicative Disorders and Sciences.

CDS Program Completion Rates, Praxis Exam Results for M.A. and Au.D. students, and Employment/Job Placement Rates .

Attention UB Students and Staff! October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and this year UB has been recognized for its efforts and innovation in violence prevention. There are a wide array of programs offered by the Division of Student Affairs' Wellness Education Services office focus on creating a living and learning environment free of sexual violence. The programs, offered year round, aim to educate students in how sexual violence is learned and prevented, intervention techniques, the importance of men in this work, and the encouragement of a campus culture that promotes gender equitable healthy relationships and eliminates acceptability of sexual violence. For more information please see the attached flier in the [read more] section.

The CDS department would like to congratulate Julie Wynkoop, third year Au.D. student, for receiving The Mark Diamond Research Fund (MDRF) grant. This grant is awarded to graduate students for research expenses related to their thesis, dissertation, or research projects. Julie is currently working on her Au.D research project entitled "Changes in Hearing Related Quality of Life as it Relates to Speech Perception when Upgrading a Cochlear Implant Speech Processor.” It is her hope that through this project she will develop an understanding of the extent to which people’s needs are met when they decide to upgraded their cochlear implant speech processor. For more information on this award or how you can apply please visit http://gsa.buffalo.edu/funding.html. Congratulations again Julie!

On October 21, 2009, the UB Reporter released an article which describes Theresa Cinotti’s accent-reduction course. This course is offered to both members of UB and the Buffalo community and is designed to help reduce accents through a semester-long program. For more information about this course and/or to read this article in its entirety please visit http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/2009_10_21/accent_reduction.

The CDS Department would like to congratulate Grace Liu for being chosen for the Minority Student Leadership Program (MSLP) Class of 2009. The MSLP is a leadership development program established for undergraduate seniors, Master's students, or Au.D. students who are enrolled in communication sciences and disorders programs and Ph.D. students who are pursuing a research doctoral degree. The purpose of this award is to recruit and retain racial/ethnic minorities that have been historically under-represented in the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology, to provide focused educational programming and activities to build and enhance leadership skills, to provide an understanding of how the association works, and to provide an opportunity for program participants to interact with leaders in the professions of audiology, speech-language pathology, and speech, language, and hearing sciences. The recipients of this award received complimentary ASHA 2009 Convention registration in New Orleans, Louisiana which will take place from November 17-22. For more information about MSLP please visit http://www.asha.org/students/mslp.htm#1. Congratulations again Grace!

On Saturday, October 17th, the Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) Buffalo Chapter volunteered their time to help renovate a house with Habitat for Humanity of Buffalo. Habitat for Humanity Buffalo is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charitable organization seeking to alleviate the shortage of quality affordable housing in Buffalo, New York. Through volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money, land, and materials, Habitat Buffalo builds or rehabilitates simple, decent houses. The houses then are sold to pre-qualified families at no profit and with no interest charged while Habitat holds the mortgages. The SAA students participated in various tasks including: laying brand new insulation, building walls, and even putting in plumbing. For more information on how you can help, donate, or even become a homeowner please visit http://habitatbuffalo.org/.

Congratulations to Sneha Hinduja, a second year Au.D. student in the CDS department who was awarded the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) Scholarship. This scholarship is given to students focusing on applied/practical studies in hearing loss prevention/hearing conservation at regionally accredited United States institutions. The title of her project proposal was: The protective effect of D-Methionine against noise induced hearing loss and reduction of neurogenesis in the adult rat hippocampus. For more information about the National Hearing Conservation Association, their awards, and their scholarship foundation please visit their website at http://www.hearingconservation.org/.