CSD Launches Online Post-Bacc Program

Pacific University is offering a new online series of post-baccalaureate courses to help students who have completed a bachelor’s degree prepare for graduate programs.

The School of Communication Sciences & Disorders is offering several courses that serve as prerequisites for the master of science in speech-language pathology.

Courses available this fall will include anatomy and physiology of speech, clinical phonetics, and clinical observation. More courses will launch in Spring 2016.

The series of classes parallels the coursework that Pacific undergraduates take in the communication sciences and disorders minor. In fact, the online courses are being developed and taught by the same professors who lead the on-campus classes.

“We are very excited to offer these online courses,” said Martin Fischer, director of the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders. “Each course was designed by a faculty member at Pacific who is an expert in their field of study.”

Online classes begin in conjunction with on-campus classes in late August. There are still a few spots available in the first cohort, and application information is available by contacting csd@pacificu.edu.

The post-baccalaureate series is the first of its kind at Pacific. The university offers an online graduate certificate in gerontology, as well as a bachelor of health science degree completion program that is fully online. This is the first set of classes created to provide an online mirror to on-campus coursework.

The one-credit clinical observation course is particularly innovative at Pacific. Many graduate programs in the health professions require clinical observation in the field as part of an application process, but many prospective students may struggle to arrange observation with a healthcare provider. Students in the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders have access to an online repository of clinical video showing real-world therapy session conducted by expert speech-language pathologists. Access to these videos is 24/7, allowing students to work from home on their own schedule.

The goal of the online post-baccalaureate program is to prepare students for entry into a graduate program in speech-language pathology. The quality of these courses ensures that students will be prepared to enter a graduate program at Pacific or elsewhere.

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015