Emily Gillispie
News Reporter
There is such a thing as a healthy divorce, at least when it comes to the Communication Disorders Program and the School of Communication.
The Board of Regents has approved the separation of the COMD program from the rest of the communication school. The separation will occur pending approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Since its genesis almost 50 years ago, the Communication Disorders Program has been a part of the School of Communication, which is in the College of Humanities, Fine Arts and Communication.
"We really are unique because we have our own specialized field of study," said Lynn Bliss, program head for COMD. "We focus on the scientific study of normal and disordered speech, language and hearing mechanisms."
The COMD program trains speech pathologists who study normal and impaired speech, as well as those who treat speech and language disorders. The program also trains audiologists. All of these fields relate specifically to the medical community, making the COMD program different from the rest of the School of Communication.
The separation from the School of Communication would allow the COMD program to work more closely with the medical field, which is more appropriate to its field of study.
"I support the change because they were in a unit so unlike themselves it seemed a logical move to me to make the Communication Disorders a separate unit," HFAC Dean Lois Zamora said. "Now they can grow and do what they do, in health science work, in ways that will be more appropriate to their own."
Bliss also cites the fact that the COMD program is divided into two parts, academic and clinical, both of which differentiate the COMD program from the School of Communication.
"Our educational program is divided into two parts. We have course work, and we have a clinical program. We have two clinics on campus, and both the academic and clinical experiences the students get are governed by our professional organization, the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association," Bliss said. "This makes us different from the School of Communication. They too offer courses, but we have a higher authority, and we always have to bow to that higher authority."
With the success of the separation, Zamora hopes to be able to meet the demand for Communication Disorders study, a demand that cannot be currently met at this time. For instance, the program currently lacks almost 100 teachers necessary to an ideal program environment.
"The thing about the Communication Disorders being a health science is that they are health professionals who work in the community and public school system," Zamora said. "It's a discipline that has people wanting to get in because it results in a very particular skill. We can't keep up with the demand."
Zamora also indicated an interest in creating a doctoral program here at UH for students in the Communication Disorders Program, something that is not offered at the University of Houston at present.
"That's part of the long-term planning, is to develop a Ph.D. program," Zamora said.
With the separation will come some other long-awaited changes. No longer will the COMD program have to be subject to the School of Communication. The split will bring about a new sense of autonomy and independence that the program has long been ready for, Zamora said.
"They're ready to be independent," Zamora said. "It's like leaving home and growing up."
Bliss attributes this independence to the fact that the Communication Disorders Program is so different from the School of Communication.
"We're gaining independence because we're a different profession and our academic and professional requirements are very different from the School of Communication," Bliss said.
This new independence won't be seen until the separation is approved by a Coordinating Board. Bliss said she sees this approval as imminent and hopes to see the change as early as fall of the coming academic year.