Major Requirements

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Concentration Area of Study: This collection of coursework relates to the students' main areas of interest. It must consist of a combination of lecture classes or seminars, courses in grant or manuscript writing and independent studies and/or research. These courses are meant to build upon the students’ interests in a selected major area of study, and courses may be taken in other program areas (such as psychology, English, business, biology, counseling, special education, computer science, etc.); within speech-language pathology and audiology; or from an affiliated medical school. With the exception of allowed transfer credits, all courses must be taken at the doctoral 7/80000 level. Additional prerequisite coursework may be required at a lower level; this coursework would not count towards the 24 credit hours.

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Electives: Included within the 12 credit hours may be courses or independent studies related to student interests, including additional (non-concentration) academic or clinical areas of interest, interprofessional or cross-disciplinary topics and/or additional training in research methods, statistics or writing.

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Statistics and Research Methods: Each doctoral candidate must register and complete no less than two graduate-level statistics courses and no less than one advanced research methods course. Required statistics courses should include a focus on inferential statistics, including regression. Advanced research methods should include an advanced research methods course that covers both quantitative and/or qualitative approaches.

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Upon admission to candidacy, each doctoral candidate must register for SPA 84199. It is expected that a doctoral candidate will continuously register for Dissertation I each semester (fall, spring) for a total of 30 credit hours, and thereafter will register for SPA 84299, each semester (fall, spring) until all requirements for the degree have been met.

• Students may graduate with the Ph.D. degree with fewer than 75 total credit hours but no fewer than 60 total credit hours. Students may receive permission by graduate faculty to waive coursework if supported by the appropriate and recent coursework.

Major Requirements

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SPA 53404 is required for students who didn’t complete SPA 43404 (or equivalent) at the bachelor's degree level. Students who are waived the course may graduate with the M.A. degree with 64 credit hours.

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SPA 64311 is required for students who did not complete Kent State’s Autism Spectrum Disorders minor or who do not have previous appropriate coursework in autism spectrum disorders approved by the program coordinator. Students who are waived the course may graduate with the M.A. degree with 65 credit hours.

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Students who do not plan to be licensed and certified may be waived from the clinical practicum courses SPA 64492, SPA 64525, SPA 64592, SPA 65092, SPA 65192, SPA 65292 and SPA 65392. Therefore, students may graduate with the M.A. degree with fewer than 62 total credit hours but no fewer than 32 total credit hours.

To meet requirements for certification by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), students must register and successfully complete the program's clinical practicum sequence (see Program Requirements above). Practicum registration is required each semester that a student is enrolled, including registration for the school-based practicum and externship placement.

Thesis Option

Students who elect to complete a thesis must register for SPA 64199 for a total of 6 credit hours. It is expected that students will continuously register for SPA 64199 — and, thereafter SPA 64299 — each semester until all requirements for the thesis have been met. Credit hours for SPA 64299 do not count toward the degree.

• No more than one-half of a graduate student’s coursework may be taken in 50000-level courses.
• Grades below C are not counted toward completion of requirements for the degree.

Clinical Settings

For any clinical practicum (on campus or off campus) in speech pathology or audiology that requires candidates to be placed within the on-campus speech and hearing clinics, school or agency setting, the college requires candidates to complete Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification (BCII) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check and submit the results to authorized personnel at their assigned clinic/school/agency before the beginning of their placement or the first day of the semester in which the practicum will take place. Authorized school/agency personnel will determine whether a candidate may participate in practicum in the off-campus setting. The BCII and FBI background checks are good for one year and the candidates will need to complete one each year that they are in graduate school.

Electronic fingerprinting is available for BCII and FBI in 221 White Hall and should be completed one month prior to clinical practicum. Candidates are responsible for fees incurred for this requirement. For more information on this policy contact the Clinical Coordinators for the Speech and Hearing Clinics. Visit the Ohio Department of Education website for more information about background check requirements for those wishing to hold pupil personnel licenses in Ohio. Contact the Office of Professional Conduct at the Ohio Department of Education for specific information about the results of the background check.

Licensure Information

Candidates seeking Speech-Language Pathologist licensure are required to pass Praxis II test Speech-Language Pathology and minimum of 400 clock hours of supervised clinical experience in the practice of speech language pathology. Additional clinical coursework is required for Ohio Board of Speech Pathology License and optional ASHA certification.