Department of Social Work and Communication Sciences and Disorders
College of Education & Human Services
Ap r il 1 5 , 2 01 1
Longwood University
Vo lu m e 2 , I ss u e 1
Greetings from our Chair
Greetings to all of the readers of our newsletter! As a growing and forward-thinking Department,
we welcome any opportunity to share information about our undergraduate programs in Social
Work and Communication Sciences and Disorders, and our graduate program in Communication
Sciences and Disorders. The faculty is eager to educate the community about these programs that
prepare students to enter graduate school, to become speech-language pathologists, and to
Dr. Theresa A. Clark
become practitioners.
As Chair of the Department of Social Work and Communication Sciences and Disorders, I value the high level of
commitment on the part of our faculty and support staff in educating our students and preparing them to be recognized
as leaders in a diverse society. The skills that faculty members have used in academic settings, clinical settings, and
overall societal settings are the essential skills taught to our students. Employers aid in assessing and evaluating the
knowledge base and practice skills our students possess. We continue to receive rave reviews about the level of
preparation that our students have and bring with them to employment.
The Department is excited about keeping abreast of current research as well as contributing to the same. As a result,
each time we receive an invitation to serve as a discussant, to serve on a committee, or to brainstorm about the future
of education, our Department is represented. As we collaborate with other departments in developing and sponsoring
programs, in investigating new methods to deliver the highest quality of education, and to reach the underserved,
growth is spurred. Will we continue to educate within the traditional walls of a building? Probably not. Will we
continue to educate face-to-face? Probably not. But, whatever the future of education, we will have a vested interest in
the new direction.
Table of Contents
Why Social Work?
Our Department trains and develops within our
students the skills that allow them to empower
individuals, groups, and communities and to use their
strengths to meet their own needs. In addition, we
provide pre-professional and academic training which
prepares students to apply and to be successful in
graduate schools. One graduate program is a part of
the Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSDS)
department, and in the near future we envision a
second graduate program in Social Work (MSW).
Greetings from our Chair ........................................................ 1
Why Social Work? ................................................................... 1
What is Social Work at Longwood? ......................................... 2
Social Work Faculty ................................................................. 2
Message from the Departmental Secretary ............................ 2
Highlights from Social Work Students..................................... 3
Highlights from FSSW .............................................................. 3
Who Are Speech-Language Pathologists? ............................... 4
Where do SLPs work?.............................................................. 4
Longwood's CSDS Program ..................................................... 4
Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty ..................... 5
CSDS Faculty News .................................................................. 5
Focus on CSDS Students .......................................................... 6
A reviewfrom
of current
outlook information for the7
Highlights
NSSLHAcareer
..........................................................
U.S. indicates that the employment opportunities for
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trained social workers will increase throughout the 21st
century. Employment of social workers is expected to
increase faster than the average for all occupations
through 2016. The rapidly growing elderly population
and the aging baby boom generation will create greater
demand for health and social services, resulting in rapid
growth among social workers.
(Source: www.bls.gov/oco/print/ocos060.htm).
What is Social Work at Longwood?
Longwood’s Social Work program offers students a
bachelor’s degree that incorporates a minimum of 500
hours of direct practice in field education. Therefore,
graduates gain the equivalent of a semester’s work
experience in a human service agency under the
leadership of a practicing social worker. Longwood’s
Social Work program has established a strong
reputation for producing entry-level, professionally
skilled, generalist-based, social work practitioners.
Social Work Faculty
Dr. Theresa A. Clark, Ph.D., Virginia
Commonwealth University.
Research Interests: Diversity Issues
and Social Policy.
Currently serving as the Chair.
E-mail: clarkta@longwood.edu
Dr. Kristen McAleavey, Ph.D., LCSW,
Walden University.
Research Interests: Addictions and
Eating Disorders. Presented her latest
research in the area of a Structured
Meal Plan Approach at the International Food Addiction
Conference in Dallas, TX. She is awaiting acceptance
from the Journal of Social Work and Addiction for
publication. In addition, she is designing curriculum in
the area of International Social Work for a 3 credit
online class. Jan., 2011, she was asked to serve on the
advisory board for Freedom House and Peter Paul
Development Center in the Churchill area of Richmond,
VA. She continues to advise Federation of Student
Social Workers and is helping students prepare for
awareness in the area of Child Abuse which is in April.
E-mail: mcaleaveyk@longwood.edu
Mrs. Mary Stebbins, MSW, LCSW,
Virginia Commonwealth University.
Research Interests: Family and
Children’s services.
Currently serving as Social Work’s Field
Director and Coordinator for the Social Work program.
E-mail: stebbinsmb@longwood.edu
Departmental
Secretary
434.395.2996
Hull 256
E-mail: turnerpc@longwood.edu
Mrs. Peggy Turner sends her
greetings. Hi, if you don’t already know, I’m Peg
Turner, Administrative Assistant in the Dept. of SOWK &
CSDS. If I can ever be of assistance to you or you just
want to pop in and say ‘Hi’ please do so. I’m located in
Hull #256.
Mailing address:
The Department of Social Work and Communication
Sciences and Disorders
College of Education & Human Services
Longwood University
201 High Street
Farmville, VA 23909
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Highlights from Social Work Students
Highlights from Federation of Student
Social Workers (FSSW)
Mallory Short, a senior in the Social Work program
spent her winter break in Uganda working with the
Abaana organization and submitted the following
report. We did outreach to the homeless street children
of Uganda, providing them with love, a daily meal, teeshirts, toothbrushes, silly bands, Cliff bars, Bibles, and
letters from friends in America. Abaana has opened up
a home called the New-Life Homes, where they have
rescued 41 boys and are now providing them with basic
needs, food, schooling, and tuition through university.
The boys in the home are so resilient, all of them were
once homeless and tortured, and now they are alive
and full of hope. I will be returning to Uganda in the fall
for six months and beginning a daily feeding program
for the street kids, school for the street kids, tutoring
for the boys in the home, and helping Abaana move
more boys into the home.
Hi! My name is Kathleen Carey and I am the president
of The Federation of Student Social Workers (FSSW).
FSSW is doing big things this semester! We are trying
very hard to just serve the community and bring more
awareness to our organization and to various social
justice issues as a whole. We go, as a group, to FACES
twice a month. April is Child Abuse Awareness Month.
We will be raising awareness of that at the end of April
by handing out ribbons and information on child abuse
in an effort to bring an end to it. That is our major
project for the remainder of the semester, but we also
have ideas to bring to campus next semester.
Kaitlin Bishop, a student in the Social Work program
recently presented a poster titled "The Perceived
Potential Effect of An Online Resource Compilation for
Adolescents on Student’s Behavioral Infractions in
Schools” at an NASW accredited conference. Ms.
Bishop's research explored the potential effects of
online resources on reducing behavioral infractions of
adolescents in public school. Results indicated that the
compilation of web resources would be much more
effective at the primary prevention level rather than the
tertiary level. In other words, the resources seem more
likely to help students who are at risk for behavioral
infractions but who have not yet gotten into trouble
than students who already have a behavioral infraction.
Alpha Delta Mu (ADM) is the Social Work
Honors Fraternity at Longwood University. Currently,
there are ten members as it is in the early stages of
growth, and is continually growing. ADM meets biweekly on Wednesday afternoons at 3:30. ADM spent
an afternoon working with Habitat for Humanity during
the month of May. They went to a condemned
property to assist in removing recyclable material and
material that could be sold through the Habitat ReStore.
"It was a fun time to serve the community and get our
hands dirty," reports historian of ADM, Becky Scheel.
ADM hopes to become more involved with Habitat for
Humanity and other events on campus as they continue
to grow. The organization includes the following
student officers:
President - Heather Truitt
Vice President - Anna Nelson
Secretary - Sara Meyerhoeffer
Treasurer - Katie Barnett
Historian - Becky Scheel
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Who Are Speech-Language
Pathologists?
We are professionals who provide services, including
prevention, identification, assessment, and treatment
of communication disorders such as stuttering,
language and communication, articulation, and voice, as
well as swallowing disorders, and to help individuals of
all ages, newborn to geriatric.
Where do SLPs work?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics ranks speech-language
pathology among the top 30 (of 700) fastest growing
occupations over the next decade. The current
employment rate for licensed, certified speechlanguage pathologists is 100 percent! SLPs are needed
in infant programs, schools, rehabilitation agencies,
private clinics, hospitals, and long-term care facilities.
Longwood's Communication Sciences
and Disorders Program
The Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSDS)
Program is dedicated to providing a comprehensive
education in basic human communication processes
and in the prevention, assessment, and treatment of
communication sciences and disorders across the
lifespan. Students may earn a Bachelor of Science in
CSDS from successful completion of the undergraduate,
pre-professional program. Graduate training is
necessary, however, for entry into the professions of
speech-language pathology or audiology. Many of our
Longwood undergraduates make a seamless transition
into Longwood's master's program, a five-semester
program involving both academic and clinical training.
CSDS Accreditation. The CSDS program is very
pleased to announce that the Council on Academic
Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language
Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language
Hearing Association awarded full accreditation to the
CSDS master's degree program in August of 2010.
To celebrate, the CSDS Graduate Program held a dinner
in October celebrating its successful accreditation by
the Council of Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Dr.
Dan Halling, the incoming Chair of the CAA from James
Madison University, and President Finnegan were the
featured speakers. The CSDS Advisory Committee held
a Silent Auction in advance of the dinner, which raised
approximately $1200 for the CSDS graduate student
scholarship fund.
Longwood's CSDS program has received a grant from
the Virginia Department of Education to host 6 ASHA
teleconferences to provide continuing education to
speech-language pathologists in southside Virginia.
The Communication Sciences and Disorders program,
ITTIP, Psychology, and Nursing programs supported the
4-H Science Fair at Prince Edward Middle School by
offering $25 savings bonds to the best projects
associated with speech and hearing, technology,
psychology, and health and wellness.
The Infant-Toddler Connection of the Heartland which is
housed at the Longwood Center for Communication,
Literacy, and Learning has two new employees. Lisa
Robinson is a part-time service coordinator and Colleen
Gleason is a developmental educator. Welcome Lisa
and Colleen!
SLP Online
The popularity of Longwood University's SLP Online
program continues to grow. During Spring 2011, 173
students were enrolled in one or more of the 9 online
classes offered for the semester. Of these 173 students,
99 were out-of-state students. Introduction to
Communication Disorders (CSDS 201) was also added
during the Spring 2011 semester and filled up so quickly
that another section had to be offered. A university in
California to has requested an additional section of
Speech Science (CSDS 450) just for their students!
Many e-mail inquiries arrive daily regarding the summer
and fall course offerings for SLP Online; these course
sections are expected to fill quickly as well.
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Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty
Peggy Agee
SLP.D, CCC-SLP
Undergraduate Program
Coordinator
Assistant Professor
Clinical Educator
ageepc@longwood.edu
Wendy Pulliam, M.S.
CCC-SLP, DLVE
Coordinator, Instructor
Clinical Educator
pullliamwj@longwood.edu
Gayle Daly, M.S.
CCC-SLP
Clinical Coordinator
Instructor
Clinical Educator
dalygh@longwood.edu
Michele Norman, Ph.D.
CCC-SLP
Assistant professor, Clinical
Educator
normanml@longwood.edu
Carole Ramser, M.Ed.
CCC-SLP
Instructor
Clinical Educator
ramserck@longwood.edu
Dr. Shannon Salley, M.S.
CCC-SLPD
Clinical Educator
salleysw@longwood.edu
Lissa Power-deFur, Ph.D.
CCC-SLP
Graduate Program
Coordinator, Professor,
Clinical Educator
powerdefurea@longwood.edu
her collaborators shared this information in a one hour
presentation.
Faculty News
Gayle Daly has presented at numerous conferences this
academic year. Ms. Daly and Dr. Shannon Salley
presented at the Renaissance Conference in Arlington,
VA in October on the topic SLPonline – Online Learning
for Career Switchers. Ms. Daly and Ms. Wendy Pulliam
presented at the same conference on The Use of
Skype™ to Collaborate with Students and Supervisors
during External Placements.
In October, 2010 Ms. Daly published an article entitled
Formative Assessment as a Clinical Supervision Tool in
ASHA Perspectives on Administration and Supervision.
In November, Ms. Daly presented a poster session,
Clinical Fellowship in Public Schools: Preparation,
Expectations, Reality, at the American Speech Language
Hearing Association in conjunction with 3 speechlanguage pathologists working in Loudon County
Schools. In mid-March at the Speech-Language Hearing
Association of Virginia annual conference, Ms. Daly and
Lissa Power-deFur and Peggy Agee presented on the
topic of Linguistic Complexity of State K-12 Assessments
at the Speech and Hearing Association of Virginia
conference in March.
Lissa Power-deFur and Wendy Pulliam presented on A
Collaborative Online Master’s Degree Program in CSDS
at the Renaissance Conference in October.
Lissa Power-deFur and Gayle Daly presented Infusing
Ethics in Academic and Clinical Coursework at the
Council of Academic Programs in Communication
Sciences and Disorders annual conference in Florida in
March.
Peggy Agee is a recipient of The Louis M. DiCarlo Award
for Outstanding Recent Clinical Achievement, presented
by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation.
The award was presented at the annual convention of
the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
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(ASHA) in Philadelphia in November. This award
highlights her work in creating and marketing clinical
initiatives to serve children in rural, Southside Virginia.
Focus on Students in CSDS
Whitney McCormick, Lauren Robinson, and Ashley
Rodriguez are seniors in the undergraduate CSDS
program. Recently, each presented a topical poster at
the spring conference of the Speech-Language-Hearing
Association of Virginia (SHAV). The focus of the poster
presentations was to summarize data regarding specific
evidence-based strategies for intervention in speechlanguage pathology. Ms. McCormick's poster discussed
dialogic reading while Ms. Rodriguez presented
information on print referencing and Ms. Robinson
shared information about the therapeutic effects on
language and communication of a systematic use of
music and games. Dr. Peggy Agee served as their
advisor.
Allison Chaplin and Andrew Hockenbery, first-year
graduate students in CSDS, have developed a hearing
conservation program, in collaboration with the
Farmville Lions, which was offered for all 4th grade
students in Prince Edward Elementary School on March
31. Dr. Power-deFur served as their advisor.
News from the LCCLL
The Longwood Center for Communication, Literacy, and
Learning has been very busy this year. In the area of
speech-language services, which are provided by CSDS
graduate students and directly supervised by CSDS
faculty and clinical educators, we have provided weekly
speech-language therapy to 24 clients, conducted 6
speech-language evaluations onsite, 8 evaluations in
area school divisions, 10 evaluations in children’s
homes in conjunction with staff from the Infant Toddler
Connection, conducted speech/language/hearing
screenings at area pre-schools, in the Lunenburg County
schools, and as part of the Wellness Fair on campus.
Michele Andersen, Nicole Eide, and Carrie Grandy are
first-year graduate students in CSDS. Each presented a
poster at SHAV highlighting individual research in
speech and language: Ms. Andersen’s poster on
phonological awareness and phonetics; Ms. Grandy’s on
rapid alternating rates of speech; and Ms. Eide’s on a
Spanish language probe. Their faculty advisors were Dr.
Lissa Power-deFur, Dr. Michele Norman, and Mrs. Gayle
Daly.
In addition, speech-language services are provided for
11 children in their homes on a weekly or bi-weekly
basis. A weekly early literacy program called EMERGE is
conducted at Head Start. Speech-language therapy
services are provided 1.5 days per week at Amelia
County Schools, and 2 days per week at Cumberland
County Schools, as well as a weekly speech sound
intervention program for 3rd graders at Prince Edward
County Schools. Direct speech-language therapy
services are also provided onsite to a few children at
local schools, public and private.
Acey Holmes, a second-year graduate student in the
CSDS master's program, also presented at SHAV. Ms.
Holmes presented her review of the literature regarding
the evidence which supports the use of Cued Speech for
the development of speech, language, and literacy for
children with hearing loss. Ms. Holmes also presented
her research at the Graduate Student Research Forum
in Richmond and at the North Carolina Speech and
Hearing Association.
The Infant and Toddler Connection of the Heartland has
increased the number of infants and toddlers served
who have developmental delay, atypical development,
or established disabilities and so is meeting its state
targets.
As you can see, Longwood was well-represented at the
SHAV conference! Our student presenters caused
quite a buzz!!
Summer will bring a new wave of activity to LCCLL.
Speech-language and hearing screenings will be
provided free of charge to the public on May 23 from 810, 11-1 and 4-6. Our summer camps will begin in midJune. The following camp opportunities will be offered:
Camp Jump Start, for 3 ½ to 5 year olds, will target
language and emergent literacy skills. CREW
(Constructing Real Writing) will be offered to rising 3rd 5th graders to improve writing skills. LEGO (Language
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Enrichment Gaming Opportunities), will allow 7-12 year
olds to engage in games while targeting oral language
skills. SPARC (Speech Practice and Refinement Camp)
will allow 9-12 year olds who stutter to improve their
fluency while meeting and sharing with others in their
peer group.
Photo Gallery
Highlights from the National Student
Speech-Language-Hearing Association
(NSSLHA)
Longwood graduate students Allison Chaplin and Andrew
Hockenbery discuss tips to help prevent hearing loss with
fourth grade students at Prince Edward County Elementary
School.
Hello! My name is Ryan O'Bar and I am a
senior here at Longwood. I have had the opportunity to
serve as NSSLHA's president for this academic year.
It’s been another busy year for our NSSLHA chapter.
The fall semester saw us running our booth at
Oktoberfest (and running out of the frames we were
selling in the process).We also joined the faculty and
staff in celebrating the accreditation of the master's
program in Communication Sciences & Disorders’
graduate program. We organized our annual Angel Tree
event to benefit children birth to 2 served by the Infant
& Toddler Connection of the Heartland with
overwhelming success! The generous donations we
received resulted in enough toys and books to
distribute to over 100 families!
The spring is looking just as eventful. NSSLHA assembled
almost 600 information packets for the attendees at the
spring conference of the Speech and Hearing
Association of Virginia (SHAV) and also sent two student
volunteers to assist with conference events. We still
have several things planned, including assisting with a
fundraiser for Camp Loud and Clear, a summer camp for
children who are deaf or hard of hearing; a spring
weekend booth; and a bowling night to raise money for
a cleft palate surgery for a child in China.
In March, Longwood was well-represented by both
undergraduate and graduate student presenters at the state
Speech and Hearing Association of Virginia. Each of the
students pictured presented a poster highlighting
independent research or literature review. Pictured are (top
left to right) Ashley Rodriguez, Whitney McCormick, (bottom
left to right) Carrie Grandy, and Lauren Robinson
Altogether, Longwood NSSLHA has had a very busy year.
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