Graduate Education Policies

Application Requirement for Graduate Students

Students applying for admission to graduate programs in Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, or Deaf Education must complete their bachelor’s degrees no later than the end of the semester prior to the beginning semester of their graduate program. Applicants may petition to the department if extenuating circumstances exist.

Graduate Student Funding

In the interest of timely degree completion, graduate students with university funding associated with a time commitment (e.g., mini-GA, LSL, TA, RA, URLEND) are generally limited to one such commitment per semester. Students should take on additional assignments cautiously, and must work the full time commitment for any assignments they accept.

USU limits graduate students to 20 hours of university employment. Student wishing to petition for an exception to the 20-hour limit should contact the graduate academic advisor.

Graduate Credit

Students must complete all the courses required for their graduate program. Doing so will assure that the student will meet all departmental and university requirements, in addition to requirements from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) or Council on Education of the Deaf (CED) requirements.

If a student has previously taken a course very similar to one of the required courses, they may submit a request for a waiver or a substitution. Any exceptions must be approved in writing from the regular instructor for that course, the graduate advisor and division chair. A substitution can only occur if the course was not used toward prior degree credit. If a class is waived, the student, in consultation with the graduate adviser and division chair, will choose an alternate class to meet graduation credit hour requirements.

Graduate Student Grades

  • The USU School of Graduate Studies requires that graduate students maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0. Grades of C- or lower will not be accepted for a graduate degree. Only certain types and number of courses can be taken on a Pass basis. See the School of Graduate Studies Catalog for more information.
  • In COMDDE, a satisfactory grade in graduate programs is a B- or better. Any student who earns two grades of C+ or lower will be dropped from the graduate program.
  • The grade earned on a class that is taken to remediate knowledge and skill competencies will not result in the replacement of the original class grade. A C+ or lower in this subsequent class will count toward the two unsatisfactory grade maximum.
  • Students must successfully complete program capstone experiences required by their Plan, including Comprehensive Examination, Clinical Research Project, Educational Project, or Thesis Project. See individual division policies for re-takes or changing Plans.

Competency-based Education: Knowledge and skills Acquisition (KASA) and Remediation

In addition to course grades, students must meet a set of standards required for their profession to graduate. For the knowledge and skill acquisition (KASA) standards, students must meet program-specified criteria to demonstrate their competence. For speech-language pathology and audiology, the standards are set by the Council for Clinical Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CFCC), a semi-autonomous credentialing body of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). See https://www.asha.org/Certification for more information.

Each division regularly monitors its graduate students’ academic and clinical progress toward the  standards. Speech-language pathology and audiology graduate students can view their progress on CALIPSO. Students must meet all specified items on the final CALIPSO KASA Summary Report. Graduation documents will not be filed with the Graduate School if any graduate level competencies have not been signed off. ASHA program verification for certification will not be signed by the Program Director until the student meets all required KASA standards.

Academic Competencies
Academic knowledge competency standards are met primarily in graduate coursework. The competence criterion is generally a minimum grade of 80% or B- on each assessed item.

Each academic course syllabus will indicate the KASA standard(s) that must be met in that course and how competencies will be demonstrated for each standard. Students who do not meet the competency criterion on the specified evaluation task (e.g., total exam, exam section, assignment, activity) will have further opportunities such as other tasks in that course, a task re-do, or other specially-designed tasks. In some cases, students may have another opportunity in another course. Performance on any re-takes or additional tasks will not change the original task grade or the final course grade.

A course is more than a collection of competency objectives tied to a particular standard. Other valuable learning experiences contribute to the knowledge gained and the course grade. As a result, it is possible for a student to earn a course grade of B- or higher but have made additional efforts to meet particular competencies; conversely, it is possible for the student to meet all the competencies at the first opportunity, but earn a course grade of C+ or lower.

Undergraduate Competencies
For KASA competency standards addressed primarily by undergraduate coursework, transcripts must show successful completion of relevant coursework. Further documentary evidence such as course syllabi or assignment descriptions may be requested. Students may also have to demonstrate competence at the graduate level.  

Clinical Competencies
If a graduate student receives a final grade lower than B- for a clinical education assignment (COMD 6100, 6200, and 6300), the student must remediate performance on the relevant knowledge and skills. See the USU-SLC Student Clinic Manual for further information on management of clinical course remediation.

Remediation Plans
In each course or clinical placement, specified Knowledge and Skill competencies must be met. Students who do not meet the criterion on the designated indicator will carry out additional instructor-designated actions to meet the competency within the course (informal or “small r” remediation). If a student does not meet designated competencies within a course or practicum placement, a formal (“big r”) Remediation plan may be put in place. When a student goes on formal Remediation, a plan of action with specific performance criteria will be designed by a division committee comprised of at least the instructor and the Clinic Director or Division Chair in the student’s discipline area.

If the formal Remediation plan requires a student to repeat a course or part of a course, the student will audit the course or enroll in an independent study for the number of credit hours determined in the remediation plan. The repetition grade will not replace or change the grade earned in the original course. The grade on that Remediation course will count toward the maximum of two unsatisfactory grades.  

Core Functions and Expectations for Professional Practice

Core Functions is intended as a guide for educational programs in speech-language pathology or audiology. It is also a guide to expectations for individuals seeking a career in these professions. This document identifies the core competencies that individuals of such programs are typically expected to employ in didactic and clinical educational experiences to acquire the knowledge and demonstrate the competencies that will lead to graduation and successful entry into professional practice. 

Praxis Exam

All SLP and Audiology graduate students must take the ASHA national certification exam by ETS and report their scores to the department (department code 0309) in order to graduate. Students are encouraged to take the test by March 15 of their final semester for scores to be received and recorded in time for spring graduation.

Deaf Education students in the Bilingual-Bicultural program must take and pass the Praxis II content exam approved by the Utah State Office of Education in the major content areas prior to student teaching.  

Graduate Program Completion

A graduate student will officially graduate at the end of the semester in which all academic coursework, Praxis exam, and all clinical/student teaching coursework (for which the student has registered) is complete. If a student does not successfully complete all requirements by the end of the last semester listed on the student’s program of study, the student will continue to enroll as a graduate student until all graduation requirements have been met. The "degree conferred" semester will be the semester that the student actually completes all degree requirements and final grades are posted.

Leave of Absence (LOA)

The COMDDE Department expects graduate students to maintain continuous registration of at least 9 credits per semester. A graduate student who experiences unexpected health problems or other compelling personal circumstances which affect the ability to successfully maintain full-time status may request a one-semester Leave-of-Absence (LOA) by petitioning the appropriate Division Chair. Under extreme circumstances the Division may extend a departmental LOA beyond that time limit. It may be necessary for a student to submit a Graduate Student LOA form (see https://gradschool.usu.edu/forms/) to the School of Graduate Studies. The following are requirements for student to obtain a LOA:

  • May only petition for one LOA during their graduate program
  • Cannot be enrolled in any academic courses or clinical practicum at the university during the LOA
  • Must maintain continuing graduate enrollment through the School of Graduate Studies
  • Is responsible for any missed courses and/or clinical practicum which may extend the graduate program
  • May not petition for an LOA as a means of avoiding low grades in academic courses or clinical practicum
  • Is expected to resume full-time continuous registration at the end of the approved LOA.

If a student is unable to return from an LOA, it may be recommended that the student be removed from the program. Should the student wish to reapply to the graduate program, he or she may do so on a competitive basis according to the University’s regular graduate admission deadlines and procedures.