Bowling Green, Ky. - In offering her congratulations to recent graduate students as their degrees were conferred, Western Kentucky University Provost Barbara Burch had final instructions: “Go forth and add distinction to yourself and your family, your state, your nation and your university.” What makes this statement unusual is that the ceremony took place not in the rolling hills of southern Kentucky but among the skyscrapers in New York City.

WKU President Gary Ransdell, Provost Burch and several WKU representatives celebrated the graduation of 29 students who received their master’s degree in communication disorders Thursday (Sept. 14) in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) building in lower Manhattan.

The students are the second group of UFT graduates to receive their degrees from WKU through this distance learning program. A third group is progressing through the program and a fourth group has just started.
How do you help speech therapists in the New York City public schools who couldn’t find a program to enroll in for graduate credit that takes place after working hours? If you’re the United Federation of Teachers, you go out, find a program and bring it to them.

Citing the loss of speech therapists to full-time graduate programs, Chapter Leader Mindy Karten-Bornemann described years of frustrated attempts to get programs started at all the local universities. “What else could we do,” she asked, “but try another way so our members can continue to work while they go to school?”
The school the UFT found was Western Kentucky University.

“The United Federation of Teachers speech chapter in New York City was looking at ways to further the education of bachelor's level employees providing speech therapy in schools,” according to Dr. Joseph Etienne, head of WKU’s Department of Communication Disorders. “The UFT approached WKU after learning that the University was offering an online master’s program in communication disorders.”

The online program is meeting the needs of speech therapists seeking a master’s degree while maintaining their current full-time school jobs and their family responsibilities. WKU, through the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach (DELO), has tailored the courses offered in New York to fit the needs of the UFT. The students take two academic courses each term and must complete three externships as part of the 51-hour master’s program.

According to Dr. Don Swoboda, dean of the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach, programs like this help WKU reach an important goal. “Distance learning is a perfect example of how WKU is becoming a leading American university with international reach,” he said. “We were able to meet the needs of the students in New York which enhances Western’s image as a national provider of higher education services.”

In addition to Dr. Burch, President Ransdell spoke to the graduates and their families. William Skaggs, assistant director of Alumni Relations, performed the ceremony for moving tassels and welcomed them to the WKU family.
Even though the graduates are located more than 800 miles from the Hill, Dr. Burch told the group that they will always be Hilltoppers. “But don’t let our interlude today be our last. I hope that each of you will stay connected to Western. You are the Western family and this is your Western experience.”

For information about the communication disorders program, contact Dr. Joseph Etienne at (270) 745-8998 or Dr. Barbara Brindle at (270) 745-4299; for more on distance learning opportunities, contact Dr. Don Swoboda at (270) 745-1900 or Beth Laves at (270) 745-5308.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Bill Oldham at (270) 745-1926.

-WKU-
"A leading American university with international reach"

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