Accessibility, Belonging, Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equity (ABIDE) Committee

ABIDE Committee Statement

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) prepares students for careers in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, disciplines centered around the behaviors and processes needed for human connection through communication. Learning takes place via our rigorous teaching, innovative research, and personalized mentoring. Our undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs are dedicated to preparing students to evaluate all aspects of the human experience that may positively or negatively impact the success of shared understanding.

The CSD department acknowledges that much work has to be done to foster intellectual curiosity, critical reflection, and passionate advocacy in all members of this professional community. This work is necessary to ensure that the persons we serve are wholly seen and heard, irrespective of their age, racial and ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, socioeconomic status, religious affiliation or other manner of personal identification.

In alignment with Adelphi University’s Momentum 2 plan, launched in June 2022, the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is committed to the personal, emotional, and relational work necessary to become a community of change agents comprised of students, faculty, staff, as well as those with communication challenges and their caregivers.  Our aim is to create a culture that continually strives for social change; a place of belonging; a launching pad for those seeking to contribute to a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive profession.

The following objectives are intended to move the department and its stakeholders into a more responsive, change-oriented future:

• Modernize the curriculum with innovative, equitable, and inclusive pedagogical and clinical practices centered on cultural responsiveness and cultural humility.
• Transform the manner in which students from under-represented communities are recruited and retained, particularly those whose numbers are missing from our professions’ composition (e.g., persons of color, persons of bi-/multicultural and bi-/multilingual identification and experience).
• Collaborate with the University to hire, support, and retain faculty and staff that contribute positively to the diversity of experience, knowledge, and ways of being in our learning spaces.
• Engage with the University to expand our media presence as a program invested in changing the status quo of the speech-language-hearing professions.
• Promote initiatives aimed at maintaining the health, safety and wellness of our constituents through informative and accessible resources including Title IX Office, Mental Health services, the Learning Resource program, and the Multicultural Center.
• Create a learning environment where every constituent feels acknowledged, rewarded, and celebrated.