General Information
The Ed.S. degree was developed for employed Master’s level Communication Sciences & Disorders who wish to upgrade their professional skills, particularly public school employees who wish to pursue administrative competencies. Applicants are required to have completed three years of post-master’s degree school experience before entering the Ed.S. program.
The 30-semester-hour Ed.S. degree program is individually designed for each student within a flexible three category framework. One category includes required coursework in computer usage and an applied project. The two other categories are satisfied from areas such as speech-language pathology, education of the deaf/hard of hearing, leadership, administration or supervision, special education, reading, language education, science and math education, or educational psychology. Coursework for the Ed.S. may include regularly scheduled courses, independent study or directed reading, or an appropriate combination, as determined in consultation between the student and his/her faculty advisor.
The student is bound by the department regulations set forth below and also by all regulations for Ed.S. students and programs, and for all graduate students and programs, published in the University of Georgia Graduate Bulletin and updated on the Graduate School’s website. Where the departmental rules specified below are more stringent than the University’s regulations, the departmental rules will take precedence.
Admission procedures for the Ed.S. program require:
- A Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology or a related field;
- At least 3 years working experience since the master’s degree was awarded; and
- Submission of a department application, a university application, official GRE scores, all prior college transcripts, three letters of recommendation, and a statement of purpose.
Applicants should be familiar with the scholarly work of the faculty in the CMSD Department at The University of Georgia and should have considered carefully how their own interests and objectives mesh with the research conducted in the program. Because Ed.S. study is by nature specialized and requires close interactions with a mentor with relevant experience and interests, the CMSD department requires that prospective Ed.S. students consult with department faculty regarding their goals and interests. Thus, all applicants must receive the written assurance of at least one faculty member willing to serve as the student’s sponsor/temporary advisor upon admission. Students whose interests for their Ed.S. coursework are outside of CMSD (e.g., administration or reading education) are also required to have a sponsor within the CMSD department; CMSD faculty will make every effort to assist students in identifying relevant co-advisors in other departments. Applicants should also be aware that speech-language pathologists are not limited to seeking the Ed.S. through the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; another department in the College of Education might be more relevant in some cases, depending on the applicant’s interests.
Program of Study
After admission to the Ed.S. program, the student and his/her advisor should develop a Program of Study and submit it to the Graduate School during the second semester of residence or during the first 15 semester hours of study. The Program of Study will usually include 6 units of CMSD 7650, Applied Project in CMSD: 3 units in the student’s penultimate semester, for development of the project, writing the proposal, and securing appropriate Human Subjects Committee or other permissions, and 3 units in the student’s final semester, for completion of the project. Students who do not complete the project in the intended semester may be assigned a grade of “Incomplete” or may register for an additional 3 units of CMSD 7650 in the following semester, at the instructor’s discretion.
Six semester hours of coursework completed at other colleges or universities may be transferred to the Ed.S. program, but only for coursework completed during the time that the student is a fully accepted Ed.S. students at UGA. All transfer credit must be approved as representing a logical part of the student’s educational program by the student’s advisor and by the Graduate School, using the appropriate Graduate School forms for transfer of credit. Coursework taken at certain pre-approved sites, such as the University System Center in Gwinnett County, will be considered on-campus coursework for the purposes of the 6-hour limit on external coursework. The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders does not accept in-service credit or other credits from non-accredited sources as part of the program of study for the Ed.S. degree. No coursework completed prior to full Ed.S. admission is applicable toward the Ed.S. degree. Thus, no courses taken in non-degree status may apply toward the Ed.S. degree. Similarly, no coursework taken during an Ed.S. program may be applied toward the doctorate.
Applied Project
The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders requires Ed.S. students to complete an applied project, including a written report of that project, to satisfy the Graduate School’s requirement of a comprehensive examination at the end of an Ed.S. program. The applied project must be directed by a CMSD faculty member and approved by a committee consisting of the student’s departmental advisor and two other academic or clinical faculty members from the CMSD department or from another relevant department. A brief written proposal of the project must be approved by all members of the committee prior to the beginning of data collection or analysis. Ed.S. projects may be small projects at the level of a “pilot study,” but they must involve data collection or new analysis of available existing data. Reviews of the literature or similar library-based projects are not acceptable. The final project must be completed, and its final written form approved by at least two of the three committee members, not later than one week before the student’s intended graduation date, as specified each semester by the Graduate School.