Mission, Vision and Goals

UT Health San Antonio

The mission of the university is to “make lives better through excellence in education, research, health care, and community engagement.” The strategies of achieving this mission are to cultivate a new generation of excellent health care providers and scientists, conduct top-notch research and make discoveries available to the public, be active in community engagement to improve health and be an advocate in health policy.

School of Health Professions

The School of Health Profession’s mission also is to provide an excellent education to nurture future health professionals and leaders and to advance science and practice of the health professions. The main goal is to be a world-renowned school with top-ranked programs in the United States.
As an integral part of the University and the School of Health Professions, the Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology (MS-SLP) program strives to promote the values of diversity, access and inclusion in education, scholarship, patient care, and community engagement.

Mission

The mission of the MS-SLP Program is to provide graduates with a broad knowledge base, expertise in evidence-based approaches, and real-world problem-solving (particularly in health care settings) experiences. This mission will be achieved through excellent education, scholarship, patient care, community partnership, and cultural diversity.

Vision

The vision of the MS-SLP Program is to train and educate future medical speech-language pathologists to become exceptional critical thinkers, research-driven clinicians using the best practices, and strong leaders in the diverse communities they serve.

Goals

Long- and Short-term Plans (2018-2021; FY18 - FY21)

Goal 1: Excellent education
The educational goal of the program is to educate a diverse student body to become excellent clinicians in medical speech-language pathology and scientists.

Strategies

1. Recruit highly qualified faculty who have respectable educational credentials, areas of expertise, and professional experience to provide students excellent academic and clinical education.
2. Develop a curriculum that integrates problem-based learning, innovated design, community-based clinical training, and multidisciplinary preservice education to prepare students to be exceptional critical thinkers and research-driven clinicians using the best practices.
3. Provide students robust clinical training in a health science campus environment and a wide range of community-based practica in preparation for future work as speech-language pathologists in diverse clinical settings.

Goal 2: Scholarship
The program goal is to contribute to the discipline with new knowledge, skills, and technologies, and promote excellence within the context of basic and applied research and scholarship.

Strategies

1. Provide a supportive environment (e.g., funding, equipment, facilities, library resources, protected time, faculty mentoring, etc.) for faculty’s and students’ scientific inquiry and scholarship.
2. Support students in the development and completion of individual capstone projects under the guidance of faculty mentors.
3. Foster collaborative research opportunities between faculty and students for scholarship, and prepare graduates for a competitive application to advanced training programs (e.g., Ph.D.).

Goal 3: Patient Care and Community Engagement
The program strives to provide high-quality clinical services to patients and communities.

Strategies

1. Train and guide students through community-based clinical practica or community
outreach activities in providing high-quality speech, language, and hearing services to individuals of all cultures, ages, and abilities.
2. Develop and maintain community partnerships to help meet the communication needs of the community while providing students with a wide range of excellent educational, professional, and research experiences.