Advising Manual for Undergraduate Students in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences

The SLHS department maintains expectations for students to meet high academic standards. The SLHS instructors and advisors are committed to supporting students to meet those standards. We recommend that students a) see an academic advisor every semester; b) join NSSLHA; c) attend at least one instructor's office hours every week; and d) join a study group!

In order to advance in the academic sequence, undergraduate students in the SLHS major must maintain the following:

1. An overall C average (2.0 GPA) for the program.
2. Students who receive a grade lower than C- in SLHS 651 can take SLHS 652, SLHS 680, and SLHS 658 the following semester, but must wait to take SLHS 661 until the following year, after they've retaken SLHS 651 and received a C- or higher.   
3. Students who receive a grade lower than a C- in SLHS 652 can take SLHS 661 and SLHS 658, but must wait to take SLHS 654 and SLHS 680 until the following year, after they've retaken SLHS 652 and received a C- or higher.   

Students who do not meet these criteria cannot take particular sequential SLHS courses. They must re-take the courses in which they received grades below C– the next time they are offered before taking additional SLHS courses.

"An undergraduate student who has received a grade of C or higher, or a grade of CR, may not repeat a course unless the course is described in the Bulletin as repeatable for credit. An undergraduate student who has received a grade in a course that is lower than C, including AU, IC, RD, RP, W, and WU, may repeat that course only once more (http://bulletin.sfsu.edu/policies-procedures/)

The undergraduate program in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences is designed to provide students with the prerequisite knowledge necessary for taking graduate courses and clinics leading to the completion of a master’s degree and the Speech-Language Pathology Services Credential in speech-language pathology or the doctoral degree in audiology. The undergraduate courses can be used to fulfill American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) requirements in the area of Basic Human Communication and Swallowing Processes. Each semester students are responsible for meeting with an academic advisor. Students can sign up for an appointment with the SLHS Office. Students with freshman or sophomore status are not eligible to take undergraduate SLHS courses.

It is strongly recommended that students complete 25 observation hours. Observations may take place: (1) within the on-campus SLHS Clinic; (2) at off-campus sites; and (3) by observing videotaped sessions of nationally recognized master clinicians. Undergraduate students with senior status, at least a B overall grade point average and permission from the SLHS Clinic Coordinator may enroll for a clinical experience as a clinical assistant (SLHS 711). In some situations, the students assist a graduate student in therapy and can acquire clinical hours. Clinical assistants have direct contact with a child, adolescent, or adult who has a speech, language or hearing disability when it is deemed appropriate by the supervisor. A maximum of 10 hours of clinical clock hours may be completed and will be applied toward ASHA clinical clock hours requirement if the student has the primary responsibility for the session or portion of the session.

All undergraduate students are required to complete 10 clock hours in audiological assessment (e.g., pure tone and bone conduction hearing testing) as part of the lab portion (SLHS 680) of SLHS 654 Audiometry.

Details about the courses below can be found in the university course bulletin, which provides descriptions of the courses and specifies their prerequisites, units, and latest offerings.

Required Courses

The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) standards require that applicants for certification must have demonstrated knowledge of the biological sciences, physical sciences, statistics, and the social/behavioral sciences. Students are expected to meet these requirements at the undergraduate level. SLHS students must complete courses in these four areas before taking courses in the SLHS major:

1. A course in biological sciences (A course in one of the following area will be required: biology, human anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, human genetics, or veterinary science.)
2. A course in physical sciences (A course in Physics or Chemistry will be required. At SF State, Physics can be fulfilled by PHYS 101 and Chemistry can fulfilled by CHEM 101.)
3. A Statistics course (At SF State, this requirement can be fulfilled by MATH 124, PSY 171, or ISED 160.) (CSU Northridge also offers an online Introductory Statistics course – MATH 140 – which is open to eligible SF State students.
4. A course in social/behavioral sciences (A course in one of the following area will be required: psychology, sociology, anthropology, or public health.)

• It is recommended that SLHS students complete a minor.  The Graduate College of Education offers two minors:  Education and Special Education. 
• In addition to the major course requirements, students must also meet the Upper Division General Education Requirements. 
• Students must complete the equivalent of one 3-unit course in each of the three categories: Physical/Life Sciences (UD-B), Arts/Humanities (UD-C) and Social Sciences (UD-D).
• SF State Studies courses fulfill graduation requirements, but do not have specific unit requirements. They are meant to ensure that students take at least one course in areas that the campus feels are important to graduates of our university. There are four overlay requirements that students must meet: American Ethnic and Racial Minorities (AERM), Environmental Sustainability (ES), Global Perspectives (GP) and Social Justice (SJ). Overlay requirements that are met in the upper division GE courses listed below are indicated after the course title.
• See this link for courses that have been approved to meet the Domains of Knowledge and the overlay requirements:
  • Choose 3 or more courses from the list at the link above, making sure that together they cover UD-B, UD-C, and UD-D.  Also, make sure that among these three courses or others that you are taking or plan to take, they cover each of the four overlay requirements.  
  • SPED Minor courses SLHS 300, SPED 330, SPED 370, and SPED 688 all meet the UD-D requirement

FALL YEAR 1 (Junior Year) 

SPRING YEAR 1 (Junior Year) 

FALL YEAR 2 (Senior Year) 

SPRING YEAR 2 (Senior Year) 

An undergraduate SLHS major can apply to be a Clinic Aide for 1 unit credit (SLHS 711). You must have completed 6 SLHS courses/18 units with a minimum GPA of 2.0 in those courses in order to be eligible to be a Student Clinic Assistant/Aide. You will need to obtain an add permit number from the Instructor of SLHS 711, the Department Chair, or the Department Academic Office Coordinator. Download the Clinic Aide Responsibilities Guide to learn more about about the expectations for Clinic Aides. Serving as a Clinic Aide can offer you a valuable experience in the clinical context. If you plan to go on to graduate studies in speech-language pathology or audiology, you can also get a head start on accruing clinical observation hours, which is not required at the undergraduate level, but is required for ASHA certification at the graduate level. A SLHS 711 survey will be distributed shortly before the beginning of each semester by the instructor of record for SLHS 711. 

Undergraduates enter the program in their junior year, usually after having completed all of the general education requirements. Students who have questions regarding general education requirements should contact a general education adviser in the Advising Center. All undergraduate students must complete 120 units to graduate from the university. Undergraduate students with senior status may (on advisement and permission of the instructor) enroll in a maximum of 6 units of SLHS graduate coursework, beyond the 120 units required for graduation in their last semester. 

Candidates for baccalaureate degrees must file a graduation application with the Registrar's Office before the end of the fourth week of instruction of the semester in which they expect to complete graduation requirements.

Undergraduates are encouraged to apply for admission to the graduate program in Speech, Language and Hearing at SF State. Acceptance into the graduate program is competitive due to the significant number of qualified applicants than spaces available. Because the undergraduate courses closely follow ASHA requirements for human communication processes and professional coursework, the undergraduate program at SF State meets the undergraduate academic requirements of other ASHA accredited training programs in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. Students are encouraged to apply to more than one program. A searchable database of audiology and speech-language pathology programs that are ASHA approved can be found at About EdFind. There you can find a detailed description of different audiology and speech-language pathology programs around the country. 

Applicants for the master’s degree program at SF State must apply through CalStateApply (https://gcoe.sfsu.edu/current-students/how-apply).  Please contact the Division of Graduate Studies at SFSU for any questions about CalStateApply (gradstudies@sfsu.edu).  The Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences MS includes the Speech-Language Pathology Services Credential. The speech-language pathology curriculum is designed to train competent, culturally sensitive speech-language pathologists who can appreciate and understand the importance of both advocacy and research in clinical practice. In order to accomplish this goal, a multitude of academic and clinical experiences are provided to the students, under the direction of skilled instructors, clinical researchers and supervisors both on and off campus. The development of clinical skills requires academic knowledge, the ability to understand and engage in research, and a sensitivity to clients' needs, values and cultures.

SLHS undergraduate studies include an opportunity to participate in the SF State Scholars Program.  The SF State Scholars Program provides undergraduate students with an accelerated pathway to a M.S. degree in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.  Participants in this program pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree simultaneously. This program allows students to earn graduate credit while in their junior and/or senior year, reducing the number of semesters required for completion of a master’s degree. The San Francisco State University Scholars program offers SLHS students a career path to speech-language pathology with a clinical specialization in one of four areas:  Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Autism Specialization, Early Childhood, and Spanish-Bilingual. SF State Scholars receive a unique form of mentorship that is not often expected at a large urban university. Please visit the SF State Scholars page for more information.