Ouellette, Smart leading HHS departments

by Mark McGowan

NIU’s College of Health and Human Sciences has turned to two longtime faculty members – and recent acting chairs – to guide two of its divisions.

Sue Ouellette has been named chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders, formerly headed up by Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver. Laura Smart is the new chair of the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences, formerly led by Associate Dean Mary Pritchard.

“We feel fortunate to have selected these two talented individuals to lead these departments forward in the future. We conducted national searches for both of these positions, and feel we have selected the top leadership,” Dean Shirley Richmond said. “I am confident these chairs will be an asset in these changing times in health and human science education.”

Ouellette, who first came to NIU in 1975 and later rejoined the university in 1985 after a two-year stint at the University of Arkansas, said she will join the faculty in finding new directions “while further developing the things that brought us national recognition and rankings.”

“I am very excited about the opportunity to lead the department. It’s a terrific department, and I’ve been energized by my year as acting chair. It’s given me insight into the tremendous potential that the department has,” she said. “I’m also excited about working with the faculty to chart a course that builds on our strengths and opportunities.”

The department’s already strong programs provide a good base to build upon, she said. In addition to continuing to develop nationally-ranked programs in Speech-Language Pathology and Rehabilitation Counseling, goals which Ouellette hopes to pursue with faculty input include:

n a successful launch of the doctoral program in audiology – NIU’s first professional doctoral program.

The audiology degree (Au.D.) comes in response to new standards in the profession mandating a doctorate degree for entry-level practice. The doctorate is a four-year, post-baccalaureate degree, with a 114-hour requirement, exceeding the minimum requirements set by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

A major study conducted in 1997 by ASHA determined the field had outgrown the master’s degree, and association members subsequently voted to raise the requirements for the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Audiology to a doctoral degree.

n Continuing expanding the work of NIU’s Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic further into the community.

The NIU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic is open year-round and annually provides speech-language assessments and family-based treatment to more than 1,000 patients as well as hearing evaluations and hearing aid evaluations and fittings to more than 1,000 individuals.

Outreach speech-language and hearing screenings reach more than 2,000 people living in DeKalb, Boone, DuPage, Kane, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Winnebago counties. The clinic also provides clinical education for 125 graduate students and in-service learning activities for between 120 and 140 undergraduate students.

n broadening the base of the Program for Hearing Impaired, which transitions deaf and hard-of-hearing young adults into college and the working world.

The one-year program incorporates a rehabilitation concept, enabling participants to realistically evaluate and improve their academic, vocational, social, personal, and independent living skills, while they explore, select, and establish future goals. It provides many opportunities for students in speech-language pathology, audiology and rehabilitation counseling to learn from clinical interactions with these students.

Ouellette’s specialty in rehabilitation counseling centers on mental health issues of persons with disabilities, particularly those who are deaf or hard of hearing. She is also interested in studying individuals and families who are coping with disability-related issues.

Ouellette initially earned a Ph.D. in communication studies but her early interaction with deaf people in Cleveland, Ohio peaked her interest in communication disorders. Later, she added a specialization in rehabilitation counseling to her credentials then also studied family therapy. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and a Nationally Certified Counselor.

Ouellette and her husband Glenn, a banker who works in Chicago, are the parents of three children.

Smart considers her task at hand well-defined: to prepare a workforce equipped for tomorrow’s challenges with a “complex understanding of culture” to boot.

As the mother of a 17-year-old daughter who will enter college next year, and as a keen observer of gloomy news reports on the outsourcing of American jobs, Smart said responsible educators need to ponder the changing world their graduates will encounter.

“What types of jobs will be around? It’s a question everyone in education, certainly higher education, should be thinking about,” she said. “I’ve charged my faculty to critically examine the extent to which each of the many professions for which we prepare our graduates is resistant to outsourcing.”

She calls her school’s goal “21st Century Professions.”

“I hope people will ask what that means. These include jobs people do with their hands, such as the trades. Twenty-first century professions also include occupations where face-to-face interaction is essential, such as director of a child care facility, or manager of a hotel, department store or restaurant,” she said.

“We give our students skills for these occupations, including communication skills – not just writing skills, which are important – but how to read body language of both clients and co-workers. For example, a marriage and family therapist can tell something about bonds and power within a family when the family members walk into a room and choose their sitting arrangement.”

Another component defining 21st century professions is a deep understanding of context, she said, including cultural context and stage of life within that context.

“A dietician must know that foods which may be nutritionally helpful to a given client may be unpalatable culturally to the client and client’s family. Apparel industry professionals must understand that older consumers have different needs and wants than younger consumers.”

FCNS students practice their developing skills in off-campus internships and student teaching experiences. The school also boasts five on-campus laboratories, including three that serve the public: the Chandelier (dining) Room, the Child Development Laboratory and the Family Center (marriage and family therapy clinic).

Smart, who joined NIU in 1979, is the daughter of two professors of child development. Her father, Russell Smart, was chair of the Department of Child Development and Family Relations at the University of Rhode Island. His framed photograph sits on her desk to provide her with inspiration and encouragement.

“My parents always emphasized a systems view of the world – all disciplines are interconnected,” she said, adding that this view of reality is the framework for FCNS. “FCNS is an interdisciplinary academic unit with roots in biology, chemistry, social sciences, the arts, business and education. In our research, teaching and service, we apply our knowledge for the good of families, individuals and society.”

Smart, whose husband Roger Cohn is a real estate appraiser, said she already has evidence that FCNS is on the right track. She recently received a phone call from an employer who’d offered a job to a recent NIU grad but was turned down, much to his disappointment.

“He said, ‘Send me more,’ ” Smart said proudly. “Our programs have strong reputations. I think that FCNS is very well positioned for the 21st century.”

9-20-04