Vision Statement

The Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences is committed to advancing the scientific understanding of human communication and its disorders, and to improving the lives of people with communication and associated challenges across the life span.

Mission Statement

As a center of excellence, we are committed to innovative education, cutting-edge basic and translational research, evidenced-based clinical services for speech, language, swallowing, and hearing disorders, and impactful community outreach and education. We strive to align our unique strengths in basic and translational sciences with our educational and research goals. To achieve these goals we strive to:

1) Expand and enhance our research efforts as worldwide leaders, by achieving

  • Widespread dissemination of high caliber research
  • Collaborative disciplinary and interdisciplinary research initiatives
  • A diversified portfolio of sponsored research 

2) Expand and enhance our educational programs, by facilitating the development of:

  • Critical thinkers who are steeped in theory and evidence across disciplines
  • Problem solvers who create innovative solutions for the benefit of humanity
  • Pioneering pedagogy that is responsive to the diverse needs of our university, community, state, and nation 

3) Optimize and enrich our clinical service delivery and community outreach, by developing

  • Robust pathways for dissemination of evidenced-based practice
  • Effective channels to educate and advocate on behalf of our community
  • A client population that reflects the diverse community in which we live

We strive to achieve this vision and mission by maintaining fiscal responsibility, increasing sources of revenue, fostering collaborations across campus, and prioritizing diversity and inclusion to better serve our multi-dimensional community.

Strategic Plans

2024 - 2029 SPHSC Department Strategic Plan

SPHSC Master's program Long-term Strategic Plan

UW Strategic Planning Overview2020 University of WA Strategic Plan & Initiatives and Leadership Summary