Fresno State, Stanislaus team
for communicative disorders degrees

by Dr. Sam Oppenheim, California State University, Stanislaus

This January Fresno State and California State University, Stanislaus will offer communicative disorders degrees as part of a cooperative distance learning program.

Starting in January 2000, students can earn bachelor and master of arts degrees in communicative disorders with specializations in deaf education and speech-language pathology.

President John D. Welty and Dr. Marvalene Hughes, president of California State University, Stanislaus, called the partnership the beginning of good things to come for students at both campuses.

"In this new era of educational and strategic business partnerships, California State University, Fresno and the Multi-Campus Regional Center are hard at work through the use of cutting-edge technologies to provide courses and degree programs for our students, wherever they are," Welty said.

The Stanislaus campus in Turlock and the university's Stockton site will also offer Fresno State courses to complete the requirements for a California special education specialist credential on communication handicapped or clinical rehabilitative services in speech hearing.

Fresno State will provide the major courses on the Stanislaus campus in Turlock and the Stockton site using interactive instructional television. All other elective and general education courses to complete degree and credential requirements in the program will be offered by Stanislaus on site through distance education in Turlock and Stockton.

The communicative disorders program will also benefit from community college members of the Higher Education Consortium of Central California; some courses in the program, such as sign language, are offered at Modesto Junior College, Columbia College, and San Joaquin Delta College.

There is a definite demand for availability of the degree program, said Dr. Diana Demetrulias, Stanislaus's associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies. She worked closely with Fresno State administration to develop the new partnership.