Proposal

Narrative

Every semester the Communication Sciences and Disorders Graduate Program has a Clinical Practicum (SPA 6505) which treats 75+ clients per semester. The two treatment rooms that the clinic operates on the first floor in the College of Education rooms 117A and 117B are designed for handicapped and otherwise disabled clients. The observation rooms attached to these are vital for Supervisors (Adjunct Instructors) as well as family members, especially in the recording of the sessions that occur. Our students will often record sessions to use for training, education, and review of the clients progress throughout a term. Recording equipment has been experiencing technical issues with feedback noise and distortion to make the sessions unrecordable. As they are unable to record their sessions we have limitations in their education and use for future classes and years moving forward. Prior to completing two off-campus practicum experiences, students are required to obtain 100 hours of clinical therapy time with clients. The clients enrolled in the clinic range from infants to elderly adults. Many areas of communication disorders are treated, including autism, aphasia (language disorder related to stroke), stuttering, voice disorders, and speech, language delays/disorders in children. The clinic provides a carefully-supervised environment for students to apply classroom knowledge in evaluation and management of clients. It also provides a valuable service to the community for free for those with communication disorders. In these 100 hours each of our 25-30 students perform, every session in 117A and 117B goes unrecorded due to the audio interference. After working with our IT personnel in the College of Education, they evaluated the issue and found a complete overhaul was necessary as the equipment originally purchased 10+ years ago has become worn out and used. The overhaul would satisfy at minimum 10 years of accurate audio and visual recording, serving over 250-300 students in its minimum projected lifetime.

Facilities

N/A

Hardware Requirements

The IT Personnel Steven Diaz evaluated the equipment and its modern counterparts and gave a detailed project list of the parts required: 8 Stereo Headphone Amplifier Model D-SH1 ($186.55 each) 2 Quadruple Cover Plate - White Model CP-4 ($16.00 each) 2 Microphone/Line Distribution Amplifier 1x4 Model RU-MLD4 ($284.48 each) 2 Ceiling Condenser Cardioid Microphone, White Model CM1-6W ($280.00 each) 4 Sony Headphones Model MDR-7506 ($120.00 each) 2 Four-Gang Switch Recepticle Box Model VS5478 ($80.00 each)

Software Requirements

N/A

Personnel Costs

N/A

Other Costs

Vendor Installation Materials (Estimate) - $1,000.00 Vendor Shipping (Estimate) $3,500.00

Timeline

Once the proposal is approved the vendor would be contacted as soon as possible and they could be done within one week of paying for their service and equipment.

Sustainability

The equipment is under a 2-year warranty and projected to last 10 years minimum. 2018-2028.

Resource Matching

N/A

Implementing Organization

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Education