Admissions Committee

Danielle is an associate professor at Texas Christian University. The overarching goal of her research is to explore the language and literacy skills of school-age children with and without language and reading impairments. Her primary line of research investigates how syntax contributes to school-age children’s spoken language, written language, and reading comprehension.

Jacqueline is the Program Director for the Speech-Language Pathology Program at the University of New Haven. She started teaching at the University in August of 2022. Jacqueline's research is focused on the evaluation of speech-language pathologists working in K-12 and the supervision/evaluation model in Connecticut. She aims to educate administrators and policymakers on the need for unique approaches to supervision/evaluation, to better support professionals in their individual fields.  She teaches courses in adult-based disorders and works per diem at Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut.

Ciara Leydon is Professor and Chair in the Department of Communication Disorders at Sacred Heart University (SHU). At SHU, she teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate speech-language pathology courses, and conducts research in the Speech and Voice Laboratory. Ciara earned her M.A. from The George Washington University, and Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

A.J. Olszewski is Associate Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Miami University in Oxford, OH, USA. His research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions for language and early literacy skills in young children. Prior to earning his PhD from the University of South Florida, he worked as a school speech-language pathologist. 

Whitney Schneider-Cline, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska Kearney. Her teaching and research interests include school-age speech and literacy as well as scholarship of teaching and learning, specifically for SLP graduate academic and clinical education.

Dr. Rachel M. Theodore is Associate Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Connecticut, where she directs the UConn Laboratory for Spoken Language Processing. She is also Faculty Affiliate of the Language and Cognition program in the Department of Psychological Sciences, the Cognitive Science Program, and the Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She is Director of the Neurobiology of Language graduate training program and highly involved with two current training grants in the UConn language sciences community (NSF NRT, NIH/NIDCD T32). She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Northeastern University and completed post-doctoral training in Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences at Brown University.  Both her B.S. and M.A. are in the field of Speech and Hearing Sciences. She currently serves as Associate Editor for Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America – Express Letters, and is Vice President of Admissions on the Board of Directors for the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Radhika Aravamudhan, PhD, is currently an Associate Professor and serves as the Dean for the Osborne College of Audiology at Salus University. Dr. Aravamudhan joined Salus University in 2005 after her position as a research associate at Boys Town National Research Hospital. 

Along with teaching other courses, she continues to be the co-instructor of the interprofessional course, “Evidence-Based Practice: An Interprofessional Approach” at Salus University, and she has spearheaded several interprofessional initiatives in collaboration with faculty at the university. Her areas of research interests include (1) understanding and evaluating the electrophysiologic correlates of speech encoding in the auditory system and (2) studying the role of signal processing (in auditory prostheses such as cochlear implants) on speech perception and perceptual learning.

In the professional world outside Salus, Dr. Aravamudhan has served on the planning committee for Audiology Education Summit that American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA), served on the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) Board, and was elected as the Vice-Chair of Audiology on the CAA Board. She currently serves on the ASHA’s Academic Affairs Board. She has also served as a Student to Empowered Professional (S.T.E.P.) mentor within ASHA. She currently serves as the Vice President of Academic Affairs for Audiology on the ASHA board.

Dr. Renee Fabus is the Chair of the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Stony Brook University. Her goals in higher education are to foster interprofessional collaboration of faculty, staff, and students inside and outside the classroom to support student success. She holds a Ph.D. in Speech-Language Pathology from Columbia University and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Leadership from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is passionate about taking a collaborative and inclusive approach to educating her students to prepare them to provide evidence-based practice and person-centered care.

Caitlin N. Price is an Assistant Professor of Audiology in the Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She teaches graduate coursework in the areas of diagnostics and gerontology. In the clinic, she specializes in adult diagnostics, rehabilitation, and auditory electrophysiology. Her clinical experience motivates her research interests in cognitive aging, auditory perception, and speech-in-noise processing. Her research aims to assess individual differences that contribute to speech-in-noise deficits and develop effective clinical interventions to foster successful communication and improved quality of life across the lifespan.

Amy Rominger is a Clinical Associate Professor at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses both online and in person and does clinical supervision and teaching in the on-campus hearing clinic. Her areas of interest include adult aural rehabilitation, hearing conservation, and the scholarship of teaching and learning in relation to CSD students.

Leigh G. Schaid, AuD, is an Associate Professor at Pacific University. She serves as a clinical provider, preceptor, and instructor in the AuD program. Her area of practice includes pediatric diagnostics, with a focus on the birth-three population. Her research interests focus on holistic review in health professions admissions.

Danielle J. Watson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department at Tennessee State University. In addition to serving as the Departmental Admissions Coordinator and Clinic Director, she teaches numerous graduate and undergraduate courses. 

She serves on the Admissions Committee for the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD), the Council for Clinical Certification in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CFCC), and is a member of the Foundation Board for the Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists (TAASLP). Dr. Watson is also the co-founder of Multicultural Concerns in CSD (MC2) at the University of Cincinnati, which is an organization that addresses Diversity/Equity and Inclusion for undergraduate and graduate students. 

Megan has been with CAPCSD since 2018 as the Director of Centralized Admissions. She oversees the CSDCAS system. Prior to her work with CAPCSD, she worked in academic accreditation for CSD programs for nearly a decade. Megan has a master's degree in Educational Technology and Instructional Design. She is interested in process improvements and efficiencies, building community, and efforts to diversity the communication sciences and disorders workforce.