Anonymous gift to transform Baylor communication sciences & disorders department

Big things are happening in Baylor’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Last year, CSD became part of the new Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences. And now, a $10 million gift from anonymous donors will give the program a significant boost moving forward.

While the donors’ names will remain unknown — all we know is that they are Baylor alumni — the impact of their gift will be hard to miss. It will allow CSD to hire and develop more faculty, expand research opportunities, grow the graduate program, and serve more Central Texas residents.

The most visible change for CSD will be the department’s move to a new home, exchanging Neill Morris Hall (one of the oldest buildings on campus) for a soon-to-be-renovated Cashion Academic Building. With the Hankamer School of Business moving to the new Foster Campus for Business & Innovation, the existing Hankamer/Cashion complex will be closed in 2015-16 for remodeling. Once phase one of the renovation is complete, it will house CSD, Baylor’s Department of Computer Science and the Center for Global Engagement.

The gift will also allow CSD to double both its staff of clinical faculty and its capacity for master’s students — better serving both Baylor students and the community through a wide range of clinics. For years, CSD staff members and students have provided speech therapy and deaf support services to children and adults alike. On any given day, you might find a child whose speech development is slower than his or her peers receiving confidence-building instruction, or an adult who suffered a stroke and is working to regain his/her speech abilities. And each summer, Baylor CSD hosts area children at Camp Success; nearly 1,000 students have received individual reading, language and speech instruction in a fun environment since 2003. Visitors to these clinics will be better served in the newer facility and with updated equipment, thanks to the anonymous gift.

All in all, the gift will position Baylor to offer one of the nation’s top CSD programs, building on a strong foundation of student placement and graduate success, improving the future for countless children and adults in need of language assistance along the way.

Sic ’em, Baylor Communication Sciences and Disorders and Baylor’s anonymous donors!