UAMS College of Health Professions Offers New Auditory Graduate Certificate

By Liz Caldwell

The Graduate Certificate in Auditory-Based Intervention will be offered by the college’s Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, jointly hosted by UAMS, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

The program was created to address a shortage of qualified professionals in Arkansas. Students in the 15-hour program will learn auditory-based strategies to facilitate language development and listening skills.

Certificate graduates will help children and adults learn listening skills to maximize the use of technology for auditory learning. They will likely work in early intervention programs, hospitals, public or private schools, outpatient centers or private practices.

Mary Ellen Nevins, Ed.D., will join the UAMS faculty as the program director effective July 1. Nevins has been the director of the Professional Preparation in Cochlear Implants (PPCI) program, a national continuing education program based at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Nevins has coauthored three texts, numerous chapters and articles, and has spoken nationally and internationally on the development of listening and spoken language for young children with hearing loss.

Kimberlee Crass, Ph.D., will join the program Aug. 1 as a clinical faculty member. She is a speech-language pathologist with certification as an auditory-verbal therapist from the AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language. Crass is currently an assistant professor of speech language pathology at Columbia College in Columbia, South Carolina.