"Research on the measurement of hearing, the clinical assessment of hearing disorders and the non-medical habilitation /rehabilitation of hearing are uniquely within the province of the discipline of audiology. The profession of audiology is undergoing a major transition with the introduction of the professional doctorate, the Au.D degree, and the near demise of the research doctorate. However, a research culture is necessary in order for the field to continue to develop. The National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NICDC) strongly encourages doctoral -level audiologists who show promise as productive researchers to integrate clinical research and translational research into their career paths. The purpose of this Notice is to disseminate information on NIDCD research training and career development programs applicable to Au.D.-trained audiologists seeking to integrate a program of clinical research or translational research into their career trajectory." (NIDCD Notice NOT-DC-05-002, March 2, 2005)
The Department of Special Education & Communication Disorders is aware that students who wish to be practioneers also may wish to contribute to the development of new knowledge and work in university or other research centers. The Department in cooperation with the UNL Graduate College offers a dual degree track leading to both the clinical Au.D. degree as well as the research Ph.D. Typically these programs consist of the required professional training (3-4 years of coursework and clinical rotations) followed by courses specific to developing research scientists (statistics, research design, and dissertation).
The steps below show the process for obtaining these degrees.
Students will enter the program post-BA as students in the Au.D program.
Students will complete three years of academic study and clinical practice (105 hours) and a fourth year of full-time clinical externship and be awarded the Au.D degree.
During the third year of Au.D study students can be admitted to the Graduate College as Ph.D. students. The normal UNL Graduate College processes of application and admission will be followed.
Students will be allowed to transfer into their Ph.D. programs up to 60 hours of coursework from their Au.D program of study
Students will be required to take a minimum of another 60 hours of coursework applicable to the Ph.D. program. This coursework will consist of statistics and research design (15 hours) doctoral seminars (12 hours) dissertation (15 hours) and electives selected by the student (18 hours). The Ph.D. program will thus, consist of 120+ hours of content post-BA. The combined Au.D. - Ph.D. program will consist of a total of 165+ credit hours and would require a minimum of 5 to 5.5 years of full time study.
Students in the combined program would be allowed to participate in the Graduate College hooding ceremony after fulfilling requirements for the Au.D. degree and again after fulfilling requirements for the Ph.D. degree.
It is envisioned that after admission to the Ph.D. program in the third year of the Au.D program the students will be allowed to begin taking Ph.D. program curriculum in the fourth year of study if the full-time clinical externship allows enough time. Students thus allowed into the Ph.D. program would not be required to complete the Au.D Doctoral Project but would instead complete a dissertation. It is anticipated that this course of events would allow the student to have earned the Au.D degree at the end of the fourth year of study and the Ph.D. degree at the end of approximately 12-18 more months. Total program length would be approximately 5 to 5.5 years of full time study.
