Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at the University of Arizona

03/17/2026

Camp time is quickly approaching! Please share far and wide.

03/09/2026

Big things are happening in the desert! 🌵 We are so proud of Dr. Arizmendi and the PUENTE Program for their work in the Sunnyside Unified School District. By bridging the gap between community and higher education, PUENTE is helping Arizona students see themselves in careers in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.

We are already reaping the benefits of this partnership. Three PUENTE alumni from the first cohort officially declared SLHS majors and are already pursuing their studies right here at the University of Arizona! We celebrate PUENTE and the BABEL Lab for their dedication to our students and the future of the profession. Bear Down! 🎓🐾

The Pathway for Underrepresented Education and Networking in Training and Empowerment (PUENTE) Program helps students with a variety of perspectives and lived experiences — including bilingual, Latino, and Indigenous students — see themselves working in CSD professions. University of Arizona faculty member Genesis Arizmendi started the program, which is a partnership between the university and Sunnyside Unified School District in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. PUENTE offers culturally responsive curriculum, near-peer mentorship, early career exposure, and insight into the hidden curriculum of higher education, equipping students with tools to pursue careers in speech-language pathology and audiology.

PUENTE’s initial pilot cohort of 22 high school seniors concluded their journey in the program with a bilingual graduation ceremony and campus visit celebrating identity, language, and potential. A survey revealed students gained familiarity with the professions by more than 125 percent as well as a seven-fold increase in declared interest in the field.

“PUENTE made me think differently about myself as a bilingual student,” one student participant said. Other students have described their PUENTE experience as “inspiring,” “eye-opening,” and “life changing.”

Beyond the cohort, PUENTE reached nearly 200 students and families through school visits and community events, helping broaden awareness of who can belong in CSD careers.

“By fostering deep community-university partnerships and delivering bilingual, inclusive programming, PUENTE has empowered students while advancing equity in health and education systems,” says Arizmendi.

03/05/2026

Don't miss this year's The Arizona Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ArSHA) Convention! Some of our clinical faculty members will be there and would love to see you!

02/26/2026

The L4 Lab is conducting a remote research study to learn about vocabulary in typically developing 2-year-olds! You can complete the intake form here: https://redcap.link/mx7hdyec or email l4lab@arizona.edu. Please help us spread the word!

02/25/2026

Attn SLHS Majors!

02/11/2026

Dr. Story and Dr. Bunton provided data from their Arizona Child Acoustic Database (ACAD) for a competition called "On Top of Pasketti: Children’s Speech Recognition Challenge.” This competition is intended to motivate development of cutting-edge automatic speech recognition algorithms specifically for children's speech to advance early education assessments and teaching tools. The spectogram is of a child saying "Hawaii."

02/11/2026

Giving Day 2026 starts at Noon today! Show your love for the University of Arizona during Giving Day, our 24-hour celebration of Wildcat pride and generosity!

To support SLHS, go to:
https://givingday.arizona.edu/giving-day/111602/department/111619

Department or Program- College of Science

Fund Designation - Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences.

Thank you so much!

01/23/2026

Research Opportunity for Native Spanish Speakers - Help an SLHS Student!

El Laboratorio de Communication P.A.L.S. de la Universidad de Arizona está buscando hablantes nativos de español para ayudar en el desarrollo de una herramienta de evaluación para el diagnóstico de los trastornos del habla en personas que hablan español. El estudio toma de 15 a 30 minutos y, para su conveniencia, se puede completar totalmente en línea. Se le pedirá que lea un texto corto en español y que responda preguntas al respecto.

Los participantes deben ser hablantes nativos de español. Haga clic en el siguiente enlace para empezar el estudio: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eRuYpBVttl7sm6a

Una Junta de Revisión Institucional encargada de los sujetos de investigación humanos de la Universidad de Arizona evaluó este proyecto de investigación y lo consideró aceptable, de acuerdo con las regulaciones estatales y federales aplicables y las normas de la Universidad que están diseñadas para proteger los derechos y el bienestar de los participantes en una investigación.

01/15/2026

What a great start to the spring semester! Our FUERZA Advisory Board, featuring Drs. Dhar, Peña, and Chandrasekaran, met with our faculty on campus and prepared us to take on 2026! Here’s to a good one from our Arizona SLHS community 🪅

01/08/2026

If you are interested, join us at the National Stuttering Association's Family Chapter Meetup! The next meeting is this Saturday.

12/17/2025

We’re hiring! 🗣️🗣️🗣️
The University of Arizona Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences is excited to announce two open faculty positions:
• Open-rank tenure-track faculty (SLP or AuD)
• Clinical Professor of Audiology

🗓 Application deadline: January 30, 2026
🔗 Scan the QR codes or visit our links in bio to apply!
🧠 Learn more about us at slhs.arizona.edu

12/01/2025

Read what 4th year AuD student Monica Zmudzinski has been up to!

The purpose of this study was to explore the communication choices of caregivers of deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) children. Specifically, we explored what communication options caregivers were presented with, identify what factors impacted a caregiver’s decision to pursue spoken language, and iden...