Ph.D. Student Profiles

• Current Students
• Completed Dissertations

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Current Students (in alphabetical order)

Portia Carr

• When you started the program: Fall 2018
• Program Mentor: Dana Moser, Ph.D.
• Topics of major and minor study:
  • Major: Neurogenic Language Disorders
  • Minor: Neurogenic Cognitive Communication Disorders

Elizabeth Cleveland

• When you started the program: Fall 2017
• Program Mentor: Gregory Robinson, Ph.D.
• Topics of major and minor study:
  • Major: Child Language Development and Disorders
  • Minor: Multi-Cultural Studies

Evan T. Finley

• When you started program: Summer 2017
• Program Mentor: Samuel R. Atcherson, Ph.D.
• Topic(s) of major and minor study:
  • Major: Aural (Re)habilitation
  • Minor: Psychosocial Aspects of Hearing Loss

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Sheryl S. Shoemaker, Ph.D. (2010)

• Dissertation: The impact of dichotic auditory training in children
• Chair: Dee Lance
• Committee: Samuel Atcherson, Kim McCullough, Laura Smith-Olinde, and Ken Sobel

Joy Eldona Good, Ph.D. (2011)

• Dissertation: The effects of morphological awareness on reading, spelling, and vocabulary skills
• Chair: Dee Lance
• Committee: Betholyn Gentry, Brent Gregg, Jacquie Rainey, and Valentina Taran-Michael

Stamela (Matina) Balou, Ph.D. (2011)

• Dissertation: Videomanometric measures of head rotation and chin tuck in head & neck cancer patients
• Chair: Gary McCullough
• Committee: Brendan Stack, Richard Zraick, Farshad Aduli, Kim McCullough, Robert Logan, Beth McWeeney, and Peggy Snoddy

Laura Shotts, Ph.D. (2012)

• Dissertation: The ability of temporal air pressure and airflow measures to discriminate subjects receiving velopharyngeal insufficiency surgery
• Chair: Thomas Guyette
• Committee: Richard Zraick, Donna Kelly, Laura Smith-Olinde, and Bonnie Smith

Erin Kamarunas, Ph.D. (2012)

• Dissertation: Effects of topical nasal anesthesia on fiberoptic endoscopic examination of swallowing with sensory testing
• Chair: Gary McCullough
• Committee: Kim McCullough, Mark Mennemeier, Robert Logan, and Richard Zraick

Melanie (Lowry) Meeker, Ph.D. (2012)

• Dissertation: An analysis of communicative participation in an elderly population
• Chair: Kim McCullough
• Committee: Gary McCullough, Richard Zraick, Robert Logan, and Usen Akpanudo

Balaji Rangarathnam, Ph.D. (2013)

• Dissertation:  Telemedicine versus traditional treatment for muscle tension dysphonia
• Chair:  Gary McCullough
• Committee: Richard Zraick, Ozlem Tulunay-Ugur, Kim McCullough and Kathryn Bayles

Donna Thomas, Ph.D. (2013)

• Dissertation: Examining phonemic awareness in children with expressive phonological disorders
• Chair: Dee Lance
• Committee: Kim Mccullough, Betholyn Gentry, Brent Gregg, and Jacquie Rainey

Sharon Jones, Ph.D. (2014)

• Dissertation: The impact of on-line cognitive training:  P300 and behavioral differences in executive function in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders
• Chair: Betholyn Gentry
• Committee: Samuel Atcherson, Kim McCullough, Susan Moss-Logan, Greg Robinson, and Ken Sobel

Amy Shollenbarger, Ph.D. (2014)

• Dissertation: First grade students’ awareness of final consonant clusters in monomorphemic words: Does dialect matter?
• Chair: Gregory Robinson
• Committee: Betholyn Gentry, Dee Lance, Mike McDaniel, and Valentina Taran

Chenell Loudermill, Ph.D. (2014)

• Dissertation: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Reading Comprehension and Morphological Awareness Skills
• Chair: Betholyn Gentry
• Committee: Kathy Shapley, Gregory Robinson, Jennifer Hume, and Kent Layton

Andi Toliver-Smith, Ph.D. (2014)

• Dissertation: Multicultural Infusion in the Communication Sciences and Disorders Curriculum: A Case Study
• Chair: Gregory Robinson
• Committee: Betholyn Gentry, Nannette Nicholson, Amanda Nolen, and David Briscoe

Julie Beard, Ph.D. (2015)

• Dissertation:  The Use of Social Stories in Reducing Disruptive Behavior in Children with Language Impairment
• Chair:  Dee Lance
• Committee:  Elson Bihm, Betholyn Gentry, Brent Gregg, Gregory C. Robinson, and Michael Scoles

Amy Engelhoven, Ph.D. (2016)

• Dissertation:  “The Effects of Self-Esteem, Coping, and Voice-Related Quality of life on  Participation  Before and After Botox Treatment”
• Chair:  Richard Zraick
• Committee:  Ozlem Tulunay, Thomas Guyette, Kristie Hadden, and Zoran Bursac

Ahmad Alanazi, Ph.D. (2017)

• Dissertation: “The Use of Simulation in Audiology Education to Improve Students’ Professional Competency”
• Advisor: Nannette Nicholson
• Committee: Samuel Atcherson, Cliff Franklin, Michael Anders, Laura Smith-Olinde

Ashlen Thomason, Ph.D. (2017)

• Dissertation:  “The Effect of Premotor Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on the Fluency of Adults who Stutter during Choral Reading”
• Chair: Brent A. Gregg
• Committee: Betholyn Gentry, Thomas Guyette, Dee Lance, Dana Moser

Megan (Scott) Selman, Ph.D. (2017)

• Dissertation:  “Comparison of Acoustic Startle Responses in School-Age Children Who Stutter and Their Fluent Peers”
• Chair: Brent A. Gregg
• Committee: Betholyn Gentry, Dee Lance, Kevin, Garrision, J. Art Gillaspy

Sarah Warren, Ph.D. (2017)

• Dissertation:  “Identification and Deactification of Cochlear Electrodes with Poor Electrode-Neural Interface: Clinical Practice and Outcomes”
• Chair: Samuel Atcherson
• Committee: Cliff Franklin, Patti Martin, John Dornhoffer, Anthony Spahr, and Charles Finley

Bonnie Slavych, Ph.D. (2017)

• Dissertation:  “Adherence to Voice Therapy for Individuals with Muscle Tension Dysphonia: The Impact of Select Demographic and Patient-Reported Variables”
• Chair:  Richard Zraick
• Committee:  Ozlem Tulunay, Thomas Guyette, Kristie Hadden, and Zoran Bursac