Back to School

Martin FischerPacific University earlier this week announced plans for a new School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. In its first year, the school will admit 20 students. Fischer said nine faculty members will eventually teach cohort classes of about 35 students.  

I talked with Martin Fischer, the school’s newly hired director, about moving to Oregon from Tulsa, Okla., and his aspirations for the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

Q: Why Pacific?
A: I had used to go to school in Eugene. I got my doctorate there, and had been thinking about making a move back to Oregon for years. I saw that position was open and started talking to various people about it.

I really loved the state. I absolutely love Oregon. The philosophy of the state, the beauty of the place. I just thought this would be a great opportunity.

Q: What will be the biggest challenge of starting a school from scratch?
A: There’s a fairly large shortage of speech-language pathologists, so getting the students to apply, once people know we’re here, isn’t going to be that difficult. The big challenge is getting all the clinical placements set up, making sure we have places for the students to do their clinical experience in the school system, in hospitals, in rehabilitation centers…we have to make it as diverse as possible for them.

Q: What’s the most rewarding part of the job?
A: The fact that there’s so much change involved. There’s so much of an opportunity to work with multiple populations, so we really work with individuals across the life span. We work with infants who have feeding and swallowing disorders, we work with preschool children with autism spectrum disorder, and we also work with adults who have aphasia or Alzheimer’s disease. There’s so much diversity involved in the type of treatment we do.

Q: What are your goals for the program’s first year?
A: Getting the word out and recruiting really high level faculty.

Q: Do you still practice, or are you strictly academic?
A: It’s rewarding teaching. I love working with the students, but for a career, absolutely the diversity is very exciting. I do some clinical evaluation, diagnostic evaluation and some clinical supervision. I don’t practice outside the university.

Q: How does it feel to be returning to Oregon?
A: We’re incredibly excited. I haven’t been to Oregon for years, and my wife’s never been here. She’s loving it and our 22-year-old daughter is very excited that we’re going to be here. She’s thinking of moving to the area.

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