Newswise — Glen M. Tellis, Ph.D., CCC/SLP, professor and chair of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Misericordia University, is a nationally recognized expert in stuttering and is a board certified fluency specialist and mentor.
Dr. Tellis is known for using cutting-edge technology, like advanced video capture technology, to further studies in various specialty fields of speech-language pathology. He has expertise in stuttering, dysphagia, treatment efficacy research and multiculturalism.
Since Dr. Tellis arrived at Misericordia University in 2006, the program’s enrollment has increased 100 percent. The program currently has 150 students and is expecting a freshman class of 33 students. The growth in enrollment has also enabled the department to hire additional faculty and staff to support academic instruction and enhance the services provided by the department’s Speech-Language and Hearing Center.
More than 1,500 people — 1,285 children and 251 adults — have received treatment at the Misericordia Speech-Language and Hearing Center since its inception in 2003. The number of clients the center has served has grown significantly under Dr. Tellis’ guidance as have the additional services it provides, like stuttering, voice, dysphagia and assistive technology.
He negotiated with the Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18 to include its auditory-oral Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children on the Misericordia University campus and its cochlea implant pre-school classroom will also be housed on campus beginning with the fall 2010 semester. Dr. Tellis also worked with the Hazleton Area School District Special Education Department to provide speech-language assessment and therapy to eligible preschool children in the district-sponsored preschool programs.
The campus’ Speech-Language and Hearing Center enables MU students to gain clinical experience under the direct supervision of licensed faculty and staff. Dr. Tellis develops a course of treatment for his students and monitors graduate students who work in a therapeutic setting with clients. The Speech-Language and Hearing Center provides services to the underserved populations of Northeastern Pennsylvania that oftentimes have no insurance or cannot afford treatment at medical centers.
Dr. Tellis also supports the SLP department’s growth by writing and securing grants. He received a $25,000 grant from the CVS Charitable Trust in 2009 to support the free and low cost clinics MU offers for children and adults with communication disorders. The department was awarded an additional $11,000 in grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Educational Improvement Tax Credits.
The university awarded Dr. Tellis a Faculty Research Grant so he could further research stuttering knowledge and skills. In 2008, he secured more than $41,000 in grants for the department and in 2007 he was awarded $213,000 in grants.
He is also recognized for using cutting-edge technology to further the interests of the SLP field. His scholarly work has been published and presented around the world. Perspectives on Administration and Supervision published his work in March 2010 about advanced digital technology for supervising graduate technicians.
In 2007, Dr. Tellis’ research revealed alarming statistics that showed training is urgently needed in fluency disorders. His research was published by the Stuttering Foundation of American Newsletter and Perspectives on Fluency Disorders. Advance for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists published his work about bullying intervention for students who stutter.
At the 4th World Conference on Fluency Disorders in Montreal, Canada, he made presentations on the “Maintenance of Fluency in Extra-Clinical Settings: Lack of Empirical Data?’’, “Advanced Digital Capture Technology in Identification of Stuttering Disfluencies,’’ “A Maintenance Study Using Stuttering Modification Techniques in Extra Clinical Settings,’’ “Perceptions of African-American Middle and High School Students’ About Stuttering,’’ “Occupational Stereotyping of People Who Stutter: Effects of Familiarity,’’ and “Effects of Familiarity on Attitudes Toward People Who Stutter.’’
Dr. Tellis has also made presentations in India, San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, Phoenix, Boston, Miami, San Diego, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio.
Many Misericordia University SLP majors are co-presenters at professional conferences and co-author research with Dr. Tellis because he believes it is important to include and expose students to scholarly research and publishing.
Dr. Tellis has also been recognized by his peers. In 2009, he received the Madison Who’s Who of Executives and Professionals Award and in 2008 the Pennsylvania Speech-Language Hearing Association presented him with its Appreciation of Service Award. He has also been named Who’s Who Among American Teachers and Who’s Who in Education. Dr. Tellis was past-President of PSHA; served as the co-chair of the Fluency and Leadership Conference in 2010; was a Steering Committee member of ASHA’s Special Interest Division 4 (Fluency Disorders); serves as the Topic Chair for fluency disorders for the ASHA 2010 National Convention in Philadelphia; served as an advisory board member of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh — Stuttering Center of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pa.; served as a committee member of the National Stuttering Association’s Insurance Advocacy Board.
Dr. Tellis serves as an expert witness for the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs for Pennsylvania’s Department of State and serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing Research, and the Journal of Fluency Disorders.
He is certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. Dr. Tellis received certification from the Initial Cadre of Fluency Mentors in 2001 as a fluency mentor and in 2000 received certification from the Initial Cadre of Fluency Specialists as a fluency specialist.
For more information about the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at Misericordia University, please log on to www.misericordia.edu/slp or call (570) 674-6724.
Founded and Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy in 1924, Misericordia University is Luzerne County’s first four-year college and offers 32 bachelor, master’s and doctoral academic programs in three colleges in full and part-time formats.
RSS