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FACULTY PROFILE I currently serve as Dean of the College of Health and Human Services, overseeing seven academic departments.  By discipline, I am a certified speech-language pathologist with an active interest in research related to treatment of children with developmental language disorders.  I have been at ������Ƶ for over 25 years, starting as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders, and now hold the rank of full professor. Although my roles and experiences have varied since beginning a career in higher education, I have been consistently dedicated to improving the quality of services provided – whether to patients/clients, students, faculty, or community. I am proud of our programs, faculty, and students – all making a difference in the lives of the people in our region. ������Ƶ combines a dynamic environment with a unique mission. The institution’s commitment to civic engagement and serving the needs of the surrounding community make it a very satisfying place to work. I am continually inspired by our committed students and my creative, energetic colleagues.
Education Ph.D., Speech-Language Pathology, Indiana University M.A., Speech-Language Pathology, Indiana University B.A., Linguistics with Honors, University of Iowa

RECENT PUBLICATIONS Balthazar, C.H., and Scott, C.M. (2023). Sentences are Key: Helping School-age Students Build Sentence Skills Needed for Real Language.  American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (special forum on treatment of developmental language disorders). Balthazar, C.H., and Vendrely, A.M.(2021, Eds.). Rehabilitation Research, 6^th Edition. Elsevier. Balthazar, C.H., Ebbels, S.E., and Zwitserlood, R.M. (2020). Syntactic intervention for developmental language disorder. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51, 226-246. HONORS Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (2024) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2019) Fellow Alpha Eta Honor Society / Gamma Psi Upsilon Chapter Founding member ������Ƶ Faculty Excellence Award   Credentials and Affiliations American Speech-Language-Hearing Association                 Certificate of Clinical Competence, Speech-Language Pathology Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions                 Institutional Member College of Health Deans                 Vice President Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce                 Member Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation                 Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist                 Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board Member Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association                 Member Will County MAPP Collaborative Executive Board Member; “Mobilizing Action through Planning and Partnership” community collaboration with Will County Department of Public Health   GRANTS AND AWARDS Stroke Awareness Campaign (2023-2024) Illinois Department of Public Health, with funds associated with Illinois Public Act 102-102-1070 1 year/$1,000,000 Project Director. The goal of the stroke education and awareness campaign was to improve public awareness and understanding of stroke with a focus on stroke prevention, symptom awareness, and the needs of stroke survivors. Illinois Precision Medicine Consortium (IPMC) All of Us Research Program Site (awarded 2023-2028; program discontinued 2024) National Institutes of Health, 5 years/$199,710 Multiple Principal Investigator. The All of Us Research Program (AoURP) directive, leadership, framework, and protocol were conceived to create opportunities to improve health care through research.  ������Ƶ joined the IPMC and received a subaward from the University of Chicago to engage diverse communities in the Chicago Southland as participants.  AoURP’s national goal is to generate a 1 million participant cohort for precision health, creating unprecedented opportunities for novel scientific discovery, and achieving the NIH Precision Medicine Initiative’s ultimate vision of bettering the health of the US population through improved risk prediction and prevention, diagnostics, and therapies.   The GUIDE Project (2015-2019) Award #1P20CA202907-01, National Cancer Institute, 4 years/$716,000 Principal Investigator. The GUIDE (GSU-UICC-Disparities-Education) Cancer Research Training Project was a collaborative initiative between ������Ƶ (GSU) and the University of Illinois Cancer Center (UICC). The project was developed to enhance the capacity of both institutions to conduct research to understand and reduce local cancer disparities and their determinants. The institutions jointly conducted a pilot research project addressing a local, cancer-related health disparity and developed a training program for GSU early stage investigators and undergraduate students designed to attract and prepare investigators for careers in cancer disparities research. The training and education program leveraged research expertise in cancer-related health inequities at UICC and incorporated successful elements of research training programs developed at GSU and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The pilot research project was integrated with training activities. We provided an integrated cancer research training and career development experience for nine early stage Investigators in the GSU College of Health and Human Services, and created a summer research experience at UICC for 16 GSU undergraduate students interested in pursuing health disparities research.   Building Complex Language (2010-2013) Award # R15DC011165-01, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders, 3 years/$418,000 Principal Investigator. This investigation of treatment for specific higher-level language skills in older school-age students addressed a scarcity of controlled research in this area. The objective was to examine outcomes of a treatment designed to increase functional use of complex (multi-clausal) sentences in school-age students with primary language impairments that impact literacy and academic achievement. This early clinical efficacy study enrolled ten participants per year over three years, randomly assigned to one of two dosage levels. Treatment efficacy and effect size were measured using a multiple-baseline single-subject design. Overall effect size and impact of dosage were evaluated using a pretest-posttest group design, and correlations between participant characteristics and individual patterns of performance were described and analyzed. Clinical Research Grant (2009-2010) American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation, 1 year/$50,000 Advancing Academic Research Careers Award (2004)   American Speech-Language-Hearing Association/$5000