Faculty
Our Communicative Disorders and Sciences Department is home to dedicated and experienced faculty members. Information about each faculty member, their areas of expertise, and research can be found below:
Department Chair
Nidhi Mahendra, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
- Professor and Director, Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic (SPARC)
- Co-Founder, Healthy Development Community Clinic
- nidhi.mahendra@sjsu.edu
- Sweeney Hall (SH) 115
- Twitter: @NidhiMahendra
Graduate Program Director
Wendy Quach, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
- Professor
- wendy.quach@sjsu.edu
- Twitter: @wq_aac
- Wendy's Spotify playlist
Director of Clinical Education
Cynthia Van Laar, M.A., CCC-SLP
Faculty Directory
Bopanna Ballachanda, Ph.D.
Lecturer
bopanna.ballachanda@sjsu.edu
Paul W. Cascella, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
- Professor
- paul.cascella@sjsu.edu
Kathleen Castillo, M.A., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- kathleen.castillo@sjsu.edu
Danielle DeWitt, M.S., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- danielle.thissell@sjsu.edu
Cindy Esquivias, M.S., CCC-SLP
Lecturer
cindy.esquivias@sjsu.edu
Eduardo Europa, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
- Assistant Professor
- eduardo.europa@sjsu.edu
Dawn Greenberg, M.S., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- dawn.greenberg@sjsu.edu
Joseph Hinz, Au.D., CCC-A
- Lecturer (Audiologist)
- joe.hinz@sjsu.edu
Alicia Henderson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Lecturer
alicia.henderson@sjsu.edu
Dustin Lam, M.A., CCC-SLP
Lecturer
dustin.lam@sjsu.edu
Marcella McCollum, Ed.D., CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor
marcella.mccollum@sjsu.edu
Twitter: @M_McCollum
Marcella's Spotify playlist
June McCullough, Ph.D., CCC-A
- Professor
- june.mccullough@sjsu.edu
Erin Nokes, AuD., CCC-A
- Lecturer (Audiologist)
- erin.ginney@sjsu.edu
Amanda Olson, M.S., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- amanda.c.olson@sjsu.edu
Alison Pentland, M.A., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- alison.pentland@sjsu.edu
Lupe Ramirez-Steele, M.A., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- lupe.ramirez-steele@sjsu.edu
Anita Schaack, M.S., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer and Externship Placement Coordinator
- anita.schaack@sjsu.edu
Alissa Tone, M.A., CCC-SLP
Lecturer
alissa.tone@sjsu.edu
Pei-Tzu Tsai, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
- Associate Professor and Continuing Education Administrator
- NSSLHA Advisor
- peitzu.tsai@sjsu.edu
- Peitzu's Spotify playlist
Theresa Yao, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Lecturer
Theresa.yao@sjsu.edu
Carol Zepecki, Ed.D., CCC-SLP
- Lecturer
- carol.zepecki@sjsu.edu
Emeritus Faculty
Jean Novak, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Evelyn Merritt, M.A., CCC-A
Michael Kimbarow, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Henriette Langdon, Ed.D., F-CCC-SLP
Gloria Weddington, Ph.D., F-CCC-SLP
Recent Faculty Highlights
Dr. Pei-Tzu Tsai presented as the 2021 SJSU University Scholar on "Learning from Stuttering: A Path from Disorder to Diversity". Dr. Tsai discussed underlying factors of stuttering and stuttering therapy to develop culturally and linguistically responsive services for individuals who stutter and advocated for acceptance and diversity in communication.
Dr. Nidhi Mahendra recently published "Mentoring underrepresented students in speech-language pathology: Effects of didactic training, leadership development, and research engagement" in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
Her work to launch the Healthy Development Community Clinic, alongside SJSU Professors Dr. Cara Maffini (in Child and Adolescent Development) and Dr. Matthew Capriotti (in Psychology) was recently covered on KRON4 News.
Dr. Marcella McCollum was featured in the SJSU story "Transforming the Way We Teach" which focused on the Lurie College of Education's Strategic Plan initiatives, including our Transformative Leadership Minor that Marcella coordinates.
“We need to think about changing paradigms,” says McCollum. “We cannot just offer a class or textbook that tells you how to overcome the challenges that exist in our current educational systems as they are designed. We want students to question why things are the way they are. We want them to have the tools, so they can push back when something looks unjust.”
Dr. Peitzu Tsai co-published "Voice-related Experiences of Nonbinary Individuals" in the Journal of Voice with CDS alumni Grace Shefcik, who also received the SJSU Outstanding Thesis Award for the 2020-2021 academic year.
Watch CDS faculty Dr. Nidhi Mahendra present her research related to the Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic at the Spring 2021 LCOE Faculty Research Symposium.
- 26:24 – Nidhi Mahendra PhD – Associate Professor, Communicative Disorders and Sciences – “Spartan Aphasia Research Clinic (SPARC): Where aphasia research, clinical service delivery, and student training meet”
Dr. Wendy Quach coauthored "Assessment of adults with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who need augmentative and alternative communication: Clinical decisions of AAC specialists" in Communication Disorders Quarterly and co-presented "Emergency preparedness for individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication: Reviewing a Text Message Toolkit" at the ISAAC Connect Conference.
Faculty Employment
If you are an SLP or audiologist with 5+ years of experience and seeking an opportunity to work with undergraduate and graduate students, come join our department. Complete this LCDS Lecturer and Supervisor Contact form and a department representative will contact you.
We are particularly interested in applicants who have experience and expertise working with diverse students and have a clear commitment to improving access to higher education for underrepresented groups.
Positions are subject to employment verification, education/credential verification, reference checks and criminal record checks. A background check (including the criminal records check) must be completed satisfactorily before any candidate can be offered a position by the California State University (CSU). Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect applicant status or continued employment of current CSU employees.
