Janie Magee is an instructor and the clinical director for the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Delta State.

Magee came to work at DSU in the fall of 2011. She was a rehab director at a long term care facility before coming to teach at DSU. She said she was a little hesitant to become an instructor because she loved doing therapy and helping her patients.

Magee said, “In my role as Clinical Director and supervisor, I get to still help my students help our clients.”

She said most people do not realize that Delta State has a speech and hearing clinic. They see children, adolescents, and adults for screen hearings, evaluations for speech or language deficits and provide follow-up treatment.

Neuroanatomy and Physiology for Speech Language Pathologists, Neurogenic Communication Disorders, Introduction to Audiology, Diagnostic Audiology, Language Acquisition I and Language Acquisition II, as well as Clinical Practicum are a few courses Magee teaches.

Language Acquisition I is a course where the students plan story-based theme units for three and four year olds to enrich their literacy learning skills. For the course, Language Acquisition II, Magee said, “we have partnered with a local Adult Day Care and our students get hands-on experience working with adults with communicative as well as cognitive disorders.”

She supervised several students (about one each semester) who were completing an off-site clinical practicum for their last semester of graduate school. The students she supervised came from many different graduate schools but she noticed that all of them had an undergraduate degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences from DSU. She said the students were competent, confident, and each credited DSU’s program for giving them the background to do well in clinic and academic classes.  

“When I heard of a faculty vacancy in the Speech and Hearing Science department here, I jumped at the opportunity,” Magee said.

“My favorite thing about working at DSU has been the relationships,” she said. “We are a small department relatively, but I’m close to the faculty and to the students, both current and former. When people talk about the DSU ‘family,’ it isn’t just rhetoric. There truly is a sense of family here that is unique.”

Magee received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mississippi with a major in English and a minor in Art History. She received her Master of Arts from Louisiana State University in communication sciences and disorders.

“I knew a degree in English would prepare me to think critically and write well, which would serve me well in any career field and help me in my graduate studies, which it did,” Magee said. “But until my senior year, I was unsure of my career path.  My interest in speech and hearing sciences was a result of a conversation I had with a family member, who recommended I consider audiology.  I did a little research and became interested in Speech Language Pathology as a profession.”

Magee enjoys traveling, cooking, reading and drawing. She is a member of her church choir and a Sunday school teacher for the Jr. High youth.

“This semester, as part of a community outreach, my Diagnostic Audiology students are providing hearing screenings free of charge,” she said. “If you would like to have your hearing sensitivity checked, please contact the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences!”