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Biography

Academic and Administrative Appointments – University of Central Florida

  • Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Excellence (2024 – )
  • Associate Dean of Research (2108 – )
  • Pegasus Professor (2023 – )
  • Professor (Full; Tenured) (2015 – Present)
  • Founder & Director (2005 – Present)
    • FAAST Atlantic Region Assistive Technology Demonstration Center
  • Faculty Excellence Coordinator (2016-2017)
    • UCF Office of Faculty Excellence
  • Associate Professor (Tenured) (2009 – 2015)
    • Communication Sciences and Disorders
  • Assistant Professor (Tenure Earning) (2003 – 2009)
    • Communication Sciences and Disorders

Selected Awards, Honors

  • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
    • Fellow
    • Award for Special Contributions in Higher Education
  • Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
    • Honors of the Association
  • University of Central Florida
    • Inaugural Luminary Award
    • Inaugural Marchioli Collective Impact Award
    • Scroll & Quill Society Inductee
    • Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award
    • Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award
    • Excellence in Research Award
    • Excellence in Professional Service
    • Research Incentive Award (RIA)
    • Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) Award
    • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) Award

Licensure & Certification

  • Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (2003)
    • American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA)
  • Speech-Language Pathologist State License (2003)
    • State of Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance
  • Clinical Certificate in Speech-Language Pathology (2000)
    • Speech-Language & Audiology Canada
  • Advanced Teacher’s Certificate (ATC3) (2000)
    • Department of Education; Halifax, NS, Canada
  • Teacher’s Certificate Class 5 (TC5) (1997)
    • Department of Education; Halifax, NS, Canada

Credentials

  • BEd, Bachelor of Education, Secondary English & Mathematics, McGill University
  • MS, Master of Science, Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University
  • Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy, Communication Sciences & Disorders, The Pennsylvania State University
  • CCC-SLP, Certificate of Clinical Competence for Speech-Language Pathologists
  • S-LP(C), Certified Speech-Language Pathologist

Affiliations

  • ASHA Fellow

Research

Research Interests
  • Developing and evaluating interventions designed to improve language and communication outcomes for children with developmental disabilities who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
  • Developing and evaluating service-learning instructional approaches in communication sciences and disorders (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning).
Areas of Specialty
  • Language Disorders
  • Augmentative and Alternative Communication
  • Assistive Technology
  • Service-Learning / Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Research Lab Affiliations

Research Grants

Dean's Office

Measuring Aided Language Development

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
  • PI: Cathy Binger (UNM)
  • Co-PI: John Heilmann (UWM)
    • Amount: $3,039,426 | Timeframe: 04/01/2024 - 03/01/2029
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
    Dean's Office

    Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) 2023-2024

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $107,191 | Timeframe: 10/01/2023 - 09/01/2024
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, Inc.
    Dean's Office

    FAAST Regional Demonstration Center Expanding the Public Health Workforce Contract

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $11,342 | Timeframe: 10/01/2022 - 09/30/2023
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, Inc (FAAST)
    Dean's Office

    Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, Inc (FAAST) 2022-2023

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $107,191 | Timeframe: 10/01/2022 - 09/30/2023
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, Inc (FAAST)
    Dean's Office

    FAAST Atlantic Region Assistive Technology Demonstration Center

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $78,833 | Timeframe: 10/01/2021 - 09/30/2022
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology
    Communication Sciences and Disorders

    Word by Word: Building Sentences with Preschoolers Who Use AAC

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $1,623,136 | Timeframe: 07/07/2017 - 06/30/2022
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) [Part of a five-year, $2,781,276 Multiple Principal Investigator Grant with Cathy Binger, Ph.D., at the University of New Mexico]
    Communication Sciences and Disorders

    Teaching Preschoolers with Complex Communication Needs to Ask Inverted Yes-No Questions Using an AAC iPad Application

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $437,812 | Timeframe: 12/01/2015 - 11/30/2019
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
    Communication Sciences and Disorders

    FAAST Atlantic Region Assistive Technology Demonstration Center

  • PI: Jennifer Kent-Walsh
    • Amount: $2,265,001 | Timeframe: 10/01/2005 - 09/30/2019
    Funding Type: Extramural Research
    Funding Agency: Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology

    Courses

  • SPA 4400: Language Disorders Across the Lifespan

  • SPA 4559: Augmentative and Alternative Communication

  • SPA 4580: Augmentative and Alternative Communication

  • SPA 4903: Honors Directed Readings

  • SPA 4932: Special Topics: Augmentative and Alternative

  • SPA 4970: Honors Thesis

  • EEX 6908: Independent Study: Doctoral Teaching & Research Experience

  • SPA 7490: Advanced Topics in Language and Literacy

  • IDS 7500: Seminar in Educational Research

  • SPA 7494: Doctoral Seminar in Spoken & Written Language

  • SPA 7980: Dissertation

  • SPA 6437: Communication Foundations, Assistive/Instructional

  • SPA 6559: Augmentative and Alternative Communication

  • SPA 6805: Research Design

  • SPA 6908: Independent Study: Augmentative and Alternative

  • SPA 6938: Special Topics: Assistive Technology

  • SPA 6971: Thesis

    • News

  • 7 UCF Health Professions Faculty Inducted to National Academies of Practice

     Written By: Grayson Keglovic | March 24, 2025
    Seven faculty members in the College of Health Professions and Sciences were inducted into the NAP for exemplary interprofessional research, practice and scholarship.

  • Leveraging the Power of Language Through Assistive Technology

     Written By: Robert Stephens | April 15, 2024
    Decades-long research from a team led by Pegasus Professor Jennifer Kent-Walsh has already assisted thousands of children struggling to communicate. A historic grant will now allow them to reach immeasurably...

  • Awardees Announced for 2023 Founders’ Day Faculty Honors Celebration

     Written By: Joe Adams | March 31, 2023
    UCF’s annual marquee event for faculty on April 5 highlights outstanding teaching, advising, mentoring, research, professional service and librarianship.

  • Meet UCF’s 4 Pegasus Professors for 2023

     Written By: Robert Stephens | March 30, 2023
    Stephen Fiore, Jane Gibson, Jennifer Kent-Walsh and Marianna Pensky are the newest recipients of the university’s highest faculty honor.

  • CSD Faculty, Students and Alumni Present at Annual ASHA Convention in Washington, D.C.

     Written By: Drexler B. James'13 | November 4, 2021
    Faculty, students and alumni from the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders will participate in this year’s ASHA Convention, both in-person and virtually, from Nov. 18-20 in Washington, D.C. Experts from around the country will share research,...
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