Rate My Professor Jennifer Ostergren

Jennifer A. Ostergren, Ph.D., served as an associate professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), within the College of Health and Human Services, from 2003 onward. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communicative Disorders and Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from CSULB, along with a Ph.D. in Special Education from Claremont Graduate University. Throughout her tenure, Ostergren held key leadership positions, including Graduate Advisor for the department, Program Director and Chair of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, Co-Director of the Special Cohort Master’s Program, Chair of the Admissions and Standards Committee, and Associate Dean of Student Success and Academic Affairs for the College of Health and Human Services. She also participated in CSULB’s comprehensive strategic planning team and served as President’s and Provost’s Leadership Fellow from 2015 to 2016. Ostergren pioneered CSULB’s course in 2009 enabling bachelor’s-level students in speech-language pathology with 70 hours of clinical experience to obtain licensure as speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs), making CSULB the first four-year university in California to offer such training; a 2012 survey indicated 75-80% of completers secured licensure and employment as SLPAs. She developed a graduate course on traumatic brain injury (TBI) to prepare clinicians for serving individuals, including military personnel, with TBIs. Additionally, she supervised 19 independent graduate student projects, chaired committees for eight master’s theses (two receiving Outstanding Thesis Awards), conducted weekly group therapy at the Joseph B. O’Neal, Jr. Stroke Center, and served on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Special Interest Group on Supervision and Administration coordinating committee.

Ostergren’s research focused on SLPAs, TBI, aphasia treatment strategies, and ethics in speech-language pathology. She published a textbook educating SLPAs on key disciplinary topics in 2014, co-authored ten peer-reviewed articles (many with students and alumni), including “Speech-Language Pathology Assistant Supervisor Survey” and two manuscripts awarded Editor’s Choice recognition by Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders. Other notable works include “A comparison of drawing and writing on facilitating word retrieval in individuals with aphasia” (Aphasiology, 2019). Her contributions earned national recognition, with inquiries from across the U.S. about replicating the SLPA program, and she consistently received high student evaluations. Ostergren received CSULB’s Early Academic Career Excellence Award in 2014 and Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award in 2017.