Rate My Professor Suzanne Hopf

Associate Professor Suzanne Hopf serves as Course Director for the Master of Speech Pathology and Associate Professor in Speech-Language Pathology at Charles Sturt University’s School of Allied Health, Exercise and Sports Sciences. An Australian-Fijian citizen based in Nadi, Fiji, she leads the hybrid-delivered program while advancing global equity in communication disability services. Hopf holds a PhD in Speech-Language Pathology from Charles Sturt University (awarded 2017), a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology) with Honours, Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2021), Certificate in TESOL, and Advanced Certificate in Teaching English to Young Learners. Her career emphasizes developing evidence-informed, culturally responsive practices for unserved regions, informed by her doctoral research on Fijian children’s communication.

Hopf’s research investigates barriers and facilitators to services for individuals with communication and swallowing disabilities, shaped by individual, community, and societal factors. She authored the Communication Capacity Research and Culturally Responsive Teamwork frameworks to support specialist services worldwide. Notable publications include “The experiences of speech-language pathologists when collaborating with spoken language interpreters, multilingual families, and their children with hearing loss” (2026, International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology), “Advancing the sustainable development goals by listening to children’s voices across the globe” (2025, Child Language Teaching and Therapy), “Fijian school students’ Fiji English speech sound acquisition” (2022), and “Effect of dialect on identification and severity of speech sound disorder in Fijian children” (2022). She contributes to the Children’s Voices Centre, supervises PhD and Honours students to completion, and fosters interprofessional collaboration. Hopf has earned the 2021 Executive Dean’s Teaching Award for Successful Graduates, 2021 Staff Excellence Award, 2022 Research Excellence Through Partnership Award, and 2023 Excellence Awards for Research and Social Responsibility (Highly Commended), recognizing her impact on diverse student outcomes and international research networks.