November 16, 2016

Promotion and Tenure Committee

Gallaudet University
Washington, DC

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to have this opportunity to recommend Karen Garrido-Nag, Ph.D., for tenure and
promotion in the Department of Hearing Speech and Language Sciences (HSLS). I first met Dr.
Garrido-Nag when she was a student in the Masters program in Speech and Language
Pathology at Gallaudet. At the time I was a research scientist in the Gallaudet Research
Institute. As a student, Karen demonstrated unusual appreciation for scientific research and
evidence based practice. Based on our discussions of issues in bilingual/bimodal cognitive
and language development, I was pleased and certainly not surprised that she decided to
pursue a Doctoral degree. Since I joined the HSLS department in 2013 as an Associate
Professor, and the departments research center director and PhD program coordinator, I had
numerous opportunities to observe Dr. Garrido-Nags abilities as an educator, an expert on
language development, and an active contributor to the mission of the Department and the
University.

Dr. Garrido-Nags teaching responsibilities are in the Speech and Language Pathology (SLP)
Masters program. However, her contributions to the Ph.D. program have been substantial
and continue to increase. My letter will focus on those. She has served as an instructor for
Ph.D. Internship (HSL 897), and Practicum in Higher Education Clinical Supervision (HSL 895),
both of which require student-specific syllabi. Students feedback for both courses was
exceedingly positive. She is a continuing guest-lecturer in the Seminar in Higher Education
Publishing, Grant-Writing, and Presentation Skills (HSL 894).

Dr. Garrido-Nag serves on the Qualifying Examination Committee for PhD students, where her
expertise on language development, assessment and treatment of language impairments has
been invaluable. She is a member of the Candidacy Examination Committee for two PhD
students, and is expected to continue to serve as their dissertation advisor. Of note is Dr.
Garrido-Nags role in advising PhD students outside the HSLS department that reflects her
understanding of and inclination for an interdisciplinary approach in research. Namely, she
currently serves as a dissertation committee member for a student in the Psychology
Department at Gallaudet, and a student in Educational Neuroscience at George Washington
University.

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www.gallaudet.edu
In 2017-2018 school year, Dr. Garrido-Nag is expected to replace a retiring faculty as an
instructor for Seminar in University Instruction and Supervision (HSL 893). Also, she is working
on a proposal for a 3-credit PhD level course on neuroscience of spoken language. The course
is intended to supplement the training in neuroscience already available at Gallaudet by
focusing on aspects unique to cochlear implant and hearing aid users, including issues of
neural plasticity, bilingualism, and the emerging application of neuroimaging and
electrophysiology in clinical practice (e.g., as diagnostic tools, and in the assessment of
treatment outcomes). Importantly, both are cross-departmental courses.

Dr. Garrido-Nags research and scholarly activities focus on bilingualism and language
development. Her dissertation work examined the role of attention in speech processing by
monolingual children. After joining Gallaudet University, Dr. Garrido-Nag engaged in
collaborative research with colleagues in the Psychology Department. This multidisciplinary
team investigated the role of phonology in literacy development in bilingual deaf adults. In
addition to the content knowledge, she provided expertise on electrophysiological
assessment of factors associated with reading success. This work was supported by a
Gallaudet Priority Area grant.

Dr. Garrido-Nag continues to expand and apply her expertise in assessment and intervention
at the level of brain function. As a member of a multidisciplinary team, she was involved in
developing a grant proposal for Engineering Research Center for Magnetics for Brain
Interfaces, Imaging, and Stimulation submitted to the National Science Foundation. While the
proposal was not funded, the effort was productive in focusing her research on brain markers
of language development for both hard of hearing and deaf children, an area of research with
significant theoretical and applied implications, but minimal research attention. She is
currently developing a grant proposal to an outside funding agency to support this line of
research. It should be pointed out that Dr. Garrido-Nags research often includes infants, a
notoriously difficult population to work with, which in itself requires very complex and rare
set of skills.

Dr. Garrido-Nags resourcefulness and collegiality, organization and remarkable energy is also
evident in her service to the SLP program, HSLS Department, Gallaudet University and her
professional field. I will focus on two examples. First, her service to the Ph.D. Program. Dr.
Garrido-Nag is one of four members of the Ph.D. Program Action Committee. The program is
undergoing a review, and she has provided important input to the program-generated self-
study, and to the discussions of curriculum changes and Ph.D. program policies aimed at
better serving an increasing number of incoming students with a background in SLP. Her
research and scholarly credentials are a significant part of the programs recruitment strategy.

Finally, I would like to comment on her service as a member of Council on Graduate

Education. She assumed the role with genuine enthusiasm. What continues to impress me the
most are her reports on the activities of the Council back to the department. They are
informative, meaningful, and motivating. They reflect her understanding and appreciation of
both the University culture and the Deaf culture.