'The Stars Aligned' to Bring Reuler to Pacific's Speech-Language Pathology Program

Ellen Reuler was considering retirement when she was approached with the opportunity to help start Pacific University’s speech-language pathology program.

A longtime speech-language pathologist, Reuler had been clinical director at Portland State University for 20 years when then-dean of the Pacific University College of Education asked her to consult on the development of a new master’s program.

“I knew Pacific was interested in speech-language pathology,” she said. “It wasn’t a surprise to me, but it was a surprise to get the call.”

She agreed to co-consult on the program development and said the pieces fell together serendipitously — from the right people being in town at the right time to finding out that a colleague co-consulting on the program completed a doctoral program with director-to-be Marty Fischer.

“It was like the stars aligned,” Reuler said.

“I really had been thinking of retiring that summer, but I felt so energized and excited. I realized I wasn’t ready to retire, I was ready to do something different.”

Reuler helped develop the School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, which offers both a master’s of speech-language pathology, as well as an undergraduate minor in communication sciences and disorders. Once it was all approved, she decided to apply as a member of the faculty.

“Everybody I met, I just thought they were so nice,” she said. “I was just like, ‘Wow, what a great place.’”

Today, Reuler is the director of clinical education for the school, a job that pairs her 20 years of experience leading clinical programs at Portland State with her own vast experience as a clinician.

Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, require both academic and clinical practicum experience. Reuler teaches courses, tracks student skills for certification, and also helps develop community partnerships and oversee students in clinical placements.

For example, SLP students conduct speech and hearing screenings on children in area elementary schools, Pacific’s Early Learning Community and Nike’s daycare programs. They also are placed in medical settings, such as OHSU, Legacy and Providence hospitals.

“We spread our net far and wide,” Reuler said. The program has even been able to place students in an internship with Kaiser Permanente in Hawai‘i or in settings in their home states around the country for final-semester externships.

She’s also working with new partnerships, such as the Community Transitional School in Portland, a school for homeless youth, and with organizations providing cognitive rehabilitation for people experiencing traumatic brain injuries.

Such breadth of practice is one of her favorite things about being an SLP — “It’s a great career, because you have so many different places you can work, so many populations you can work with” — and her wealth of community connections is one way she shines at Pacific.

For their part, students love her.

“Ellen has a genuine interest in student success,” said Amber Humphrey SLP ’15. “She gives feedback to students that will inspire them to do better without making them feel as though they have done something wrong.”

Added Hilary Bissell SLP ’15: “She was an invaluable resource and mentor while I was preparing for and applying to the SLP grad program. Now that I am in the program, she is the very wise and still ever-resourceful matriarch who guides [us] toward our chosen profession.”

Reuler said the students, like the faculty, who have taken a chance on a new program bring a special kind of energy and enthusiasm.

“It’s such a wonderful group to work with,” she said. “It’s been a real privilege to be part of starting a new program. What an opportunity at this point in my career.”