After a successful career as a speech-language pathologist, Assistant Professor Katie Warner, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, hopes to share her love of education and learning with students in La Salle University’s Communication Sciences and Disorders Program. 

Katie Warner, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, has always loved learning. As one of the newest faculty members in La Salle University’s Communication Sciences and Disorders Department, she’s excited to pass that love on to her students.  

“I loved school as a small child, and as a college student I really loved school, I loved graduate school, I enjoyed learning so much and wanted to spend time in a learning environment, an academic environment,” Warner said, when talking about her decision to become an educator. “It made sense to me that as a teacher I would be able to continue—not that you can’t continue to learn forever as a clinician, of course you can, and you should—to be surrounded by it during the day. Getting to model the love of learning and curiosity for students was really appealing to me.”  

The love of learning nearly took Warner, who graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s of science in communication sciences and disorders from Southeastern Louisiana University, down a different career path.  

“I thought that when I went to college I would be a teacher to be in that academic or educational environment all the time and be surrounded by it, so I thought I would probably be an elementary school teacher,” she said. “When I went to orientation for college, there was a flyer that was handed out for the speech-language pathology program at the school. I read the flyer, and I changed my mind right there. I declared a new major and moved on from day one in the program. And I never looked back.”  

 After graduating, Warner went straight into the workforce as a speech-language pathologist, working first with clients of all ages in healthcare settings before narrowing her focus to children.  

Being a speech-language pathologist appealed to Warner for similar reasons to teaching. She still got to work with children, just in a typically one-on-one situation instead of a classroom, and to be in a learning environment with them, teaching communication skills instead of academics.  

The wide-spread impact she had was also a treasured part of her professional experience.  

“Building relationships with my client’s whole family, whoever is in their immediate environment for the most part, it’s such a remarkable and tremendous opportunity to make an impact on everyone in the household,” Warner said. “It impacts their daily life in big ways and small ways because communication is in everything we do.”  

In December, after being awarded her doctorate degree in health sciences with a concentration in pediatric science from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, Warner revisited the idea of being a teacher, this time for college students.  

When looking for an institution to do this at, Warner was struck by La Salle’s mission. 

“Education occurring in the context of a diverse community, an inclusive community, even just the language of the mission itself was very appealing to me, educating the whole person, shaping students into reflective people who also love learning,” she said. “Helping students not just learn about the topic you’re teaching but overall developing their sense of self and the role that they play in their community too. I definitely appreciated La Salle’s mission, and it was highly meaningful to me.”  

La Salle’s location within Philadelphia also played a part in her decision. Warner wanted to teach and practice in a diverse city with a strong sense of identity.  

“I would definitely say that’s true for Philadelphia; it’s rich with culture,” she said.  

After she visited 20^th and Olney, Warner’s initial attraction to the University was confirmed. 

“I felt an almost immediate sense of belonging when I came here. Once I got to meet the faculty and learn a little bit more about the program,” she said.  

So, she relocated from Austin, Texas, and started teaching Explorers. Warner leads three classes a semester for both undergraduate and graduate students. She looks forward to teaching a speech sound disorders class in the fall, sharing one of her areas of clinical expertise and interest with her students.   

Warner has taken to her new faculty position quickly, and her love of learning has continued into her new profession. She values the opportunities she has to learn from others in the faculty, both about being a teacher and when it comes to research.  

It also reflects her past in other ways. Her favorite part of teaching mirrors her favorite part of her clinical career.  

“Being able to directly impact the lives of students through teaching, but then by doing that, if you do a good job with that, you also are actually impacting the lives of their future patients,” she said. “So that positive impact can be so widespread or so far-reaching. It’s a huge responsibility but also a privilege.”  

While she hopes to have a positive impact on her students through her classes, they are already doing that for her.  

“Getting to know my students has been the part I’ve enjoyed more than anything else, and maybe even more than I expected. They make every part of what I do more enjoyable,” she said. “They’re interesting, they’re funny, they’re deep thinkers, they’re discerning people, they work really hard. To be around that in a classroom, or just in the building, all the hard work is more enjoyable because of them.”  

-Naomi Thomas