The Program in Communication Disorders relies on multiple community partners throughout the state of Arkansas and beyond to help prepare graduate students become effective speech-language pathologists. This includes clinical, medical and educational settings. These partnerships are integral to the experiential learning of student clinicians. When entering these partnerships, Arkansas's strongest speech-language pathologists agree to mentor U of A Communication Sciences and Disorders students.

Because the program's community mentors are so crucial, each year our graduate students nominate top mentors of the year. This award honors outstanding mentorship from one community partner. Students from the graduate program nominate mentors and vote for who they believe to be most deserving of the honor.

This year, Janea Darby has been named Mentor of the Year. Darby is a highly effective speech-language pathologist and mentor, and the U of A students have learned a great deal under her mentorship.

Darby graduated from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, with a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology. She has 15 years of experience working in pediatrics across multiple workplace settings.

Darby stated, "I love working with kiddos of all ages to help them meet their full potential. I've also acquired a love for supervising students throughout my career. I feel we all benefit from those unique experiences, including my patients."

Congratulations to Darby for being recognized by the Program in Communication Sciences (CSDI) Program as the 2025 Mentor of the Year.