Betty Kollia

Betty Kollia, PhD, CCC-SLP is Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at William Paterson University. She has been faculty in higher education and a licensed Speech Language Pathologist for more than 25 years.

Dr. Kollia’s expertise is in speech, language, and cognitive processes and disorders due to stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia, and autism, among other causes. She is involved in interprofessional teaching and research activities to inform the field of communication sciences and disorders. She has presented her diverse work at regional, national, and international conferences, and includes students in her research. Dr. Kollia has mentored over a hundred students in their Master’s theses and research studies, has guided independent research projects, as well as undergraduate and doctoral research.

Dr. Kollia’s integrative research has produced peer-reviewed publications with colleagues from Special Education, Public Health, Psychology, Nursing, and Kinesiology. She has been a longtime contributor to William Paterson University’s annual Bilingual-ESL Conference on intersections of bilingualism and communication sciences and disorders. Dr. Kollia is a regular reviewer for scholarly manuscripts and textbooks, has chaired WPU’s Institutional Review Board, and directed the Center for Research of the College of Science and Health for several years.

Dr. Kollia has been training students in clinical practice (diagnosis and treatment) spanning various communication disorders with emphasis on the whole person. She is a certified member of the American Speech Language Hearing Association, and a member of the NJ Speech-Language-Hearing Association, its Higher Education Committee, and currently chair of its Multicultural Committee. Dr. Kollia is a member of the Speech Language Pathology Advisory Board of the Adler Aphasia Center, a non-profit NJ organization dedicated to helping people with aphasia.

Dr. Kollia has been recognized by William Paterson University with the “Women of Vision Award” as well as with the “Excellence in Teaching” award.

Professional Interests

Speech, language, and cognitive processes, acquired language and cognitive disorders, bilingualism, interdisciplinary collaborations, and interprofessional education and practice (IPE/IPP)