On Wednesday, August 27, the College of Health Professions at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) will hold two celebrations to commemorate the college’s renaming. A lunchtime event for students, faculty and staff will be held in the Student-Alumni Center at 800 Madison Avenue from 12 to 1:30 p.m., while a reception for alumni and donors is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Madison Plaza. About 300 UTHSC team members are expected at the afternoon gathering, and some 150 donors and alumni will join the evening reception.
“Our college’s renaming celebration would not be complete without including our students, alumni and donors,” said Noma Anderson, PhD, dean of the college since 2010. The unit – formerly the College of Allied Health Sciences – marked its official name change on July 1, the start of UTHSC’s 2015 fiscal year. Founded in 1972 as the College of Community and Allied Health, the unit’s name was abridged to the College of Allied Health Sciences in 1985.
With fall enrollment at 585 students, the UTHSC College of Health Professions (COHP) now comprises six departments: Audiology and Speech Pathology, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Health Informatics and Information Management, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant Studies. Depending on the program selected, students obtain training in the COHP at the bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral levels.
The COHP has some 9,000 alumni, many who work in clinical, administrative, educational and service roles throughout the state of Tennessee and around the world. With its administrative offices and most educational programs located on the UTHSC Memphis campus, the college also has a major presence in Knoxville where UTHSC is constructing a $20 million facility for the college’s Audiology and Speech Pathology Department. The new building is expected to open in 2015.