Administrative Structure
The College of Health Professions (COHP) is led by the Dean of the College and four associate/assistant deans. It is organized into five departments which are the administrative bases for twelve degree programs and five graduate certificate: the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology; the Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, with programs in medical laboratory science and cytopathology practice (cytotechnology and histotechnology); the Department of Health Informatics and Information Management; the Department of Occupational Therapy; and the Department of Physical Therapy. Each department is led by a chair.
History
The College was founded as the College of Community and Allied Health Professions in 1972 and was later named the College of Allied Health Sciences. In 2014, the name changed to the College of Health Professions. The College serves as an administrative base for health professions programs from a variety of departments and institutions. Initial departments included clinical laboratory sciences (which included programs in medical technology, cytotechnology, histotechnology and blood banking), then within the College of Medicine’s Department of Pathology; dental hygiene, then in the College of Dentistry; medical record administration (now health informatics and information management), then a part of Baptist Memorial Hospital; physical therapy, then within the College of Medicine’s Department of Medicine; and radiologic technology, then within the College of Medicine’s Department of Radiology. Start-up funding for the College came from a Veterans Administration grant. The Departments of Occupational Therapy and Audiology and Speech Pathology (located on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus) were later added. The blood banking program was discontinued, and the Department of Radiologic Technology and the histotechnology program were transferred to Southwest Tennessee Community College. The physician assistant studies program was added in 2012. In 2014, the Department of Dental Hygiene returned to the College of Dentistry. In 2016, the Department of Physician Assistant Studies was moved to the College of Medicine.
The College has made a commitment towards a new direction and a renewed purpose to train students and to impact our community, state and nation. After a year of discussion and committee review, the College’s faculty voted overwhelmingly Sept 14. 2018, to adopt the new Strategic Plan (2018-2025) which the College faculty believe will launch us to national prominence. The new Strategic Plan stresses research throughout the curriculum in each program and obtain national research funding for these important efforts. The College will seek resources that will recruit world class researchers, and for the first time as a college, prepare students for research investigations of clinical problems in the Health Professions. The College will strive to grow its clinical outreach efforts, expand its existing training opportunities and add new academic BS, PhD and professional training programs to provide new career choices for students who choose to come to work with world class faculty at UTHSC. The goal of the College is to strive to be the best, but to begin with, it will work hard with all of the alumni and stakeholders to elevate the national ranking of every program in the college to be in the top 20 (or higher) by 2025.
Mission
The mission of the College of Health Professions is consistent with the mission of the University of Tennessee: that is, to provide services that address the health care needs of the people of Tennessee, provide leadership in the respective health professions, contribute to the knowledge bases of the respective health disciplines through research/scholarship and promote lifelong learning through continuing education. The UTHSC mission is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public services. The College educates competent health professionals to provide services that address the health care needs of the people of Tennessee, provide leadership in the respective health professions, contribute to the knowledge bases of the respective health disciplines and promote lifelong learning through continuing education.
Administrative Structure of the College
The Dean of the College is assisted by associate deans for academic and faculty affairs, student affairs, research and graduate studies, and an assistant dean for finance and operation.
Organization of Faculty
All appointed faculty in the College are members of the Health Professions Faculty Organization (HPFO). Officers include a president, a president-elect, and a recording secretary, who are elected by the members. This organization meets once every three months or more often as business dictates. It serves as an advisory group to the dean and provides faculty input on curriculum and other items of interest to the faculty and the dean, as well as providing educational seminars of interest to faculty.
The faculty of the College possesses the advanced experiential and academic credentials required in a major health sciences center. In addition to being accomplished teachers and scholars, faculty in the College has a tradition of distinguished professional leadership at the regional and national levels. Scientists and clinical faculty from the Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Nursing, and Pharmacy enrich the instructional environment for health professions students. Volunteer faculty and preceptors from a wide variety of health care institutions contribute a real life perspective through their mentorship of students enrolled in the clinical educational experiences offered by the College. Faculty members consistently update their knowledge by engaging in scholarly activity and clinical service in areas related to the courses they teach.
Location and Facilities
The College’s administrative offices, as well as those of most of the departments are located on the sixth floor of the 930 Madison Building on the Memphis campus of the UT Health Science Center. The Department of Health Informatics and Information Management offices and the occupational therapy student classroom and laboratory are located in the 920 Madison Building. Most student classes and laboratories are held in the UTHSC General Education Building. The Department of Occupational Therapy has a student pediatrics laboratory in the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities located on the Memphis campus. The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology is located on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Alumni Affairs
Graduates of the College officially become members of the University of Tennessee Alumni Association upon graduation and receive the College alumni newsletter, UTHSC Health Professions.
Accreditation
All programs are accredited by the appropriate accrediting body. The audiology and speech pathology programs are accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech Pathology. The cytopathology practice program (leading to a career opportunity in cytotechnology) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs; the entry-level and post-graduate programs in health informatics and information management are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education; the programs in medical laboratory science and cytopathology practice (leading to a career opportunity in histotechnology) are accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences; the occupational therapy program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education; and the Doctor of Physical Therapy program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Programs in the college have a long and distinguished accreditation history, several being among the oldest of their kind in the nation. Faculty and administrators from the college provide service to these specialized accrediting bodies as members and surveyors.
Please see additional accreditation information in the individual programmatic sections of this bulletin. The College is an institutional member of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions.
Program Modification Statement
The faculty of the College of Health Professions reserves the right to make changes in curriculum, policy and procedures when, in its judgment, such changes are in the best interest of students and the College. Ordinarily, a student may expect to receive a degree by meeting the requirements of the curriculum as specified in the bulletin currently in force when they first enter the College, or in any one subsequent bulletin published while they are a student. However, the College is not obligated to fulfill this expectation, or to offer in any particular year, a course listed in the bulletin.
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