2007 WAS A MEMORABLE YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE SCHOOL OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS AT UAB.
• Enrollment surged to nearly 1,900 students. The graduating class was the largest in the history of the
school, and those graduates turned in outstanding performances on credentialing exams.
• The school’s programs continued to gain national recognition. Our health administration program moved to number seven in the U.S. News & World Report rankings, and our surgical physician assistant
program entered the rankings for the first time at number 26. Our nutrition sciences program also received national recognition in the Chronicle of Higher Education, which ranked it eighth in the
country on the basis of faculty-scholarship productivity.
The year also saw a surge in research activity with a number of major newly funded grants by individual investigators. Highlights of the year included the competitive renewal of our NIDDK-funded
Clinical Nutrition Research Center and the initial funding of a new Diabetes Research and Training Center by NIH.
The school continued its many outreach activities during 2007, as well. The school’s faculty, staff, and students provided important service to our city, state, region, and world in a variety of ways,
including participation in a transdisciplinary effort to improve services to developmentally challenged children within our region, innovative programs to improve nutrition within communities and in the
workplace, and initiatives to improve health care and health-care delivery around the world.
Faculty and students found time to enjoy themselves during 2007, receiving UAB’s Homecoming Spirit Award for the sixth year in a row.
The past year was also marked by the passing of Dr. Keith Blayney, founding dean of the school. His enthusiasm, commitment, and wisdom are missed by us all.
2008 BRINGS WITH IT INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITIES.
We hope that the year will see the initiation of several new programs. Programs in genetic counseling, an executive doctoral program in health administration, a new biotechnology program, enhancement of our advanced imaging program, the addition of a Doctorate in Nursing Practice option for our nurse anesthesia students, and the development of a joint Ph.D. program between physical therapy and occupational therapy are a few of the program initiatives we are pursing in 2008.
We hope that the next year will also bring us greater opportunities to serve our community, both locally and globally. During the upcoming year, we hope to develop aggressive strategies for involving faculty and students in educational and outreach efforts in the Ukraine and in Zambia. At the same time, we hope to find more and better ways to address the health needs of Alabama.
During the course of next year, we hope to continue to expand our programs in faculty and staff development and in leadership training and to implement innovative strategies to support our efforts
in recruiting and retaining a truly diverse workforce and student body.
In order for us to reach these goals and to continue to sustain and improve the quality of the educational experiences that we provide to our students, we will need to undertake an aggressive program
to provide the facilities necessary to deliver these initiatives. We hope that during 2008 we can begin the effort to expand the School of Health Professions Building and that we can move forward on our
efforts to drastically change the face of our Learning Resource Center in order to bring our students the best in learning technologies, which in turn will allow them to leave our school prepared to deliver even higher-quality clinical service to their patients and clients. During the course of the next year, we
will be giving you more information about these plans and asking for your support in turning these dreams into reality.
It is indeed an exciting time to be part of the School of Health Professions at UAB. As partners in these efforts, let me thank you for all that you do and wish you the best in the upcoming year.