School of Health Professions and Education

Directory
School of Health Professions and Education

What We Do

Encompassing a variety of programs, including, but not limited to nursing, psychology,-child life, therapeutic recreation, education, wellness and adventure education, health studies, physical therapy, and health care administration, the School of Health Professions and Education fosters the transformation of students into competent and caring professionals.

Phone

(315) 792-3075

phallock@utica.edu

Department Type

School

Office Location

230 Addison Miller White Hall

The School of Health Professions and Education is home to undergraduate and graduate programs in the health professions as well as teacher preparation programs.

About The School

The School of Health Professions and Education, housing both The Center for Ergonomic Analysis and Research (CEAR) and the Institute of Gerontology (founded in 1980), takes great pride in its award-winning faculty, including three recipients of the prestigious Virgil Crisafulli Distinguished Teaching Award — the highest teaching honor at the College — come from this school. One faculty member taught the post-graduate child life curriculum at Kuwait University, another provided physical therapy to children in Albany with three students. One was selected as "Young Forensic Scientist" by the American Academy of Forensic Science, one was selected to receive the national award for service to the Acute Care section of the American Physical Therapy Association, and another was recognized as Outstanding Pediatric Physical Therapist by the national organization of the physical therapy profession.

Educational opportunity and accessibility

A priority for the programs in this school is to make education accessible to all students. Our recent grant activity reflects this focus. Programs in this school have received almost two million dollars in recent years to:

assist underrepresented students in the nursing program,
make Utica College courses more inclusive and more accessible to students with disabilities, and
assist allied health faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to infuse gerontological information into their curriculum.
Provide geriatric education to practitioners.

Interdisciplinary and community learning opportunities

The faculty in this school provide many interdisciplinary and community opportunities for our students such as the Student Interdisciplinary Team Experience. Students from various health related programs present a team meeting to discuss the assessment and intervention plans for a client. Initially grant funded, the school provides an interdisciplinary experience for students to work with community groups to provide mental health services to elders.

Examples of community opportunities include:

Our education students coordinate a breakfast reading club at an elementary school and are beginning an after school literacy program for the parents.
Therapeutic Recreation students assist at Senior Olympics and have ongoing programs with a local facility for adolescents.
Physical Therapy students work with elders at a local senior citizen center on balance and fall prevention.
Our students in health related programs assist immigrant elders to use the health care system and to prepare for naturalization.
Our occupational therapy faculty conduct handwriting workshops for children and adults.

Research opportunities

Faculty in the School of Health Professions and Education involve both graduate and undergraduate students in research. Students have presented their research at our student research day, at state, regional, and national professional meetings, and have published their work in professional journals and as a book chapter.