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The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology’s newly renovated space includes several major facility and equipment upgrades.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thanks to a multimillion-dollar investment, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology for the first time in decades will have key operations all under one roof in downtown Knoxville.
On Friday, the Health Science Center held a grand opening for the department’s newly renovated space in the UT Conference Center on Henley Street.
The Health Science Center is based in Memphis but has some operations downtown.
Among the new additions to the site are sound booths, 14 research labs, a 124-seat lecture hall and an inclusive learning playground. Having the department altogether in the same building is intended to make things easier for patients, students and faculty alike. Professor and Department Chair Ashley Harkrider said the facility draws around 300 students and 10,000 patients a year.
“This space has made it possible for us to be all in one place to be collaborative, to have a multidisciplinary approach to education and research and clinical services for patients,” Harkrider said.
According to a release from the Health Science Center, construction at the conference center was done in multiple phases. The first was completed in June 2021 when hearing and balance services, research labs and administrative offices were transitioned out of Neyland Stadium’s South Stadium Hall.
Phase 2 was completed in August 2024 with an overhaul of two more floors of the UT Conference Center, allowing clinical providers of early intervention to relocate from a building on Lake Avenue. With the project completed, students and faculty can now access both departments in the same building.
“Now if you need something, you don’t have to walk across the street, you don’t have to search for another building. It’s maybe one floor away and you can hop on an elevator really quick and get to it,” one Audiology and Speech Pathology graduate student said.
The ASP Department attracts students from across the nation. According to the release, the Doctor of Audiology program was recently ranked No. 22 by U.S. News and World Report, and both audiology and speech-language pathology graduates have 100% job placement within 3 months of graduation.
“The level of academia that I’m able to have while I’m here, and the level of support that I’m able to have here from the staff not only prepares me to do well in graduate school, but it prepares me to do well in my career,” the graduate student said.