Office of the Dean, School of Health Professions, 2006-
Office of the Dean, School of Health Related Professions, 1987-2006
Office of the Dean, School of Community and Allied Health, 1978-1987
Office of the Dean, School of Public and Allied Health, 1976-1978
Office of the Dean, School of Community and Allied Health Resources, 1969-1976
Predecessors:
University Hospital School of Health Services Administration, 1965-1969;
College of General Studies, Division of Allied Health, 1966-1969
Successor:
n/a
Reporting Hierarchy:
1969-1976: School of Community and Allied Health Resources, Vice President for Health Affairs, President;
1976-1978: School of Public and Allied Health, Vice President for Health Affairs, President;
1978-1987: School of Community and Allied Health, Vice President for Health Affairs, President;
1987-1995: School of Health Related Professions, Vice President for Health Affairs; President;
1995-2006: School of Health Related Professions, Provost, President;
2006- : School of Health Professions, Provost, President
Dean:
Vacant, 1969-1971
Keith D. Blayney, 1971-1992
(Interim) Charles L. Joiner, 1992
Charles L. Joiner, 1992-1999
(Interim) C. Michael Brooks, 2000-2001
Harold P. Jones, 2001-2019
(Interim) Donna Slovensky, 2019
Andrew J. Butler, 2019-
History:
The UAB School of Health Professions is the largest academic school of its type in the United States. The name “health professions” was formalized in 2006, but the school is much older and has a long history in Birmingham. The school grew from those allied health units that were formalized within University Hospital in the 1950s and 1960s. These paraprofessional units, such as certificate based programs for medical technologists, laboratory technicians, radiological technologists, etc., were initiated by the hospital administrator in order to have professionally trained health-care personnel for hospital employment. Eventually, these units grew into the School of Health Services Administration, a unit which was established on July 7, 1966.
In 1969 the Alabama Legislature authorized a new school at UAB, the School of Community and Allied Health Resources (SCAHR), but no dean was named for two years. Dr. Keith Blayney became the first dean of the school effective on January 15, 1971. When it was established, SCAHR incorporated the School of Health Services Administration (which was disestablished) and the Division of Allied Health Sciences from the College of General Studies. It also incorporated parts of the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology from the medical school. SCAHR was originally divided into four academic divisions that functioned like regular academic departments: Health Services Administration, Public Health and Environment, Allied Health Sciences, and the Regional Technical Institute for Health Occupations.
On December 4, 1976, the Board of Trustees approved a name change for the school, and SCAHR became the School of Public and Allied Health. The name of Public and Allied Health was short-lived, however, as the school was renamed again in just two years. At the November 29, 1978 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the school was renamed as the School of Community and Allied Health (SCAH).
SCAH consisted of programs and departments in various health occupations, a Regional Technical Institute linked to Alabama’s junior college system, a program in hospital administration, and continuing education programs for health related occupations. Originally, the School of Community and Allied Health had four academic departments: Allied Health, Health Services Administration, Nutrition Sciences, and Public Health, but in 1981 the Department of Public Health was removed from SCAH and became the UAB School of Public Health.
At the June 17, 1987, meeting of the Board of Trustees, the School of Community and Allied Health was renamed as the School of Health Related Professions (SHRP). President Charles A. McCallum, Jr., believed that the name change better reflected the school’s emphasis on graduate programs and research activities. In the spring of 1988, the school underwent a study of its internal organization that resulted in changes that became effective October 1, 1988. These changes included the renaming of the Department of Allied Health, the creation of a new Department of Special Programs, and the addition of an assistant and an associate dean to the Office of the Dean. The school administered all paramedical education programs at the university and coordinated paramedical education with Alabama’s junior college system. In 2001 SHRP was reorganized into six academic departments, a change approved at the board meeting of September 13, 2001. The previous four academic departments became six new departments, Critical Care, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Science, Health Services Administration, Nutrition Sciences, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy.
In April of 2002, a good portion of SHRP, its departments, faculty and students, were moved into a newly completed building, the first home in school history built solely for use by the school. Prior to the completion of the new building, the school had been housed in whatever available space could be found on the campus and in the neighborhood adjacent to UAB and in a couple of small brick office buildings that were acquired by the university in the 1970s and 1980s. The new building was located adjacent to the nursing building and faced University Boulevard across Unity Park.
On April 6, 2006 the University of Alabama Board of Trustees approved a new name for the school to be effective in June, removing the word “related” from the newly designated School of Health Professions (SHP). At the time, the school offered 21 programs at the baccalaureate through doctoral level and consisted of six academic departments: Critical Care; Diagnostic and Therapeutic Sciences; Health Services Administration; Nutrition Sciences; Occupational Therapy; and Physical Therapy. When renamed, the School of Health Professions was one of the largest such schools in the US and ranked number one (of such schools) in funding received from the National Institutes of Health. A later reorganization resulted in the school having five academic departments: Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences; Health Services Administration; Nutrition Sciences; Occupational Therapy; and Physical Therapy.
Dr. Keith Blayney, who oversaw the organization of the school as well as several official name changes, served as the first dean from January 1971 until his retirement on January 1, 1992. He was succeeded by faculty member Dr. Charles Joiner. Joiner first served as interim dean until he was appointed the school’s second dean. During Joiner’s tenure, the school consistently ranked high in NIH funding (gaining the number one position in 1997). Joiner served until the end of 1999 at which point Dr. Michael Brooks became interim dean effective January 1, 2000. Brooks remained in that capacity until April 2001 when Dr. Harold Jones became the school’s third dean. Jones remained as dean until the end of March 2019 and was succeeded by long-time faculty member Dr. Donna Slovensky, who became interim dean on April 1, 2019. In July, Dr. Andrew J. Butler became the school's fourth dean. Dr. Butler came to UAB from Georgia State University.
This page created 2007 and last updated by Tim L. Pennycuff on 3 July 2019.
Copyright: The University of Alabama Board of Trustees.