The School of Audiology and Speech Sciences (SASS) began in 1969 as a division of the Department of Paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, and achieved independent status as a School in 1981. For the first 13 years, the program was funded by private foundation donations and research grants; in 1982, UBC assumed responsibility for most salaries and a portion of the non-salary budget. The size of the School remained constant for its first 20 years, with six faculty members and an average class size of 12. In 1987, the School received a Funds for Excellence Award from the Province of British Columbia, which doubled enrollment and led to the addition of three new faculty members.
The School Today
For the past 20 years, SASS has continued to expand. The School now enrolls 48 new M.Sc. students each year, has five to six Ph.D. students, a university-based faculty of 18, and a clinical faculty complement of over 500.
Thanks to the Provincial Government’s “UBC Renew” program, SASS relocated in 2008 to the renovated teaching and research spaces in the Friedman Building. The cutting-edge facilities expanded opportunities for research and education.