The School of Audiology and Speech Sciences (SASS) is marking forty successful years. The only program in British Columbia to educate audiologists and speech-language pathologists, the School has much to celebrate as it enters its fourth decade. In 2008, SASS moved into renovated teaching and research facilities in the $19 million, energy-efficient Friedman Building. The cutting-edge facilities have expanded opportunities for research and education. The School now enrols 35 new Masters students each year. The School also has five to six Ph.D. students, two Post-Doctoral Fellows, a University-based faculty of 15, and a clinical faculty complement of over 170.
SASS began in 1969 as a Division of the Department of Paediatrics in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, achieving independent status as a School in 1981. For the first 13 years, the program was funded by private donations and research grants alone; UBC assumed responsibility for a portion of the budget and salaries in 1982. For its first 20 years, the School’s size remained constant at six faculty members and an average class size of 12. In 1987, a Funds for Excellence Award from the Province of British Columbia allowed the School to double enrolment and add new faculty members. The School has only continued to grow, and looks forward to a bright future.
The SASS community will celebrate the anniversary with a by-invitation-only dinner on May 28th for alumni, faculty, students and staff. Attendees are also invited to an open house event at the Friedman Building on the following day for a tour of the new facilities. We look forward to the opportunity to reunite with faculty and alumni from over the years, to celebrate the considerable accomplishments of the School, and to look forward to the future together.