Groundbreaking and Naming Ceremony for the Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence

September 7, 2016

Utah State University and the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services broke ground for the Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence on the Logan campus on Wednesday, September 7th.

Dr. Beth Foley with Gene S. Williamsen

The comprehensive center is the result of USU’s strength in providing outstanding real-world service and research opportunities to students and faculty in human service disciplines. The new building also helps to fulfill USU’s commitment to serve the state and surrounding community.

A first of its kind in the Mountain West, the Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence is designed to strengthen interdisciplinary training and deliver research and clinical services across the human lifespan. Designed as a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility, the center will provide an integrated range of assessment, treatment, and counseling services. With focused outreach to low-income and underserved minority populations, thousands of individuals, couples, and families across Utah and the region will be served. In addition, future human service providers will receive real-world, interdisciplinary training as they work with USU faculty who engage in clinical practice and cutting-edge research.

Beth Foley, Dean of the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, believes the new center will greatly benefit students and faculty alike.

“The center is designed to facilitate collaboration between researchers and clinicians,” said Foley. “Students and faculty will be involved in current research as well as learning, teaching, and practicing the latest methodologies in treatment and therapy.”

While individual clinics will maintain their own identities, each will also be connected with the other units. The facility is designed to be conveniently accessed by the public and the university community. The center will include:

Groundbreaking
  • early childhood education classrooms
  • distance education classrooms
  • behavioral health therapy rooms
  • nursing simulation lab
  • hydrotherapy pool
  • gross motor room for physical and occupational therapy
  • speech-language clinic
  • hearing and balance clinic
  • memory clinic
  • café and teaching kitchen
  • underground parking garage

With the aid of computers and IVC technology, clients across the state can receive clinical and therapeutic services, no matter where they live. Through extension and other campus partnerships, the center will utilize USU’s broad statewide network to reach clients, with the capacity to provide services through tele-intervention.

USU President Stan Albrecht is pleased that the new center will build on the university’s history of providing high quality services as well as human services education.

“The Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services has a reputation for innovation and productivity,” said Albrecht. “With a land grant mission, we have long been committed to quality teaching, outreach, and generating new knowledge. The new Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence will improve student learning and mentoring experiences, helping USU fulfill our mission to serve those in need throughout the state.”

Foley notes that the new building will enable the university to train students to enter a range of health and human service professions, including those where there are critical shortages across the state.

“USU offers clinical services in multiple arenas—including autism and developmental disabilities, behavioral health, speech-language-hearing, and health education and promotion, to name a few,” said Foley. “Not only will the new center provide assessment and treatment in these areas, it will also provide integrated therapy options for those with multiple needs, thus negating the need to travel to different clinics for each type of therapy.”

Major funding for the building comes from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and other generous donors. The building is expected to be completed in November 2017 and be fully functional by January 2018.

For more information about the Sorenson Center for Clinical Excellence, visit the Center website.

Contact: Lance Beckert, lance.beckert@usu.edu, 435-797-1611

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