NEWS AND UPDATES
A TIMELINE
September 26: On Sept. 18 and 19,
Knoxville media ran stories indicating UT will be moving control of
the ASP programs to the UT-Memphis College of Allied Health Sciences.
Complete information is still not available. We, the Friends of UT
ASP, are hopeful about this development, but further details need to
be released to us, and to the public. We are continuing to seek inclusion
in the process. UT officials are working on a general plan to be presented
to the Trustees on Oct. 23 and 24 for their approval. A resolution
seems to be in sight. Although very
few details of this plan have been made public, we are reasonably optimistic
that this is a big step toward saving UT ASP.
On October 23 and 24, 2008, the UT Board of Trustees
will meet in Knoxville and will be voting on the UT-Memphis proposal.
If all goes well between now and the end of the Trustee's meeting,
Friends of UT ASP will celebrate a victory in this hard-fought political
battle.
August 22: The Rinehart Petition, with over
3000 signatures of UT ASP supporters, was presented to a representative
of UT President John Petersen. Read more here.
August 21: Save UT ASP held the third campaign
rally and public meeting at the Scottish Rite building in Ft. Sanders
in Knoxville. Elected
officials who attended included state Rep. Doug Overbey, state Rep.
Jimmy Matlock, newly elected state Rep. Ryan Haynes and Barbara Nicodemus,
16th District Democratic candidate. Supporters held signs out on
16th Street prior to the meeting. A number of supporters spoke at the
rally.
August 19: UT officials spoke out in the Knoxville
media, indicating that the Audiology and Speech Pathology programs
have been "saved". Supporters
of the UT Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology have learned
some progress is being made to find an alternative to the University
Administration’s original proposal to eliminate the Department of Audiology
and Speech Pathology and all clinical services. We currently do not
have answers to very important questions and therefore, cannot fully
evaluate the announcement by the University Administration. Please
read our official August 19 press release. We are NOT viewing
this as a victory for the campaign to Save UT ASP until the University
is willing to release more details, which are as yet unavailable.
August 11: The First
Day Festival at the Knoxville
Expo Center took place. Save UT ASP supporters
Larry Silverstein, Bill Burgess, and Velvet Buehler were present
to answer questions and talk about the campaign. Larry reported
talking to several hundred parents and getting many new email addresses.
July 21: Dr. Ashley Harkrider, and Velvet Buehler,
of UT ASP attended a meeting of the Governor's Advisory Council on
Education of Students with Disabilities in Nashville. They atteded
at the invitation of Council member Mary Donnet Johnson of Knoxville,
whose son Pace was a client at the UT Hearing and Speech Center in
the past. Here
is a report from that meeting and an information handout that was distributed.
June 30: Although the June 20 Trustees meeting
is past, with the formerly expected decision on the ASP program termination
tabled until October, the Campaign is still working diligently to stay
in contact with all the key decision makers to make sure they have
the latest information available. The Department of Audiology and Speech
Pathology is reviewing a number of possible alternatives to present
to Interim Chancellor Simek and President Petersen, including realignment
of the Department with other UT units or Colleges. Every option is
being considered for presentation to the Trustees.
June 21: supporters of UT ASP ran a
half page "Open
Letter to President Petersen and the Board of Trustees" in
the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
June 20: Over 60 ASP supporters attended the
UT Board of Trustees meeting on the UTK campus from 2:30 to 5 PM.
No supporters were allowed to speak at the meeting, although several
of the Trustees talked with supporters after the meeting concluded.
The Board passed the 2008-9 budget as submitted, although no specific
action was taken on President Petersen's recommendation to cut the
program. This decision will be made by the Board at their October 23/24
fall meeting.
Here
is a link to the meeting webcast.
June 18: A campaign rally was held at Scottish
Rite Temple. Speakers
included Larry Silverstein, Velvet Buehler, Denise Chesney, Ilsa
Schwarz, Carl Asp, Sam Burchfield, Jack Farrell, and Ashley Harkrider. Special
guests included State
Rep. Overby. Dr.
Mark Gaylord,
Dr. Bill Merwin, Chris Kerr. Attendence was estimated at 225.
June 17: WNOX
Talk Radio The Hallerin Hill radio talk show featured
Dr. Schwarz, with a number of call-in guests.
June 17: The
University delayed a final decision on terminating the ASP program
until October, when the Board of Trustees will meet next. In
a media release, President Petersen stated today, “To assure
that all concerned have adequate time to study the issue and
that we have dealt directly and effectively with all concerns
that have been raised during this difficult process, I have agreed
to the request by Interim Chancellor Simek and the Faculty Senate
to a lengthened period to consider programmatic cuts. I will
ask the trustees to allow campus and system leadership additional
time to seek faculty input and involvement.” The Trustees will will
still be voting on the budget on Friday and probably accept it
with the full amount of dollars cut. The vote probably will not
be a decision to terminate the Department. Nonetheless, the Campaign
will still be attending the meeting to advocate for the program.
It is very important to emphasize that the Department is NOT out
of danger. This delay in NO way ensures the survival of the program.
June 13: A group of over 125 parents, Department
members, patients and students met at South Stadium Hall on Friday
June 13 to march up Phillip Fulmer Way to protest the termination proposal.
The rally was covered by local media, and was a success.
June 12: UT
announced that it has to honor a agreement it signed in 1966
to preserve and to continue to operate the UT Hearing and Speech
Center for 99 years. However, UT still plans to terminate the academic
program. Essentially, the University proposed to gut the Department,
and only maintain a vestigial clinic program, honoring the letter
but NOT the spirit of the agreement. This is NOT acceptable, in any
manner whatsoever. For more information, click
here to see the June 12 article on the Knoxville News-Sentinel
website. Here is a
PDF document of the actual 1966 agreement.
June 9: The
first Campaign meeting was held at 5 PM at the Scottish Rite Temple
in Knoxville. The meeting recapped the events of the June 6 Trustees
meeting in Nashville. Preliminary organization took place, and
we had speakers that included Judge Howard Bozeman, Larry Silverstein,
Hal Watts of Scottish Rite, Lynne Harmon of PCSG and TAASLP, several
area private practice owners, and members of the Faculty Senate.
June
8: In
an email message to Dr. Schwarz, Dr. John Ashford, President
of the Tennessee
Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists,
declared the Association's full support for the Campaign to Save
UT Audiology and Speech Pathology.
June 6: The UT Board of Trustees Executive and
Compensation Committee met in Nashville at the law offices of Waller,
Lansden, Dortch and Davis.
A large group of UT ASP supporters drove to Nashville and were able
to sit through the entire meeting. Initial emails, phone calls, and
visits to individual Trustees paid off handsomely, as the Trustees
asked President Petersen numerous questions about the proposed termination
of the Department. Also, at the end of the meeting, the Trustees voted
to allow Dr. Schwarz ten minutes to address the Board. Many of the
Trustees stayed after the meeting to talk with the UT students, staff,
and faculty members present.
June 4: President Petersen publicly
announces the 2008-9 Budget, including the proposed termination of
Audiology and Speech Pathology.
