Moving to the Head of Its Class Ithaca College's new health sciences facility will be among the nation's finest.
	Ithaca College's School of Health Sciences and Human Performance is poised to enhance its reputation as a national leader in undergraduate health science education. The catalyst: the projected 1999 opening of a $12.5 million, 90,000-square-foot facility that will provide students and faculty in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and the exercise sciences with a comprehensive facility second to none. College officials detailed the project's impact during an October 23 groundbreaking ceremony near the construction site, located between Hill Center and Smiddy Hall. "With this new facility, students and faculty will be exposed to outstanding clinical teaching, research, and exercise science environments designed for collaborative learning, and which will include the latest in educational technology," said School of Health Sciences and Human Performance dean Richard C. Miller '69, M.S. '71. Ithaca College president Peggy R. Williams said the project continues Ithaca's commitment to providing high quality facilities, and that the building will "add much needed state-of-the art space for programs in the health sciences." Others offering remarks were assistant professor and cochair of the Health Sciences and Human Performance Steering Committee Janet K. Wigglesworth, and Robert W. Baker Sr., chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees. The new facility will allow faculty and students to take advantage of cutting edge technology as interest in the health sciences field continues to grow. The first floor of the facility will feature a computer laboratory and physical therapy learning lab, two 20-station classroom areas, and an open lab area for use by all students. The entire complex will be served by a control room, where students will use software, videos, and other equipment. On the second floor, spacious physical therapy and occupational therapy labs -- including a model apartment so students can learn to help people with disabilities navigate everyday situations -- will provide hands-on experience. A distance-learning classroom will use the latest technology to link students here with the program in Rochester. The third floor will house physiology, biomechanics, and motor learning labs, along with faculty offices and a wellness clinic. On the fourth floor, the Gerontology Institute will make its new home alongside a rehabilitation center and a distinctive, combined occupational therapy/physical therapy clinic that takes advantage of the current interdisciplinary approach to health care. Departments and classes currently scattered through six buildings will be streamlined with the relocation of several departments in the new facility and in the renovated Smiddy Hall and Hill Center. The services of the Gerontology Institute and some clinic facilities will be open, as they have been in the past, to the College community as well as to residents of the Ithaca area.