Photo Essay

Edinboro University has recently opened the state of the art, Human Services Building for students and staff. Edinboro’s past president, Dr. Bolton, formed plans for a new health building because of inadequate space. President Brown supported the idea has carried out this proposal. The first floor comprises of a new nursing program while the second floor holds Governor George Leader, Speech and Hearing Center.

The erection of this new facility cost about $5 million dollars. The structure itself is a 25,000 square-feet, two-story building.

According to Ms. Amy Neil Assistant Vice President for University Communications, “It will house state-of-the-art clinical facilities to meet the specific clinical laboratory needs of these two important departments- Speech, Language and Hearing Department and Nursing Department. The departments will get not only the space they need for their programs, laboratory work and clinical training, but also an environment conducive to teaching and learning professions that add quality to the lives of so many others”, Neil says.

This is a photo of one of the many skeletons found in the building. This particular one is in the nursing lab downstairs.

The simulation lab allows student’s to simulate clinical situations with adults, children, maternity patients and newborns. This laboratory is used to “improve critical thinking and decision making skills”.

One of the many dummies used in the simulation lab on the first floor.

The Human Services Building has several new learning techniques for students at Edinboro who plan on taking any health classes. There is a “10 bed nursing lab for physical assessments and techniques which can be performed on manikins or on each other”, Nosel says.

Upstairs, in the Speach and Hearing Department, are several large classrooms like the one above.

This premier training facility, Leader Center allows graduate students with clinical experience learn while under the supervision of ASHA-certified and Pennsylvania- licensed clinical supervisors/faculty.

Upstairs, in the Speach and Here is one of the observation rooms that parents, students, and professors can examine the person who is being assesed.





Clients are seen individually and/or in groups in two seperate rooms. In the room above observers watch as the person is being evaluated. In the adjacent room the person talks and takes several speach tests with a professional. Family members are encouraged to observe and participate in therapy. Patricia Nosel, M.N., R.N. Associate Professor Chairperson says, “It will provide for most of the nursing faculty new offices when they talk to student’s, or hold private conferences.

This is one of the two sound proof rooms provided by the Speech and Hearing department.



This sound proof room is known as the Audiometric Testing Lab. Because the room is completely sound proof, observers can pinpoint particular sound and pitch on whomever they are observing.

This is the daycare so that when parents are using the facilities, their children can feel free to play under supervision.

The Center is open daily and operates in with the Edinboro Universities calendar. After-school appointments are can be made throughout the weekdays to make to accomodate to students and parents schedules.

This is not just any ordinary computer, to the right is the Visi-Pitch Technology meter.

“The latest version of the most widely used clinical instrumentation tool for speech-language pathologists. The Visi-Pitch IV provides the latest, state-of-the-art, high-fidelity hardware for robust data acquisition and playback. As a clinical tool, Visi-Pitch IV offers clinicians an unmatched assortment of powerful methods to assess and treat their clients. Parameters are displayed graphically and summarized quantitatively that can be used in patient reports. Applications include: Voice Disorders, Motor Speech Disorders, Voice Typing, Fluency, Selected Articulation Training, Hearing-Impaired Speech, Professional Voice, Accent Reduction and Second Language Learning” (Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, 2011)

This is the break room that includes, study tables, bulletins, lockers, and fresh snacks for all Speach and Hearing students and faculty.

One exciting feature of The Human Services Building is its technical advancements. There are three new labs with Human Patient Simulation for students to practice in. “Simulation provides a learning situation that is interactive and realistic. It accommodates the student who learns best by repeated and sequential experiences. Simulation allows students to analyze their actions, learn from their mistakes, and receive immediate instructor feedback to lessen their anxiety and heighten their self-confidence in a nonthreatening environment”, Neil says.

Here is a student studying in one of the two computer labs provided upstairs by the Speech and Hearing Department.

The Speech and Language Services include: Accent Reduction, Alternative and Augmentative Communication, Articulaton, Auditory Processing, Cognitive, Fluency/Stuttering, Language, and Voice. This new facility is wonderful because students and those who are undergoing treatment because there is everything that one could possibly expect form such a facility.

This is a hand carved plaque of Governor George Leader, founder of the Speech and Hearing Center that is displayed in the main lobby.




Governor George M. Leader was the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1955-1959. "Every child, no matter what their talents or disability, deserves an education that will permit them to achieve the zenith of their potential." - Governor George M. Leader (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 2011)

Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, Initials. (2011). Visi-pitch iv. Retrieved from http://www.braintreerehabhospital.com/about-technologies-visi-pitch.asp

Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Initials. (2011). Governor George leader speech and hearing center. Edinboro, Pa: Leader Speech and Hearing Center.