Thursday, April 22, 2010

UNCW to break ground on new psychology building

UNCW to break ground on new psychology building

UNCW to break ground on new psychology building

Posted: 22 Apr 2010 09:42 AM PDT

Posted by Debra Worley - email

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – UNCW is doing their part to make sure there are qualified mental health professionals in the work force.

University officials will break ground Thursday afternoon on a new psychology building, which will provide critical space and facilities to give students what they need to go into the field.

There is a shortage of mental health professionals so Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo thinks the building will be a great addition to the college.

"The shortage of mental health professionals in our state is nothing less than shocking," said DePaolo. "One quarter of North Carolina's 100 counties, including two in our region, do not have an active psychologist practicing in their communities; 18 other counties, including three in our region, have just one-third of a psychologist for every 10,000 residents."

Right now, UNCW's psychology labs are in eight different buildings. This new facility will house all department faculty, students and laboratories under one roof, which will advance teaching, research and collaboration.

Some features of the planned building include:

• Classrooms and labs with leading-edge technology

• A neuroscience laboratory classroom outfitted with the latest equipment and technology so students can learn advanced research techniques in the study of brain-behavior relationships

• Child psychology lab complex, which will enhance the efforts of four faculty members whose research on children's emotional and cognitive development is improving treatments for children with intellectual disabilities, including autism.

• Psychopharmacology and substance abuse research complex will bring together the research and teaching programs of nine faculty members who are focused on understanding the processes of addiction and the potential for new treatments. Alcohol and drug abuse costs our state's economy more than $12 billion a year.

• Cognitive aging lab complex, which will aid the research of five distinguished faculty working in the areas of memory and dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, the fifth leading cause of death among North Carolinians.

• Laboratories that will support research in social psychology, behavior analysis, forensic psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and the development of a new research and clinical program designed to help veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan recover from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The $33 million facility is expected to be complete and ready for use in 2012, and will be the second step in the university's vision for a health quad.

Copyright 2010 WECT. All rights reserved.

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