UCV Staff

About UCV

Housed at the University of Utah (a Tier-1 research university) within the College of Fine Arts, the Utah Center for Vocology staff is made up of active researchers, professors, clinicians, and graduate students in areas across campus, including the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Department of Theatre, School of Music, and Voice Disorders Center. 

UCV administers the Summer Vocology Institute (SVI), which has been the premiere training ground for studies in vocology for more than twenty years. The four classes that make up the SVI coursework are completed over six weeks of in-residence study at the University of Utah and may be completed over multiple summers. SVI is an intensive, efficient, and innovative way to learn vocology, the science and practice of voice habilitation, which has attracted students from Asia, Australia, Europe, Israel, and across North and South America. 

In carrying forth its mission, the Utah Center for Vocology provides leadership in making a compelling case for support of, and research on, the human voice. While doing so, it strives to cultivate and develop positive and effective relationships. As such, UCV staff are active members of numerous professional organizations, including the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), American Laryngological Association (ALA), American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Musical Theatre Educators’ Association (MTEA), National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA), and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA).

Historical Notes

The Utah Center for Vocology grew out of the National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS), which was formally organized in 1990 with the assistance of a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The grant proposal was initiated in response to a request for applications for National Multi-Purpose Research and Training Centers. As such, although it had its original home at the University of Iowa, it was conceived as a "center without walls." 

Four organizations composed the original NCVS consortium: the University of Iowa, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Utah. 

UCV continues the original mission of NCVS as it 1) conducts original research investigating all aspects of the use, habilitation, and rehabilitation of the voice and speech, and 2) educates students in the field of vocology, primarily through the Summer Vocology Institute. 

NCVS now functions as an independent non-profit organization that promotes scientific and clinical innovation in voice and speech by providing comprehensive databases and algorithms for analysis and simulation of human and animal vocalization. It continues its work with an active board of directors and hosts numerous publicly-accessible resources at NCVS.org.