Dr. Farris named new ATSU-CGHS associate dean of academics & assessment
Posted: June 29, 2020
A.T. Still University-College of Graduate Health Studies (ATSU-CGHS) Dean Don Altman, DDS, DHSc, EdD, MPH, MBA, MA, has announced Jim Farris, PT, PhD, has been named ATSU-CGHS associate dean of academics & assessment.
Dr. Farris has been with ATSU since 2008, most recently serving as ATSU-Arizona School of Health Sciences Physical Therapy department chair. He will begin his new duties Sept. 1.
According to an email from Dr. Altman, Dr. Farris “was instrumental in the design and implementation of the Center for Occupational and Physical Therapy in 2019.” The facility provides free rehabilitation services through faculty-supervised student learning experiences.
Dr. Farris received his bachelor’s degree in physical education and master’s degree in exercise science from California State University-Fresno, and an additional bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Arkansas State University. He received his doctorate from Ohio State University, where his studies focused on exercise physiology and nutrition.
Prior to his time at ATSU, Dr. Farris was at Arkansas State University, where he was Physical Therapy department chair and program director in the College of Nursing and Health Professions.
Additional credentials include completing the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) Education Leadership Institute Fellowship, and the Harvard Macy Institute’s Systems Approach to Assessment in Health Professions Education course, where he was later invited to serve as a graduate teacher.
Dr. Farris also led development and implementation of APTA’s Education Research Network, and completed an elected term on the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy’s Board of Directors. During his term he co-led development of the first Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) National Honor Society.
Dr. Farris serves on the Special Olympics Arizona Health Leadership Committee, and is a state and Southwest regional clinical director for the Special Olympics’ Healthy Athletes FUNfitness program.
“(Dr. Farris) is an advocate of lifelong education, professional development, and improving the health and wellness of our society,” Dr. Altman wrote in an email to ATSU-CGHS faculty and staff. “He looks forward to the continued work of promoting the advancement of health professionals and improving public health, which are both inherent to the purpose of the College of Graduate Health Studies.”