Student health insurance plan rates to go up for the 2011-2012 school year
By Ashley Cole
staff Writer
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| Photo by Mindy Hubbard |
| The new Nursing Health Professions building is scheduled to open January 2012. |
The new Nursing- Health Professions building, a three story, 87,000 square foot facility, is scheduled to open in January of 2012. The $29 million facility is the largest project in UNCP history.
"The building will have approximately 13 labs, 11 classrooms and 9 seminar rooms," said Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management Steve Martin.
The building will be home to the nursing program and will be shared with part of the biology and social work departments.
"The facility will bring state-of-the-art equipment and teaching technology to the nursing program as well as allow greater number of students into the program," Martin said.
Faculty and staff of the nursing department are excited about the establishment of this facility and are hopeful that it will help the program to continue growing.
"Opening of the new building will allow the Department of Nursing to continue to increase its enrollment in both the prelicensure BSN and RNBSN programs," said department Chair Dr. Barbara Synowiez.
The new building will provide many resources for nursing students.
"The Department of Nursing will be using the building for nursing classes, simulated clinical learning experiences through the Clinical Learning Center [and] student tutoring and remediation through the Learning Enhancement Center," Dr. Synowiez said.
Not only will the building provide new technology, it will also help the nursing department get to where it wants to be in the future.
"It is my belief that the Department of Nursing will continue to grow and has the potential for becoming a major source for the education of nurses in not only southeastern North Carolina, but the entire state," Dr. Synowiez said.
The department is also in the process of planning for a MSN program in nursing.
They hope to be able to offer graduate studies in nursing in the near future.
The demand for a nursing building was very high because the program is one of the most popular majors on campus.
Having a building on campus will help faculty and staff to better communicate with each other and their students.
"Both faculty and enrolled nursing students have faced challenges traveling between the UNCP main campus and the Lumberton campus," Dr. Synowiez said. "With the move to the main campus, the nursing students and faculty will be able to have easier and more direct access to all University services and resources."
Dr. Synowiez hopes that this will allow faculty and students to interact with each other more regularly and to become part of the community on campus.
Sodexo plans on having a restaurant in the new nursing building in the spring.
