A new building devoted to educational programs and the renovation of three existing buildings are the key recommendations of a 12-member task force that has been studying UNMC’s educational needs for the 21st century.
The group’s recommendations will be presented to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents today during the regents’ annual visit to the UNMC campus. No action will be taken today. The project will be formally presented to the board later this year for possible approval.
“For UNMC to become a premier academic health science center, it’s critical that we offer progressive educational programs that prepare students for the future. This requires an upgrade of our educational facilities to support the curriculum,” said James Linder, M.D., professor of pathology & microbiology and co-chair of the task force.
“In looking at our educational facilities, we found a variety of shortcomings. We have lecture halls and classrooms that are technologically obsolete, clinical teaching areas that are inadequate and a campus that separates students and faculty from different colleges. With 42nd Street being a busy traffic thoroughfare, it’s becoming difficult for our students just to get back and forth across the street.”
The educational vision that will be presented to the Board of Regents would move UNMC’s educational programs to a new level and remedy many of these shortcomings, Dr. Linder said.
The preliminary plan calls for:
- Construction of a new building to be called the Center for Health Science Education. The building would be located on the northeast corner of 42nd and Emile streets at the present location of the Computing Services building. It would include approximately 110,000 net square feet and feature a new campus gateway that would serve as the primary identity for the UNMC campus. Cost of the new building and associated campus development would be $49.5 million with funding coming from private donations. The existing Computing Services building would be demolished and connecting links between the education buildings on the east of 42nd Street and Wittson Hall would be developed.
- Renovation of three existing campus buildings – Poynter, Wittson and Bennett Halls. The renovation costs would be $20.7 million.
- An update of UNMC’s education technology infrastructure to address key instructional needs such as auditoriums, multipurpose teaching labs, clinical simulation, multimedia labs for distance learning, and small group teaching and problem-based learning rooms.
“In essence, the new building would create a ‘heart’ for UNMC education activities and serve as a front door for the campus,” said Ron Schaefer, director of facilities planning & construction management and the other co-chair of the task force. “It will allow our students and faculty to interact in a building with a multitude of functions, an approach that is being adopted elsewhere, such as the University of Iowa.”
Dr. Linder said the new building and education infrastructure would meet many objectives, such as:
- Providing faculty with the tools required to deliver a progressive, multifaceted curriculum;
- Creating new opportunities for interprofessional education in which students from different colleges can learn together and programs will be able to combine resources;
- Supporting new programs to use computer simulation technology in health science education;
- Supporting educational research;
- Strengthening UNMC’s role in community and statewide health education.
Other members of the Education in the 21st Century Task Force, which has been meeting since December 2000, are:
- Kyle Meyer, M.S., P.T., past president, UNMC Faculty Senate
- Javine Winterboer, past president, UNMC Student Senate
- John Adams, director, Budget and Strategic Planning
- Mary Haven, M.S., associate dean, School of Allied Health Professions
- Mary Helms, M.S., M.A., associate professor and associate director, Library Resources & Technology
- David O’Dell, M.D., associate professor, Internal Medicine
- Carol Pullen, R.N., Ed.D., assistant dean, Rural Nursing Education, College of Nursing
- Edward Roche, Ph.D., associate dean of academic affairs, College of Pharmacy
- Joan Sivers, D.D.S., assistant dean of clinics, College of Dentistry
- John Tinker, M.D., professor and chairman, anesthesiology
Illustration cutline: Under UNMC’s proposed long-range plan, the UNMC Center for Health Science Education (red) would serve as a front door to the campus, and physically link existing facilities (tan) with future construction (orange).