The University's Nursing School announced yesterday that it has been awarded a $5 million grant by the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation of Fairfax, Va. The money will be used to fund construction of a new building, which will likely open in the fall of 2009, Nursing School Dean Jeanette Lancaster said.
"For us, it was just astounding," Lancaster said. "We had never been given a gift that large."
The foundation awards grants on an annual basis to both schools and other entities, David Black, assistant vice president for Health System Development, said.
The Nursing School will use its grant to create an academic and social building which will accommodate a projected 25 percent increase in its student population, Lancaster said. Construction will begin this spring.
The design for the new building was influenced by the preferences expressed in focus groups consisting of Nursing School constituents, Lancaster said.
"People wanted an emphasis on health, natural light and windows that open so people have fresh air," Lancaster said. "We'll have things like bike racks, to encourage students and faculty to ride, not drive."
Lancaster also said that the new building will provide a student life center, as well as a café and other areas where students and faculty can gather.
"There'll be more of a nursing school community feel," Nursing Council Treasurer Caroline Durkee said. "Everyone's very excited about it."
The new nursing buildings will also meet the increasing technological needs of students, Lancaster said.
"It'll be wireless from the get-go," Lancaster said. "The building will be highly technologically sophisticated."
The new construction will "allow the school not only to expand, but to improve everything it does," Black said.
After the new building is constructed, McLeod Hall will undergo renovations in order to reconfigure existing classroom and laboratory space, Black said.
"We will be expanding our simulation laboratories and our nursing research areas, among a whole slew of other upgrades," Dory Hulse, Nursing School director of communications, said.
As a result of the grant, the Nursing School is currently only two to three million dollars short of the $12 million needed for the construction of the new building, Lancaster said.
"We will now be approaching individuals and foundations with a history of providing money for renovations," Lancaster said.
Claude Moore, the namesake of the foundation, was a 1916 graduate of the University's Medical School. He and his foundation have previously given money to the University's Health Sciences Library and Medical School, Lancaster said.
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