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Announcement: Nursing Education, Research and Practice Center
Dear campus community,
I am pleased to announce that last night The City University of New York Board of Trustees approved $12 million to fully fund a new Nursing Education, Research and Practice Center here at Lehman College, which will help meet growing enrollment in the college’s nursing program, the largest public program of its kind between SUNY Binghamton and Hunter College in Manhattan, and the only such program in the Bronx.
The new Nursing Center, which is estimated to cost $53 million, will provide Lehman College’s Department of Nursing with 50,000 square-feet of state-of-the-art teaching facilities to support current nursing pedagogy, which emphasizes campus-based simulation labs in addition to traditional clinical placements in the community. The new center will also provide laboratory space for doctoral candidates engaged in nursing research. Construction is set to begin in 2018.
More than ever, nursing professionals need to have the best education and training available in order to meet the demanding requirements of a challenging workplace. Thanks to The City University of New York’s strong support and commitment to excellence in higher education, Lehman College will be able to provide a new generation of nurses with hands-on learning and technical expertise to develop their careers and benefit the communities in which they will work.
The U.S. Department of Labor Statistics projected that employment of registered nurses to grow 19 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations—but only satisfying half of the million-plus positions the workforce is expected to need by then.
As part of an initiative begun over ten years ago to expand undergraduate enrollment, Lehman sought to bolster its Nursing program, which offers a Bachelor of Science; a Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science program; an Accelerated Bachelor of Science; and a Master of Science. Right now, Lehman College is developing a Doctor of Nursing Practice.
Plans for the Nursing Education, Research and Practice Center began under Dr. Ricardo R. Fernández, the previous president of Lehman College, and with the support of our campus community, elected officials and the CUNY Board of Trustees, the project moved forward and $41 million of financing was approved.
Today, there are approximately 370 undergraduate and 220 graduate students in the program, up 14% from 2014.
Our colleague Dr. C. Alicia Georges, chair of the Lehman College Department of Nursing, said, “This great new Nursing Education, Research and Practice Center is much-needed and much-deserved because educating new health professionals is so critical for improving the health status of this borough’s residents. The sound education here at Lehman and the many opportunities for research and professional development will allow our graduates to continue to take important leadership roles both in the healthcare system and in academia.”
Added Dr. William Latimer, dean of Lehman College’s School of Health Sciences, Human Services and Nursing, “This is an incredibly important project that represents both the extraordinary legacy of nursing education at Lehman College and an equally significant opportunity to foster health and health equity in the Bronx and complex urban settings nationwide.”
I agree! This is yet another big step forward in ensuring that Lehman College remains a transformative force in the lives of our students, and continues to leverage its strengths to benefit residents of the Bronx and beyond.
All the best,
JL
José Luis Cruz
President, Lehman College
The City University of New York |
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