Come this spring semester, Binghamton University students in the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences will be learning in a newly located and updated facility, constructed from the remnants of an old shoe factory.
The Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences has been relocated from BU’s Academic Building B on campus to the old Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company building in Johnson City. Originally opened in 1917, the renovated Endicott-Johnson factory now features restored art deco architecture, lots of natural light and contemporary facilities for the college’s faculty and students.
Donald Nieman, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at BU, calls the new facility a “wonderful blend of old and new.”
Offices, classrooms and the Innovative Simulation and Practice Center (ISPC), currently housed in Academic Building B for health sciences and nursing, will move into the new building in Johnson City on Dec. 7 through Dec. 11.
Nieman wrote in an email that, due to COVID-19, the spring semester will be a continuation of how the fall semester looked for Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences students. Instructional classes will be held online and students will continue their clinical classes in person.
Nieman wrote the Health Sciences Campus will be accessible by the Off Campus College Transport (OCCT) for students living on campus who need to access the facility. First- and second-year students will have classes on campus as well as on-campus advising. According to Nieman, advising for upperclassman will be held in the new building.
Relocating Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences to a newly renovated facility will benefit more than just BU students, Nieman said.
“This is an important moment for the health education and research at BU and also for the village of Johnson City because the Health Sciences Campus will bring students, faculty and staff to the village and promote economic redevelopment,” Nieman wrote.
According to Nieman, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some clinical sites to no longer accept students. In response, accreditors are allowing simulations to cover some clinical requirements, so students can keep fulfilling their licensure duties. The new facility’s entire second floor — over 15,000 square feet — will be dedicated to ISPC, with a hospital ward, bed exam areas and exam rooms. In the ISPC, students, with faculty supervision, will learn clinical skills using high-tech mannequins that simulate a particular disease or condition in a patient.
Aside from the ISPC renovations, the new facility has space for new programs at Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences, such as the recently developed Masters of Public Health Program, and the developing physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology programs. There will also be a kitchen in the food court, a library, an academic advising suite and more available for students.
Some students are excited the new facility will be up and running soon. Hailey Rosenbaum, a senior majoring in nursing, is looking forward to the updated ISPC.
”Throughout my years here, I have continuously heard about 48 Corliss Ave., the new facility being built, and I am so thrilled that it’s finally opening this coming semester,” Rosenbaum wrote in an email. “Although I am very enthusiastic about the first-floor food court, lounge, library and advising suite, I am most excited for the new ISPC. While the 10-bed ward at our current facility impresses me, the 15,000 square foot ISPC with a 19-bed learning lab and classroom in the center is going to be absolutely amazing.”
Due to COVID-19 limitations on large gatherings and the need for social distancing, there will be no celebration for the opening. However, Nieman wrote, when the gatherings are safe again, there will be a grand opening for the new facility for the campus and the community.
Although COVID-19 has restricted in-person classes for all students, Alyssa Vilda, a senior majoring in nursing, said she is thankful for what BU has been able to provide and for the relocated and renovated facility.
“Being a nursing student during this pandemic has presented a lot of changes to how we learn, but one of the best changes coming up is getting into the new building,” Vilda wrote. “The best part will definitely be having an entire floor dedicated to simulation. We are so fortunate to be able to have in-person labs, with the ISPC and simulation more available to us than ever before. It is a place where it is okay to make mistakes and get feedback in a safe environment, while also creating scenarios that may not always be available to students in the clinical setting.”