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Students, faculty look forward to new Health and Human Sciences Building
What appeals most to nursing student Katlyn Moss about moving into the technologically advanced clinical spaces, classrooms and laboratories in the $46 million new Health and Human Sciences Building this fall has to do with one of the building’s cornerstones –collaboration and community. The four-story, 160,000 square-foot flagship building being constructed into a hillside on WCU’s west campus will bring under one roof more than 1,000 students, faculty and staff.
A rooftop garden is under construction at the new Health and Human Sciences Building.
Among them will be seniors in the pre-licensure nursing program currently taking WCU classes at the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Enka campus. “As a second-semester junior now, I would really love to be able to talk to the seniors and get their advice,” said Moss, who is from Hayesville. “Having the seniors here with the juniors will really give the seniors a chance to pass on skills and tips they have learned along the way in nursing school.”
Such teamwork is only the beginning of what faculty members see possible in the building, which has been designed to offer state-of-the-art educational resources and maximize community connections and interdisciplinary work. “When our students enter the workplace, they will be part of teams with different practitioners,” said Linda Seestedt-Stanford, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences. “In this new building, we will model the increasingly interdisciplinary approach in health care, which puts us at the forefront of education for health care professionals and in a strong position to apply for major grants at the federal and state levels that are looking for collaborative projects.”
The Health and Human Sciences building features a multistory atrium.
The building’s first floor features an interdisciplinary clinic, which will host WCU’s nationally recognized Speech and Hearing Clinic and space for specialized clinics related to physical therapy, nursing, social work, nutrition, athletic training and recreational therapy. Specific offerings in planning stages to address community needs include a fall and balance prevention clinic and a regional assessment center for older adults. Specialized diagnostic and rehabilitation services will be provided to members of the community, with a primary emphasis on student education and training. Video capabilities will enable patients, students and faculty to observe and review experiences in the clinics.
Also on the first floor is a multistory atrium, a community seminar room with the capacity to seat 175 people, a 100-person auditorium and a coffee shop/restaurant. Located on the second floor is a rooftop garden, with a mountain view, that will be open to patients, students, faculty and staff. “The garden will house native medicinal plants indigenous to the Appalachian and Cherokee people, and will provide a tranquil setting rich in colors, textures, aromas and sounds to promote renewal and inner well-being,” said Stanford.
Throughout the building are faculty offices, 21 specialized labs, 11 classrooms and seminar rooms, and gathering spaces that create learning opportunities outside the classroom. Technological features include vast telecommunication and videoconferencing capabilities. Guest speakers off-site will be able to meet live – virtually – with students, faculty or classes. Events in one classroom, seminar room, clinic or community area could be streamed to other rooms in the building or recorded for review at a later time. The capability enhances WCU’s ability to serve distance learners or host large community or continuing education events at the building.
“The information technology in this building will allow us to teach differently, to bring the world into Cullowhee and share our expertise with others,” said Stanford. “This building will allow us to communicate with anyone, anywhere.”
Other features range from space designed for environmental health students returning from gathering samples in muddy, wet environments to an ambulance pad built into the back of the emergency medical care lab for hands-on learning experiences. In addition, a hydrotherapeutic pool donated by MedWest – Harris will be on-site for teaching and performing aquatic therapy.
Meeting points for students will be set up throughout the building and feature natural light.
“The building has been designed as a place where learning and people connections happen across disciplines,” said Stanford. “It is a place where customized learning and theory-to-practice will occur in an environment tailored to support the way individual students learn. It is a community place where community linkages and engagement happen. It is a place where the future will be the present.”
Having more space, in itself, is something faculty members say will make a difference. For instance, athletic training will have almost twice as much lab space, said Jill Manners, director of the program, and twice as many hospital beds for nursing students will be available as in Moore Hall, said Judy Neubrander, director of the School of Nursing. The additional space will make possible the chance to bring the senior pre-licensing nursing students back to campus after several decades of being located in the Asheville area. “Bringing the senior year of the pre-licensure program back to Cullowhee is a true homecoming,” said Neubrander. “It will give our senior nursing students the true college experience all four years and provide for a seamless educational nursing experience.”
Located in the new building will be WCU’s undergraduate and graduate programs in social work and communication sciences and disorders; graduate programs in physical therapy and health sciences; and undergraduate programs in athletic training, emergency medical care, environmental health, nutrition and dietetics, nursing and recreational therapy.
Patient simulator labs such as this one will be set up similar to what students will find in hospital settings. One of the patient simulation labs will be set up to resemble an apartment for emergency medical care students to practice responding to emergencies.
For students, the move will make it easier for interactions such as nursing students working in a lab with physical therapy or emergency medical care students so that all gain a better understanding of how each interacts with patients and how they can work together to improve overall care, said Anne-Marie Jones, assistant professor of nursing and coordinator of junior students in the pre-licensure nursing program.
For faculty, the design will not only enhance collaborative teaching opportunities but also increase research and guest lecturing opportunities and improved community outreach and service, said Jay Scifers, director of the School of Health Sciences and associate professor of athletic training.
The building features a 100-seat lecture hall.
Bruce D. Thorsen, president of Mission Healthcare Foundation and 40-year veteran in the health care field, underscored that the teamwork required to care for patients is one of the most important aspects of health care today. Mission Health System, which contributed significant financial support to help establish WCU’s physical therapy and nurse anesthesiology programs, in September announced a $250,000 gift to provide financial assistance to students who will study in health-related programs, many of whom will participate in their studies in the new building.
“The beauty of the new WCU Health and Human Sciences Building is it will provide the space and the atmosphere for the various health disciplines to study and interact together,” said Thorsen. “That, coupled with its high technology both in its simulation laboratories and in teaching students how to use electronic medical records, means WCU will be on the leading edge of educating the next generation of health care professionals.”
Central Atrium: A multistory gateway connects all corners of the building. The atrium was designed to exude a welcome, airy sense of space, texture and color conducive to mind-body-spirit harmony and creative work of academics. Featured inside will be artwork displays that blend with and enhance the essence of the building, and the area will serve as a gathering space for modestly sized receptions for community-based student and professional continuing education gatherings.
Rooftop Garden: A rooftop garden will be open to patients, students and faculty. A landscape architect designed the area, which has a mountain view, to bring together colors, textures, aromas and sounds that offer a therapeutic atmosphere and to incorporate native medicinal plants indigenous to the Appalachian and Cherokee people.
The environmental health lab is one of 21 labs in the building.
Instructional space: Eleven technology-rich classrooms and seminar rooms spread throughout the building offer unique furniture configurations that promote active learning and team problem-solving activities. Live, off-campus guest speakers can meet “virtually” with students, and events in one room can be broadcast live to other venues or recorded for later viewing.
Clinics: The interdisciplinary clinic on the ground floor will host the nationally recognized Speech and Hearing Clinic and space for specialized clinics related to physical therapy, nursing, social work, nutrition, athletic training and recreational therapy. The clinics’ specialized diagnostic and rehabilitation services will be provided with a primary emphasis on student education and training. Video capabilities will enable students and faculty to review their experiences.
Two physical therapy labs will offer students hands-on experience with state-of-the-art equipment common to everyday clinical practice. The labs also will serve as “mediated classrooms” providing the capacity for the use of a variety of technology-assisted instructional and learning strategies by instructors and students.
In the human movement laboratory, which is dedicated to the investigation of movement and musculoskeletal disorders, students will gain experience analyzing human movement using data gathered through the laboratory’s eight video cameras mounted on four walls and pressure-sensitive plates set into the floor. Students, professors and professionals will be able to see a three-dimensional video reproduction of the movement and develop a comprehensive analysis.
The rooftop garden under construction will be open to patients, students and faculty.
In two human anatomy laboratories, students will participate in traditional, cadaver-based instruction. In addition, technology in the lab will enable interactive-computer-based experiences for residential and distance students and support virtual and physical learning experiences that help students better conceptualize spatial understanding of human anatomy.
In three simulation laboratories, students will practice assessment skills with lifelike manikins that mimic body functions such as breathing and blood pressures. Students can practice CPR, dress wounds and collect vital signs such as heart rate and rhythm and oxygen saturation. The simulation labs also enable students to master skills needed for situations and health conditions that may not present themselves during a typical clinical learning situation.
In the mosquito insectary laboratory – the only mosquito containment lab in Western North Carolina – faculty and students will use incubators and work areas to study the basic biology and physiology of arthropods in connection with the assessment and prevention of viruses such as La Crosse encephalitis and others found in Western North Carolina.
The environmental health laboratory will serve students and faculty involved in research related to environmental problems. The state-of-the-art equipment provides technical and analytical support through the analysis of chemical and microbiological sampling of air, water and soil quality.
Additional labs will focus on emergency medical care, etiology, microscopy, recreational therapy, speech and hearing, and research.
BUILDING HIGHLIGHTS
-Interdisciplinary clinic
-Classrooms and seminar rooms (11)
-Auditorium (100 people)
-Collaborative learning spaces
-Community seminar room (175 people)
Labs
-Patient Simulation (Three)
-Athletic Training (Two)
-Etiology
-Emergency Medical Care (Three)
-Microscopy
-Recreational Therapy
-Speech and Hearing
-Research (Two)
-Mosquito Insectary
-Environmental Health
-Human Anatomy (Two)
-Physical Therapy (Two)
-Human Movement
DID YOU KNOW?
-The building is the first to be constructed on 344 acres WCU acquired across N.C. Highway 107 from the main campus as part of the Millennial Initiative, a comprehensive regional economic development strategy that involves private industry and government partners.
-The building is expected to be the hub of a new health sciences neighborhood, expanding partnership opportunities with private clinics and other health care providers that enhance hands-on student learning and fostering collaborative research and development of scientific and technological innovations with potential commercial applications.
-The groundbreaking for the new building took place Sept. 3, 2009.
-The building will be certified at the silver level by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design through standards developed by the United States Green Building Council.
-College of Health and Human Sciences programs that will not move to the new building include criminal justice and Asheville-based graduate nursing programs, which include nurse anesthesia, nurse educator, family nurse practitioner and nurse administrator, and the accelerated undergraduate program and the online RN to BSN program.
-Naming opportunities for rooms and spaces within the building are available for those interested in making a gift to support the facility and programs. For more information, contact Greg Bauguess at 828-227-3045 or bauguessg@wcu.edu.
By Teresa Killian Tate
