Dwight Schar College of Nursing Called A Premier Facility

Ashland University’s new Dwight Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences building is already causing some major waves in the nursing world.

Faye Grund, dean of the Dwight Schar College of Nursing and Health Sciences, called the building one of the top nursing facilities in the country and this statement was echoed by Lucas Huang, founder of B-Line Medical, the company that created the software and designed the simulators in the new building.

“This is one of the most sophisticated nursing institutions we’ve done to date,” Huang said, after noting that he was very impressed with the overall facility. B-Line has created systems for more than 200 hospitals, medical schools and nursing programs internationally.

Grund said the highlight of the building is the Simulation Center, where students can learn to prioritize and delegate patient care by moving between four patient simulators at a time.

The new facility features a number of clinical laboratories including a Health Foundations lab, Family Health lab, Adult Health lab, Complex Health lab, ICU/CCU/NICU, Advanced Care lab, Community Health Home Care lab, and four patient examination labs.

Other spaces in the building will include traditional classrooms, faculty/staff offices, student study and lounge areas, and student support spaces.

“We have the capacity to educate 350 nurses in the building at a time and we hope to grow the program to 750 nurses over the next five years,” Grund said.

During the Oct. 21 dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new building, Ashland University President Dr. Fred Finks said the building “is more than any of us ever expected. We’re extremely pleased.”

Finks also thanked donors and board members for taking on the project during tough economic times.

Following the ribbon-cutting, the crowd followed the platform party into the new building for tours of the facility. The building actually opened for fall nursing classes on Aug. 20.

Ashland University nursing students complete their first two years of the program on the Ashland University campus in Ashland and then move to the Mansfield campus for the last two years of education and clinical studies.

While fundraising for the new building surpassed the initial campaign goal of $12 million and is now at a total of $12.1 million, revised plans and increased construction costs pushed the total cost of the building to nearly $15.5 million.

Ashland University, ranked in the top 200 colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report’s National Universities category for 2013, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.