A major expansion of science and health care education programs, and facilities to accommodate them, is on the drawing board at the College of Saint Elizabeth. Construction plans call for significant renovations in Henderson Hall to make way for a four-year undergraduate nursing program (BSN) and a graduate level Physician Assistant (PA) program. The expansion is made possible by a $5 million bequest received from the estate of alumna Antoinette Anastasia, ’51, in December 2016.
“Antoinette’s legacy at CSE will reflect her passion and dedication to science education,” said President Helen J. Streubert. “We are truly blessed to have an alumna who was so dedicated not only to our institution, but to training health care professionals of the future.”
The BSN program, expected to be open for enrollment in fall 2018, will be housed on the second floor of Henderson. Plans call for conversion of existing rooms 203 and 250 into a large clinical skills and diagnostics center which will include 14 beds and a patient simulation room with an adjacent faculty observation area. With the approval of the New Jersey State Board of Nursing, the curriculum for the new four-year program is expected to be finalized in spring 2018. Currently, the College only offers an RN-BSN completion program.
The ground level of Henderson will be renovated and dedicated to the developing PA* program. Extensive renovations include: combining rooms 12 and 14 into a large simulation lab with six exam rooms and two simulation labs along with adjacent faculty observation area; conversion of rooms 23 and 25 into a large lecture room; a dedicated quiet study room for PA and nursing students; and construction of a conference room at the end of the hallway. PA faculty offices will also be located on this floor.
Two existing classrooms on the second floor of Henderson – rooms 201 and 210 – will also receive updates such as new seating, white boards and technology, air conditioning improvements and aesthetic touches. Construction is expected to begin immediately after commencement in May 2018, and conclude by the end of summer.
*The College of Saint Elizabeth MS in Physician Assistant Program has applied for Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The CSE MS PA Program anticipates matriculating its first class in October 2019, pending achieving Accreditation-Provisional status at the June 2019 ARC-PA meeting.
Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding accreditation-provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.
Learn more: www.cse.edu
Mary Colleen Robinson has a communication degree with a concentration in journalism and is currently working as the PR/Social Media Specialist at the College of Saint Elizabeth.
