From a press release:
The public is invited to a groundbreaking for Ferguson Health Sciences Center, on the campus of Mars Hill University, on March 13 at 11 am. The new building will be located on Hwy 213 (Cascade St.), at the corner of Joe Anderson Drive in Mars Hill.
The Ferguson Health Sciences Center is named for Jack and Carolyn Ferguson of Candler, NC. The center is the future home of the planned Judge-McRae School of Nursing, which is named for MHU alumni Norman ’84 and Linda Judge McRae ’86 of Knoxville, TN.
The three-story, 28,731 square foot facility is expected to be completed by the fall of 2016, when Mars Hill officials hope to begin a pre-licensure undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing program, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the North Carolina Board of Nursing.
An RN to BSN program (registered nurse to bachelor of science in nursing) is expected to begin earlier, in May 2015, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Classes for that program will take place at the MHU Asheville Center, on Airport Road.
Ferguson Health Sciences will include classroom and meeting space, as well as state-of-the-art labs which will allow nursing students to practice with near-to-life medical scenarios, using robotic simulators and scripted situations with performance arts students. Taping capabilities in the building will allow recorded interactions, a feature which is designed to enhance student self-assessment and learning.
The planned Judge-McRae School of Nursing will provide a bachelor’s degree in nursing with a liberal arts focus, at a time when the demand for nurses with four-year degrees is growing in the region. The center will be constructed using a low-interest loan from the United States Department of Agriculture, in addition to gifts from alumni and friends of the university.
Mars Hill University is a premier private, liberal arts institution offering over 30 baccalaureate degrees and one graduate degree in elementary education. Founded in 1856 by Baptist families of the region, the campus is located just 20 minutes north of Asheville in the mountains of western North Carolina.www.mhu.edu .
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