Students utilize Health Science building

The new and remodeled Health Sciences building, part of GCSU’s College of Health Sciences, opened its doors this semester and so far it is being put to good use. The three-floor building, which held its official open house in October, houses many of the college’s programs.

“We’re putting it to the maximum use, and we could honestly still use more room,” said Dr. Martha Colvin, associate dean of the College of Health Sciences. “We’re still having to use space (in the College of Arts & Sciences), and hopefully we will be able to expand things a little more.”

Colvin has been at GCSU for 21 years and said that the new and remodeled building has been a decade or more in the making.

“There were original plans that were revised more than once, but we were finally able to get it done,” she said. “We had things like budget restraints that held us back a good bit before.”

Within the new building, there is a real-life sized nursing lab with a station in the entrance on the second floor. The lab contains around a dozen beds. In addition there are simulation areas where instructors can demonstrate techniques or points to nursing students as well as simulation dummies for students to operate on or run tests on.

“We also have an emergency room simulation area where students can work in emergency room type situations,” Colvin said.

“It’s just like a hospital,” junior nursing major Krystle Kvalheim said. “Even though we are just practicing, it makes it seem more real.”

There are several classrooms in the Health Sciences building, with the largest ones having a seating capacity of 55 students.

“Those are primarily being used by the large nursing cohorts,” Colvin said.

The old school gymnasium comprises a good chunk of the third floor. A movement lab accommodates several different programs within the college.

“Our Kinesiology Department uses it. We’ve got our physical education program set up in there. Our exercise science students use it,” Colvin said. “We also allow the Early College students to use it, and some other students from the rest of the university with permission.”

Another area on the third floor is known as the student commons area. Colvin said this part of the building is a big hit with students.

“It’s a place where they can come study and chill out,” she said. “The Student Advisory Committee, which comprises of representatives from each of the college’s majors, has a board set up for suggestions and contact information. We’ve also got an area for the athletic training program.”

The rest of the third floor contains exercise science labs as well as athletic training labs.

The most popular part of the building, however, may be on the first floor with GCSU’s music therapy program.

“It’s a really neat program,” Colvin said. “There’s an improvisation room with instruments where the students work. We’ve got a sensory room in which students can help those that are physically or mentally handicapped.”

Colvin added that one of the more frequently visited rooms is the Somatron room, which contains a vibrating chair.

“Students can sit in the chair, and they can listen to different music. And it’s something that can help relieve tension or stress.”

There is one additional room on the first floor that is not being used by anyone at the moment, according to Colvin.

“We’re all trying to get our heads together and figure out how to put it to good use,” she said. “We know several of the different programs can benefit from it, and hopefully we will have a good purpose for it soon.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Dec 4 2009. Filed under Health & Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry