What to Expect:

From the Program...

• With the opening of the new School of Nursing and Health Services Building, we expect to double the enrollment of upper-division pre-licensure students. The effects of this enrollment increase should begin to impact workforce needs by December 2008.

• The facility will also allow TTU to become a site for community medical and nursing continuing education programs – on a nationally sponsored level – a need currently only met in Nashville and Knoxville.

• We expect to enhance cooperative programs with the Cookeville Regional Medical Center to maximize the use of patient simulators for the continuing education needs of all health care providers.

• And our relationships with community colleges through online RN to BSN programs will be enhanced, helping more associate-degreed nurses continue their education to become bachelor's-level providers. Access to the master’s of science in nursing offered through the cooperative program is also expected to increase.

With construction…

Groundbreaking and construction began in Fall 2006, but several milestones will mark progress during the 16-month building timeframe. Here's what you can expect to see in the coming months:

• November 2006 -- Footers will be poured in the main building and auditorium areas, and subsurface work will begin in November 2006 before the hard winter weather sets in.

• November – December 2006 – Solid concrete slabs will be poured in the basement areas, and blocks will soon begin being laid on the upper levels where the footers have begun.

• December 2006 – January 2007 – This will be the only time construction is expected to interfere with the flow of traffic on 7th Street for a noticeable period of time. Sometime during December or January, 7th Street will close to allow for chilled water lines and electric lines to be run under the street to the new facility. Street closure is expected to last a couple of weeks.

  The street closure will begin Monday, Dec. 18. The one-block area between Mahler and Walnut avenues (from the four-way stop to the SBS bookstore) and the exits from the Main Quadrangle drive will be blocked until the lines are completed.

• Winter 2006-2007 – Load-bearing walls and structural steel beams will go up and walls begin to form.

• Spring 2007 – Roof will go on and building is projected to be "in the dry," with the hope that weather will no longer affect progress.

• Thanksgiving 2007 – Construction substantially completed.

• December 2007– April 2008 – Furnishing, decorating and details finalized.

• August 2008 - Projected grand opening.