Academic Building brings College of Nursing to campus; features state-of-the-art learning spaces

Upstate Medical University will officially open its newest structure, known as the Academic Building, with a ceremony Wednesday, Sept. 7.

The $40.5 million gleaming 5-story academic building boasts state of the art classrooms and learning technology, ample space for student gathering, a cafe and panoramic views.

The celebration will be held at 10 a.m. on the building’s fourth floor and feature remarks from Upstate officials and students. The campus community is invited to attend.

The building is tucked in between Weiskotten and Silverman halls on the west side of campus with connecting coordinators between the buildings and Upstate University Hospital. These connecting corridors will allow a person to walk from Silverman Hall to the northwest corner of Garage West without having to step outdoors. (Access to the building from the outside is on University Place across from the Veterans Administration Medical Center.)

The 80,000 square-foot structure will serve as the new home for Upstate’s College of Nursing and select programs of the College of Health Professions and a site for courses in the College of Medicine.

“The bricks and mortar have produced a stunning building, but most importantly is the learning environment this building creates by bringing together in closer proximity all our students who gather in the pursuit of knowledge and its application to the compassionate, family-centered and quality care of patients,” said Upstate President Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, FAAP.

College of Nursing, now housed several blocks north, will benefit greatly by coming on the main campus.

“We all know the importance of the nursing profession,” said Donald Simpson, PhD, who serves as dean of the College of Health Professions and interim dean of the College of Nursing. “By calling this building our new home we raise the visibility of our college and bring our faculty and students to the center of medical education, where the nursing profession needs to be.”

The Academic Building will be home to three key programs in the College of Health Professions: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), Physician Assistant Studies and Radiation Therapy Technology.

Spaces for the Health Professions’ other programs--Medical Imaging Sciences, Cardiovascular Perfusion, Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Respiratory Therapy Education and Arts and Sciences--will undergo renovation in the next year.

“We are most appreciative to the many alumni and friends of the colleges of Nursing and Health Professions who have generously supported this project,” said Mary Knepper, Health Professions and Nursing alumni director. “Their roster reads like a slice of Upstate history, a story that today begins an exciting new chapter.”

The new Academic Building at a glance:

- The first occupied floor corresponds to the first floor of Weiskotten Hall and will house two general classrooms and the College of Nursing.

- The second floor includes office space for the dean of the College of Health Professions and classroom and office space for the physician assistant program, and one general classroom.

- The third floor is dedicated to the DPT program offices and teaching spaces.

- The fourth floor features a large multi-function space, able to accommodate up to 349 seats, and which can be divided to create two teaching spaces for 75 to 200 students. This room is the largest classroom on the campus. The west facing wall of this room is all windows, offering dramatic views.

- The lowest level provides space for a new steam generation plant for the south campus and a chilled water plant that will be connected to the Weiskotten Hall Addition/Weiskotten Hall complex, and other building systems.

- A mezzanine connects the bridge to the hospital with elevators and stairs and provides a corridor for circulation to Silverman Hall. Student lockers will also be located here.

The building is designed by Ewing Cole Architects of Philadelphia. LEED certification at the silver level from the U.S. Green Building Council is being pursued for the facility.

Caption: President Danielle Laraque-Arena, MD, helps cut the ceremonial ribbon at the opening of Upstate's new Academic Building, which houses the College of Nursing and various programs of the College of Health Professions.