College of Nursing Expansion to Spur Research, Address Shortage

The College of Nursing at Michigan State University broke ground today on the new BOTT BUILDING for Nursing Education and Research, a move that supports the College's growth as a national research leader and will help the state address its nursing shortage.

The $17.6 million Bott Building will be constructed adjacent to the Life Sciences building, the current home of the College at Service Road and Bouge Street on the East Lansing campus.

"THE BOTT BUILDING will be a nucleus for where the nursing community – students, faculty, staff, alumni, partners and stakeholders – can come together and influence healthcare,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said. "It will be a magnet for new nursing researchers, scholars, practitioners and teachers.”

Joining Simon as speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony were Provost Kim Wilcox, MSU Trustee Melanie Foster,  Nursing Student Association President Julie Kraft, donor Bernadette Bott Marquez and College of Nursing Dean Mary Mundt.

Mundt said the expansion is a reality thanks to donors such as Timothy and Bernadette Marquez. As lead donors, the Timothy and Bernadette Marquez Foundation committed $7 million to the project; the building will be named in honor of Bernadette's parents, John and Anna Bott.

"My husband and I seek to fund programs that improve education, health care and the capacity of human services organizations,” said Marquez, who graduated from the College in 1980 and spent 25 years in active practice as a registered nurse. "We are passionate about supporting projects that will help bring an end to the national nursing shortage.”

The three-story, 50,000-square-foot building will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, meaning it incorporates sustainable environmental design. THE BOTT BUILDING also will be the first on campus to use ground-source geothermal energy for heating and cooling.

The first floor of the Building will be devoted to student services, classrooms, a teaching and learning lab as well as gathering space for students to study.

The College's expansion effort also was boosted by a $7.45 million stimulus funding grant from the National Institutes of Health to support nursing research; it was the largest competitive federal stimulus grant that MSU received.

"Because of the NIH grant, two of the three floors in the new Building will be dedicated to nursing research and doctoral studies,” Mundt said. "The new space will create an environment conducive to growth in our research portfolio.”

Nursing professors conduct research in areas such as obesity prevention, symptom management, cancer, gerontology and care-giving.

The fundraising campaign began in 2006 when Elaine and Dale LaLonde made the first major commitment to the project. The bridge connecting the new Building to the existing Life Sciences building will be named in their honor. Janice and Alton Granger gave the next leadership gift to the expansion; the atrium in the new Building will be named after the couple. Overall, 850 donors contributed to the expansion project.