MTU approves addition of nursing program, pre-planning for new residence hall

HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - Michigan Tech University (MTU)’s board of trustees has approved the addition of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the school.

The program is planned to begin in the fall. The university says this is in direct response to the loss of Finlandia University’s own nursing program due to the school’s recent closure.

“We’re hiring six faculty members from Finlandia who will become faculty members at Michigan Tech,” said MTU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andre Storer. “The classes have been transferred over, and we’re working on all the agreements with local healthcare providers for clinical experiences.”

Storer says that maintaining a program in the area is a potential answer to the region’s need for nurses.

“We know that there is a shortage of nurses nationally, as well as in this region,” continued Storer. “And so it presented an opportunity for us to be involved in training high-quality graduates who will prepare to work in nursing in rural as well as urban settings.”

While the university’s programs continue to grow, so does its student body. To address this, the board also approved the construction of new school housing. Pre-development is underway to build a residence hall on the parking lot just outside the Rozsa Center. It would contain over 500 spaces for upper-class students. A new parking area will then be built to replace what is lost.

“This summer, we’re going to construct a new parking lot up on 7th Avenue, which is up the hill a bit,” said MTU Vice President for University Relations and Enrollment John Lehman. “And this will allow us to shift the on-campus resident parking up the hill, opening up the remaining spaces for commuter students during the day, and Rozsa patrons during the weekends and evenings.”

Construction on the new residence hall is slated to begin during the late summer and early fall.

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