By Kate Zydor
Staff Writer
During their meeting on Oct. 17, the College’s Board of Trustees discussed the upcoming renovation scheduled to take place in Forcina Hall.
While discussing the College’s capital project budgets, the Board approved a budget of over $22 million for this renovation which is set to begin in the summer of 2024. The funding allocated to this project will come from Asset Renewal Reserves as well as a grant from the N.J. Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE).
“The Forcina Hall renovation will reimagine and renovate instructional and academic support spaces in the building for a number of academic programs,” said Jeff Osborn, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
The renovation will include the construction of designated spaces for the Department of Nursing, Department of Public Health and the School of Nursing and Health Sciences offices. Several building upgrades will also be completed which include improvements to the hall’s elevator.
“This work is funded, in large part, by assistance from the State of New Jersey through the Higher Education Capital Facilities Program,” said Osborn.
This program allows institutions of higher education to better their instructional facilities, focusing primarily on technology improvements, capital construction, rehabilitation of space and acquiring necessary academic equipment.
“Recognizing the space limitations that our current Nursing and Public Health students, faculty, and staff are experiencing, [the College] directed its proposal, successfully, on improving training facilities for the state’s future healthcare workforce,” said Osborn. “TCNJ’s proposal to the state program was titled “Educating New Jersey’s Next Generation Health Workforce.’”
The Forcina Hall renovation will ultimately allow for all nursing and public health programs to exist in a common location. However, this will require the displacement of a number of groups and classrooms currently located in Forcina Hall to Roscoe West Hall.
“I was told about potential renovations at the beginning of the semester when the nursing panel was introducing us to the program,” said freshman nursing major Lindsey O’Leary.
According to Osborn, Roscoe West Hall will be renovated simultaneously to create additional classrooms, house the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and upgrade and extend the Center for Student Success and Mentoring as well as the Career Center. The administration’s current plans also include the addition of a new Advising Center and the relocation of the current Tutoring Center.
“I think the renovations could provide more resources for students to meet and help each other,” said O’Leary. “Updates and open spaces will help the [nursing] program become closer with individual students and better prepared for when we graduate.”
As stated in prior messages from President Bernstein, the College has gone over its annual budget significantly. This has resulted in funding being limited across the College’s numerous departments and institutional structures.
With both Forcina Hall and Roscoe West Hall being refurbished and the creation of new student resources, the administration is working to maintain financial stability through its partnership with the state government.
The Forcina Hall renovation is expected to be completed by Oct. 2025. According to Osborn, the College’s goal in renovating this hall is to create state-of-the-art educational spaces. In turn, these improvements will bolster the student experience and allow students of all majors to be properly accommodated in their studies.
