Fitchburg State In Line For Funding
Governor's bill includes money for several local college projects
A bond bill proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick this month may help get the long-awaited construction of a new Fitchburg State College science center moving forward. The $2 billion, 10-year higher education package includes $24.7 million to modernize an existing building on the campus and add on two smaller structures. The completed facility would house the school's science departments and nursing program.
Fitchburg State College President Robert Antonucci said the new building is crucial to making sure graduates are prepared to use the modern hospital equipment, computer systems and laboratories they will encounter in the workplace. The college's current laboratories were built in 1965 and have not been revamped since then, he said.
"Our biggest challenge is keeping up with the marketplace," Antonucci said.
The governor's bill also includes $43.5 million for repairs at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, $37.9 million to modernize the Haley Academic Center at Mount Wachusett Community College and $24 million for Worcester State College's health science and athletic center.
Antonucci said college officials have been working on plans for a new science center for about three years. He said if the legislature approves the bond bill this year the new facility could open as soon as 2011.
The planned center at Fitchburg State would include new, small labs for independent study as well as new equipment specific to nursing, chemistry, biology and other disciplines. Antonucci said the focus on laboratory technology goes along with a push to modernize instruction throughout the college. Already, he said, freshmen and sophomores are required to have laptops and 75 percent of classrooms are "smart classrooms" with built-in technology.
Antonucci said it is especially important to improve science instruction because many students find those subjects important even if they are not science majors.
"There's a strong interest in science and math today because it really is the thread that crosses all the disciplines," he said.
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