June 15, 2017
The ETBU School of Nursing is relocating to the historic Marshall Grand in downtown Marshall. Since 1992, ETBU has been equipping nurses with knowledge, professional skills, and compassion. ETBU Nurses have consistently achieved high pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) and 100% of recent 2016 and 2017 East Texas Baptist Nursing School graduates received job offers upon degree completion.
The installation of the School of Nursing in the Marshall Grand will provide students and faculty enhanced and expanded space, with an essential simulation learning center. A landmark study indicates that up to 50% of clinical time in simulation can lead to quality outcomes with progression through the nursing school, NCLEX success, and clinical practice upon graduation. As students enter the simulation activity and clinical setting, they transition from the capacity of student and take on the calling of the skilled professional nurse.
"Providing our students with the latest innovative techniques, modern simulation equipment, and enhanced clinical facilities will better prepare ETBU nurses with the skills, experience, and confidence to effectively address patient health care needs," School of Nursing Dean Rebekah Grigsby said. "The relocation to our new downtown campus in the historic Marshall Grand will enable our program to grow and help meet the profession's acute nursing shortage."
The relocation will not only benefit the University and its programs, but the community as well. Marshall native and businessman Jerry Cargill and his wife, Judy Cargill, along with former Texas State Senator and former Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson and his wife, Christina Anderson, donated the building as a gift to ETBU for the advancement of Christ-centered education and the benefit of the local community and East Texas region.
"ETBU was created in 1912 as the College of Marshall by the people of Marshall. Expanding ETBU to a downtown campus in the Marshall Grand reflects the University's commitment to invest in the economic development of our city and the preservation of this architectural icon," ETBU President J. Blair Blackburn shared. "The expansion of the Nursing School to downtown Marshall is a return on the investment that Marshall made in our institution over the last century."
The cost for renovation of the dedicated space at the Marshall Grand and for new equipment is approximately $2.2 million. ETBU has already received $1.43 million in gifts and pledges to support the academic program expansion. ETBU received a $400,000 challenge grant from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, that will be awarded upon successfully completing the campaign project balance of $770,000. For more information, please visit www.etbu.edu/schoolofnursing or contact Vice President for Advancement Scott Bryant at 903.923.2178.