Winter 2017 update
Betty Irene Moore Hall moves closer to completion
Construction on Betty Irene Moore Hall, the future home of the School of Nursing, continues at a rapid, on-schedule pace. McCarthy Building crews have completed the majority of the façade and interior work is in progress on the three-story, 70-thousand-square-foot building.
When complete, the $55 million project will become the fourth structure in the education core of the UC Davis Sacramento campus. With its stone exterior, expansive windows and open floor plan, Betty Irene Moore Hall is an undeniably eye-catching site. In tandem with the Education Building, the Center for Health and Technology and the Administrative Support Building (ASB), Moore Hall complements the other health science education spaces and expands the innovative classroom and simulation environments currently available.
Above and below, as exterior construction of Betty Irene Moore Hall nears completion, the focus moves to interior work as crews work rapidly to install paneling, flooring and other finishing pieces. The project remains on track to open this fall.
Since September, nurse practitioner, nursing and physician assistant students have collaborated in new education spaces on campus. The 16,000 square feet of newly renovated space in ASB features propeller tables and LED monitors that promote teamwork in nontraditional ways.
“In traditional lecture halls, students tend to raise their hands and ask questions. The new layout extends the network of classmates,” explained YanYan Hollingsworth, a first-year family nurse practitioner student. “The discussion is not only limited to those who sit next to each other, but to all other group members sitting around the tables.”
“Rather than being packed shoulder to shoulder in a lecture hall, this open environment sets everyone at ease and facilitates ease of discussion during class,” added Justin Palmer, a physician assistant student.
“Because the seats are facing every which way, you don’t feel as exposed as you would in a traditional lecture hall when you ask a question,” said Judy Wong, a family nurse practitioner student in the Class of 2018.
Students credit the layout to enabling professors to move around the room and engage with students, as opposed to orating from a lectern.
“The goal of these spaces is to support a philosophy and our commitment to create an environment of collaboration,” added Theresa Harvath, associate dean for academics. “Our faculty must be more nimble than ever to create a network of courses that resembles a spider web with connectivity across the curriculum.”
Construction on Betty Irene Moore Hall is expected to be complete later this year with a grand opening celebration planned in October.
Art spurs engagement, completes experience
Most can agree that health care struggles to fulfill its potential. From an unsustainable financial model to uncertainties in insurance coverage for millions, the question of “what happens next” can seem daunting. That reality leaves people feeling overwhelmed and isolated, rather than empowered to make a difference. Amid the confusion, art holds the power to foster a sense of healing and community.
“Art helps us identify with one another and expands our notion of we—from the local to the global,” said artist Olafur Eliasson. “Art...can make the world felt. And this felt feeling may spur thinking, engagement and even action.”
Art will play a central role in the new Betty Irene Moore Hall. Whether inviting a connection to the senses or transporting visitors to a what if space, the pieces selected and sponsored will complement the innovative learning inside.
“Art is not merely decoration, but the top layer of the experience,” explained Beth Jones, a Sacramento art consultant. “Without artwork, the building misses an element that involves the human hand, creative process, vitality and life. It is a stimulating element which brings meaning to the whole building, but also to specific areas.”
School of Nursing leaders hope visitors’ visual experiences within the new building are as transformative as the education that will within its walls.
