MSU Bozeman officially opens new hub of nursing education

Just 18 months after construction started for Jones Hall, MSU’s College of Nursing hosted a grand opening for students, staff and community members — including all living former deans of the college — to come and see the new building. 

MSU’s College of Nursing was established in 1937, with sister campuses across the state. Before the move into Jones Hall, nursing students on the Bozeman campus were primarily working out of Sherrick Hall. 

The addition of Jones Hall to MSU’s campus was made possible by a $101 million donation made by Mark and Robin Jones in 2021. Sarah Shannon, the dean of the College of Nursing, spoke on the significance of the donation at the grand opening. 

“This is the largest gift ever received by a U.S. nursing program at that time, and the largest gift ever received by the Montana University System,” Shannon said. 

According to the Assistant Dean of the College of Nursing Susan Raph, Jones Hall is a building entirely dedicated to nursing studies, which is something the program has never had. 

“We've been in spaces that, essentially, were cobbled together, rented [and] weren’t our own — other than Sherrick Hall here on the Bozeman campus,” Raph said. “In Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell [and] Missoula, we've had this shared, distributed model for teaching nurses across the state, so that we can maximize clinical capacity and really do our work.”

The donation included new buildings for MSU’s sister campuses: Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell and Missoula. Raph said that finally having designated nursing buildings will allow for MSU’s nursing program to create one identity. 

“The new buildings really have provided us with an opportunity to come into the 21st century, all as one, and provide us with an opportunity to really solidify the identity that we have in each of those communities,” she said.

The new building includes several state-of-the-art spaces, including simulation labs, which Raph said will allow students to gain controlled, hands-on experiences in their specialization. 

“​​Clinical education is dependent on access to clinical agencies, which can be a challenge sometimes, especially when we're trying to maximize the number of students that we're able to teach,” Raph said. “What we've learned in nursing education over the past couple decades is the advantage of simulation into that mix of creating opportunities for students to learn.

“So we've created 28 standardized simulations, or scenarios, that the students work through the entire two years — or last four semesters — of the program, that allow us to really make sure that every student is getting what they need,” Raph said. 

Another feature of the new building is a designated space for the college of nursing’s Caring for Our Own Program (CO-OP). According to its website, the CO-OP is a support program for Native American and Alaska Native students pursuing a nursing degree. 

“Every building has a dedicated CO-OP space. Each campus has a dedicated academic nurse mentor for students, and then, of course, here in Bozeman, the main hub for the CO-OP program is located,” Raph said.

Brandi Johnson, a second-year nursing student who works as an assistant in the CO-OP office, said that having a dedicated space for the program is invaluable. 

“Since we’ve started moving to the CO-OP space here, it’s just become the most natural part of my routine, and a space where nursing is the priority,” Johnson said. “Other spaces on campus are mixing with other majors, but here it’s focused, and especially for CO-OP students, it's our own space.”

Ava Samuelson, an accelerated nursing student, said that one of her favorite features of the new building is all the study spaces. 

“The study spaces are the best,” Samuelson said. “There’s private study rooms, which are essential if you want to be on your own, and then there’s open study rooms that you can have with other people.”

Raph said she is seeing these study spaces bring more people together to collaborate and work together. 

“I think the most unique, cool thing about the buildings is that there's just really good student space,” Raph said. “I feel like that has changed the culture of students wanting to be here, studying together, working in teams, which is so important to healthcare.”

Raph said that Jones Hall represents a future for MSU’s nursing program that will hopefully continue to grow. 

“[Jones Hall] has just launched a new chapter for the College of Nursing,” Raph said. “We've been around for a long time. We are doing great work, and now we get to envision the next chapter.”