Eastern Arizona College is the second oldest institute of higher education in Arizona. CSHQA has designed buildings for them since 1990. The most recent is the first phase of the Nursing Education Center. It is located on the south edge of the Middle Campus and was designed to provide a visual edge using materials that have become the standard for the campus: red brick, metal roofing and energy efficient glazing—all of which have roots in the institute’s culture and history.
The nursing program fills a pressing community need and employs modern technology to allow the devoted and expert faculty to instruct a motivated student body who previously had to leave the Gila Valley for their education. It includes state-of-the-art computer and general classrooms on the first floor which are available for general university use. The second floor includes spaces for professional education and faculty interaction. These include a learning ward and a “sym-man” space where students encounter a programmable mannequin with variable symptoms. These encounters are videotaped and the class and faculty engage in interactive criticisms of the student performance.
Five years after completion, the Nursing Education Center continues to serve students with an average enrollment equivalent of 72 full time students and an average of 67 graduates per year!