A New Path to a Rewarding Nursing Career
By Kymani Greaves
Construction in Duffy to create more space for the nursing program is creating a temporary classroom crunch as the Registrar's Office finds alternate places for Spring courses.
Some of the rooms in Duffy have already been moved or will be moving this month, and additional work will continue through the winter break.
Katherine Walo, Stonehill Registrar, said the Student Financial Office will be moved, the main hall with the vending machine and classrooms 115,117,118 as well as the grant office will be knocked down so labs to be used by the nursing program can be constructed. That should all be done by Fall 2027, she said.
The construction means finding new space for students, both next semester and in the fall.
Because of all the noise from the construction, room 120 and upstairs rooms 217, 219, 221, 230 can only be used from 3 p.m. to evening. So outside of that time, those rooms can't be used, Walo said.
As a result, some class times are changing, and more online classes will be held because of limited space, she said.
She said most of the work is expected to be done by the spring.
The work comes after the College launched a new nursing program, welcoming its inaugural class of students this fall. The lab and classes for the program will be in Duffy.
“We received approval from the Massachusetts Board of Nursing last November and announced to the public at the end of November that we had received initial approval and would be accepting applications for students interested in pursuing a BSN,” said Jospeh Fellone, director of Capital Projects and Trade Services.
“Establishing the nursing major is part of the current five-year Strategic Plan for Stonehill. We have been delighted to receive a high level of interest from both students," he said.
He said interest and enrollment have been higher than expected. “We started our inaugural freshmen class on August 24th, 2026 with 57 students. This exceeds our prediction of 40 to 45 students,” said Fellone.
The planning process has been going on for a long time.
“A thorough planning process, including academic and co-curricular aspects of the proposed major for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) resulted in the report that we submitted to the Board of Nursing last fall,” said Fellone.
A major component of nursing education is hands-on learning. In addition to classroom instruction, nursing students typically participate in laboratory exercises and supervised clinical experiences.
These opportunities allow students to apply what they learn in class and develop the skills necessary to care for patients in real-world situations.
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