The ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ community is invited to tour the new facility, home of the School of Health Sciences.
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ formally dedicates the Gerald L. Francis Center in ceremonies at 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 26. The Francis Center is the home of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s School of Health Sciences, including the Doctor of Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies programs. Following the ribbon-cutting, the campus community is invited to tour the building.
Honored at the dedication will be Gerald (Gerry) Francis, executive vice president and a member of the president’s staff. Prior to assuming the executive vice president position in June 2009, Francis served for 15 years as ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s provost and vice president for academic affairs. He came to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ in 1974 as an assistant professor in the department of mathematics. In 1981, he received the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching. Francis has dedicated his academic career to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ.
The Francis Center features three classrooms dedicated to the DPT program and two classrooms for the physician assistant program, with three clinical laboratories, five simulation/exam rooms and two observation rooms, an anatomy lab, a biomechanics lab, a human performance lab, an ultrasound lab, a neuroscience lab, an anthropometry lab, an electrophysiology lab, a metabolic lab and an osteology lab.
New teaching and research equipment includes a second Biodex system for campus, a Qualisys gait analysis and rehabilitation system, which includes 12 cameras and a 16-channel wireless EMG system, plus two force plates; and a Robomedica system.
The first floor of the building also includes a large commons area, student lounge and fitness facility.
Future plans for the undeveloped part of the building include the 13,000-square-foot Scott Studios, providing expanded practice and performance spaces for the acting, dance, music theatre, theatre studies and theatrical design and production programs.
Future plans also include a large student activity facility.
The Francis Center formerly served as a Smithfield Foods processing facility, which was purchased by the university in 2011 and fully renovated. The property adjacent to the building includes new student recreation fields, with a road connected to the Danieley Center residential neighborhood.