JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. 鈥� On Jan. 25, the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY Binghamton) held a milestone topping out ceremony for the university鈥檚 new School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences new will be located on a new, eight-acre health sciences campus being developed in Johnson City, approximately two miles from the main campus.
The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) of Syracuse, N.Y., designed the $60 million, 105,000-square-foot academic- and research-oriented facility. The project is part of the NYSUNY 2020 initiative, which aims to jumpstart economic growth while also strengthening academic programs across New York State.
Photo Credit: SUNY Binghamton
Spanning four stories, the facility will house approximately 36 new faculty members and staff and 240 students. It will include a variety of teaching and learning spaces such as state-of-the-art research and instructional labs, lecture halls, a pharmacy practice lab, and interactive classrooms that can be used for lectures, team-based learning and small-group work. A library, faculty offices, student activity spaces and support spaces will also be included, according to a statement by SLAM.
To support more hands-on education, the facility will additionally house compounding, pharmaceutical care and sterile labs, and mock community and hospital pharmacies as well as a state-of-the-art simulation lab. Nearly two entire floors of the building will be dedicated to research with high-tech research tools and equipment as well as high-throughput screening capabilities and large-data computing, according to a statement by SLAM. A medicinal garden will also be located outside the building.
鈥淲e look forward to this new facility which will provide optimal spaces to advance pharmaceutical sciences and educate future pharmacists,鈥� said Richard Polvino, AIA, LEED AP, SLAM principal-in-charge on the project, in a statement. 鈥淲e hope it will enrich the presence of SUNY Binghamton鈥檚 pharmacy program and ultimately impact healthcare across the state.鈥�
The long-term plan for the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences includes three phases. The first will establish the new school of pharmacy; the second will focus on an addition to the existing nursing program facility on the main campus; and the third will expand the university鈥檚 pharmacy school to accommodate more students and faculty.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo聽provided funding for the $60 million school in the state budget聽as part of a NYSUNY 2020 initiative, according to the project鈥檚 . Upon its summer 2018 completion, the new building is expected earn LEED Silver certification.
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences students will be able to participate in a four-year program to earn a pharmaceutical doctorate, and the school will also offer a Ph.D. program with courses taken in both pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacy practice, culminating in clinical placements during the last three semesters. The school will further allow university graduates with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology or chemistry to earn a pharmaceutical doctorate in three years.