Pictured above is a construction site at 1020 Holcombe Blvd. The property will soon become home to new student housing for Texas A&M University System medical students, including students enrolled in the Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing.
HOUSTON (February 21, 2020) – The idea of having quality and affordable housing for Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing students is no longer just a dream. On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) revealed the mockups of the $550 million expansion plan for five-plus acres at 1020 Holcombe Boulevard in the Texas Medical Center (TMC).
During a news conference, TAMUS Chancellor John Sharp applauded College of Nursing Dean Betty Adams, Ph.D., for the college’s ongoing lobbying to secure housing for PVAMU nursing students.
“When I went to the Prairie View Gala, she was one of the first persons to find out about it,” Sharp recalled. “I went up to her—this was last year—and I said, ‘I think we got the bid to do the student housing.’ And she said, ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘We’re going to put up student housing. It’s going to be $400 to $500 a month cheaper than they are paying right now, and it’s going to be right across the street.’ I thought she was going to cry!”
PVAMU Dean Betty Adams and three College of Nursing students attend Thursday’s news conference.
Adams, along with three current PVAMU undergraduate students, were in attendance to witness the System tell the world about the new housing, which should be ready for move-in by the fall of 2022.
“We have over 500 students in nursing,” Adams said, “and the nursing alumni have had the vision and have been lobbying to have affordable housing for PVAMU nursing students, that is also safe.”
The Chancellor said Phase 1 of construction—which is the housing tower and a parking garage that will have 1.2 million square-feet of space—makes TAMUS a pioneer in the TMC.
“It’s 60,000 students in the Medical Center and no student housing. It’s like no one has been thinking about the students,” Sharp said. “I am very proud to say that our students—Prairie View students and A&M students—are going to be treated better than anybody in this place!”
TAMUS Chancellor John Sharp and Adams.
The A&M Board of Regents approved the final plans during its meeting in College Station Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, 2019.
Roderic I. Pettigrew, M.D., Ph.D., executive dean of EnMed, a dual degree program in which students earn both an M.D. and a master’s in engineering within four years, says that he is excited about the impact PVAMU nursing students will have on EnMed.
“The overarching goal is to improve the delivery of healthcare. Nursing is a part of the whole healthcare ecosystem,” explained Pettigrew, a proud Morehouse College graduate. “So, if we really want to change the healthcare paradigm, improve healthcare for everybody—all of the citizens—and transform medicine in such a way that we improve the delivery of healthcare, we must include nursing.”
Adams said, “With the new proximity to EnMed and its emphasis on research, there will be more opportunities for our graduate students to engage in the larger healthcare continuum.”
The dean and her students say that the potential EnMed opportunities, as well as the new housing development, represent some of the best news in the college’s 100-plus-year history.
TAMUS housing and tower renderings next to the actual site in the TMC.
“Absolutely nothing would be better for students to live within walking distance of the College of Nursing. Not only will they be closer to class and clinical experiences, but they will also be exposed to more and more ways that they could use their nursing education,” Adams said with excitement. “A lot of our students struggle to find decent housing and end up living further away from great internships and jobs. If they can live in nice housing that is safe and close to the College of Nursing, that will be a huge improvement for many of them.”
Phase One dorm construction is slated to be completed and ready for move-in by 2022.
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By Michael Douglas