From concept to reality, the new Mennonite College of Nursing Simulation Center now helps cast a bigger reflection on the future of health care at the corner of Locust Street and Normal Avenue.

Three years after the Illinois State Board of Trustees approved an expansion project to more than double the training facility’s size, the new Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN) Simulation Center is now officially open.

With the new space, the College will be able to reach its full growth potential, to educate and graduate approximately twenty percent of Central Illinois’ licensed nurses. The Simulation Center offers a total of 26,000 square feet for instruction and office spaces and is located at 402 W. Locust in Normal, Illinois. The additional 16,000 square feet will also offer future nurses an enhanced clinical education setting with virtual reality technology.

“The expansion of programs and facilities into this new Simulation Center attests to the active and leading role the University is playing in nursing education throughout the state of Illinois,” said Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule. “The Simulation Center will promote and enhance the Mennonite College of Nursing’s stellar reputation of excellence in nursing education.”

Simulation Center Offerings

Building on themes of collaboration, innovation, and belonging, the expansion features:

• multipurpose area with a 60-seat classroom
• state-of-the-art technology room for virtual reality programming
• three fully immersive technology rooms
• fully functioning, four-bed hospital unit
• hospital simulation space
• undergraduate skills and health assessment labs
• nursing advisors and faculty offices
• conference rooms and study areas

The facility allows modern space for faculty to provide nursing didactic courses, high fidelity simulation, nursing skills training, and health assessment courses. Additionally, new office spaces and a student success suite will provide increased opportunity for student interaction with faculty and support staff.

“The high-quality, high-tech learning that our students are receiving in this building will impact the care they give to their patients,” said Mennonite College of Nursing Dean Judy Neubrander. “Our students will not only learn how to be excellent nurses, but also leaders and researchers. We are making an impact in our region to support the health and well-being of our community. Our students will take this knowledge to reflect excellence within the communities they serve.”

Students temporarily moved to Williams Hall beginning in summer of 2022, for simulation experience. They returned to the relocated and updated simulation lab in Fall 2023, while the addition was completed. The completed and expanded center now allows the Mennonite College of Nursing to enroll more students at a time when demand for nurses is high.

“The simulation rooms are spacious allowing for better student involvement, and they feel more realistic to a hospital experience,” said Student Nurses Association President Emily Brownlie. “The advanced projector system is also an amazing perk some of the rooms have, with the technology helping immerse us in a recent scenario experience. In addition, having the common area of the new simulation lab, with windows that let in lots of sunlight, copious charging stations and a plethora of seating, there is a new center for community within nursing.”

MCN History

This fall, MCN celebrates 105 years as a college and 25 years at Illinois State, where it’s grown from a little more than 200 students to currently serving more than 1,100 students in the undergraduate and graduate programs combined. By 2027, enrollment in the college is expected to reach the college’s full growth potential of 1,200 students, including 1,000 undergraduates. It officially became the University’s 6th academic college in 1999, when it was a mere 80 years old. Since then, it has steadily expanded and strengthened its programs to include additional master’s and doctoral-level degree programs to prepare even more nurses and nursing educators.

Approved in 2021, the project broke ground on June 23, 2023 and faculty, staff and students began utilizing parts of the finished project starting in August 2024.

The Illinois State University Board of Trustees approved an $18 million package in 2021 to build the new Simulation Center. Additional funding was later received, including federal appropriations of $2 million and more than $2 million in total gifts and commitments from donors.