LAB

Continued from page 1

When students are done with a simulation, they gather in debriefing rooms to review footage of their response to the simulation and reflect on their experiences and choices.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured speeches from Dr. Denise Simard, dean of the School of Education, Health and Human Services, Hanshaw and Enyedi.

“Very early in my role as dean, an assistant professor walked into my office and he handed me a roll of CAD drawing, and he said, ‘I want a new lab for our faculty and our students,’” Simard said in her speech. “Six years later, here we are. We have a new lab.”

Simard also mentioned that New York State Assemblyman Billy Jones, representing District 115, is working to pass legislation that would allow for lab simulations to com- prise up to 30% of nursing students’ clinical hours.

Enyedi said he gave Jones a private tour of the facility last week.

Toward the end of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Enyedi asked students working with the simulations physiology questions. The renovation cost close to $1 million, according to Anne Hansen, executive director of the Plattsburgh College Foundation, which in part sponsored the renovation project. $500,000 was from the New York Construction Fund, and $200,000 was from the federal Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. The remainder came from two donors to SUNY Plattsburgh. One bequest of $172,000 is from ‘95 nursing alumnus Neal Andrews, who died in 2016. Virginia and Xenophon Damianos made continual gifts to the university throughout their lifetimes, amounting to more than $300,000, all of which went either to the original simulation lab or its renovation. Additionally, the Plattsburgh College Foundation received an anonymous donation of $100,000 in response to the renovation, to go toward developing the nursing curriculum and training faculty to handle the new equipment.

Virginia Damianos died in 2009 at the age of 81. Her obituary described her “undying commitment to the university.” Virginia “Jinny” and Xenophon “Jim” Damianos met while studying in Plattsburgh and were married for 52 years. Virginia Damianos received the Once in a Century Alumni Award in 1986, and they both received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995.

“The laboratory serves as a permanent tribute to their generosity and their love for SUNY Plattsburgh, its students, and its mission,” Virginia Damianos’ obituary read.