The UTMB community celebrated the official opening of the new Student Testing Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house. UTMB President, Dr. David L. Callender and Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, UTMB's new executive vice president and provost, and dean of the School of Medicine opened the ceremony, both emphasizing the team effort it took to bring the center into fruition.
"This beautiful new center is the result of a marvelous collaboration among educators from all four schools to design a space that meets the needs of our students as they prepare to become the health care leaders of the future," said Callender. "The new center gives our students the opportunity to become familiar with online tests as they prepare for their professional exams — a vitally important advantage as online testing has replaced paper exams for most licensure and national exams today."
The 16,000-square-foot facility contains a 160-seat auditorium for lectures as well as 300 computer workstations and 12 individual testing rooms for students who need special accommodations. It is located inside Research Building 6, formerly called Children’s Hospital, in renovated ground-floor space once damaged by hurricane floodwaters. The center is smartly decorated to be part of UTMB’s new pedestrian concourse scheduled for completion in June.
"We are so excited about this new center and the opportunities it affords our outstanding students and faculty to advance UTMB’s vital mission," Callender said. "The center represents one more way in which UTMB is defining the future of health care for Texas and beyond."
Jacobs,
who joined UTMB on Oct. 1, pointed out the many improvements that the center will bring to students and faculty members.
"Our new center is a remarkable result of your vision, planning and hard work. This facility is an exciting addition to our campus, and will end inconveniences of the past by providing our students and faculty members with expanded space for testing and learning, less scheduling conflicts, and greater efficiencies in the administration of exams," Jacobs said. "We take great pride in fostering an exceptional educational experience for our students."
Bill Elger, executive vice president and chief business and finance officer, Donna Sollenberger, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the UTMB Health System and representatives of the Galveston Chamber of Commerce joined Callender and Jacobs in the official ribbon cutting.