CE150362

Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Project Address: Clarkson University Science Center, 8 Clarkson Avenue, Potsdam, NY 13699.

Project Director: Kelly Chezum, Vice President for External Relations. Email/Phone: KCHEZUM@CLARKSON.EDU / 315-268-4483. Website: CLARKSON.EDU.

Clarkson University is a 501(c)(3) educational institution located in the North Country of New York State in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County. As the largest rural region in New York State, the North Country is home to many indigenous people, minority groups, veterans, and people living well below the poverty line.

The North Country currently has a rural health care access crisis and is an underserved region, in part, because of the inadequate supply of health science and medical professionals.

Clarkson University educates approximately 4,300 students across 95 programs, including programs for Physician Assistant, Physical Therapist, and Occupational Therapist offered through the Lewis School of Health Sciences, and EMT training and certification for the region. In Fall 2023, Clarkson will begin offering an undergraduate healthcare major. The Lewis School of Health Sciences is the only school of its kind in the North County with a focus on providing rural health care access.

In addition to health care program offerings, Clarkson also provides laboratories that host biotechnology, medical and pharmaceutical research, health sciences, engineering, and chemistry programs.

The expansion of Clarkson University's Science Center will have a broad regional impact, as it will significantly improve the struggling healthcare infrastructure in the region. The project will allow for graduates and other medical professionals to be educated and trained and subsequently enter the healthcare workforce to serve the public in hospitals, clinics, medical offices, and laboratories throughout the North Country's rural networks.

Clarkson University will be able to accommodate the increased demand for its healthcare and medical science advanced degree programs and provide groundbreaking medical research, ultimately producing thousands more health science professionals and researchers that will go on to serve the public in the region.

The current facility has housed the university's research laboratories, classrooms, and related administrative offices since its construction in 1971. Over the past 50 years, over 40,000 students have passed through these facilities, graduated, and commenced their professional careers, many in the healthcare field. The Lewis School of Health Sciences medical degree programs have grown over the years, and the university seeks to transition and expand the research and training facility to accommodate continued growth.

With the proposed project, Clarkson University will be able to accommodate the increased demand for its health care and medical sciences advanced degree programs by adding new space to accommodate medical research, virtual STEM, biology, chemistry, and engineering laboratory facilities, as well as additional academic space to conduct the programs that support community-based healthcare training. The expanded and upgraded facility will enable the university to better educate and train thousands more health sciences professionals and researchers that will go on to serve the public.

With the renovation and new construction to the Science Center, Clarkson University will be able to provide education, health resources and services, rural health outreach, and research. The estimated total cost of the project is $40 million. There are two components to the project: construction/expansion and renovation. The cost breakout is as follows:

Construction/Expansion – $25,000,000:
- Expansion Design - $2,300,000
- Expansion Construction - $21,700,000
- Expansion Equipment - $1,000,000

Renovation - $15,000,000:
- Renovation Design - $1,200,000
- Renovation Construction - $12,800,000
- Renovation Equipment - $1,000,000

Clarkson University

NOT APPLICABLE

93.493 - Congressional Directives

HRSA Office of Federal Assistance Management (OFAM) [HHS - HRSA]

Potsdam, New York United States

City-Wide

HRSA-23-117