School of Nursing chairwoman Marilyn Stromborg thinks students are fortunate to have their building & even if NIU’s original plan put them much closer to campus.

“We originally got government funding from Hill-Burton funds to build Montgomery Hall in the 1960s,” Stromborg said, referring to the complex in NIU’s southeast corner. “We had it for 25 years and when the lease ended, the university moved us out and moved biology in.”

The current nursing building, located many blocks north at 1240 Normal Road, used to be a grade school but was remodeled for the department in the 1980s.

“The city of DeKalb sold the current nursing building to the university,” Stromborg said. “We did not want to move, but it was the university’s decision.”

Nursing students don’t have to worry about being late to class because there’s so much parking available, she said, and many students commute.

“The commuting students don’t have to leave an hour earlier to find a parking spot,” she said.

The downside to the location, Stromborg added, is that students often feel separated from the campus.

“The students don’t use the campus resources, such as the library,” she said.

While junior nursing major Colette Ondera and other students are used to the location, she wishes the building allowed more interaction with the rest of NIU.

“We feel kind of isolated at times from the rest of the university,” Ondera said. “I would like it if it was closer to campus because we only interact with other nursing students.”

Nursing students aren’t required to have cars on campus, but they know they must provide their own transportation to 50 clinical training sites throughout Illinois.

“We used to provide buses to clinical sites,” Stromborg said. “We ran out of funding and the students had to start providing their own transportation.”

Drawbacks aside, Stromborg feels fortunate to have the building.

“It is a nice building,” she said. “We are very happy here and we have no intentions of moving.”