Universities at Shady Grove hosts grand opening of new STEMM education facility

The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) celebrated the opening of its Biomedical Sciences and Engineering (BSE) education facility on Wednesday afternoon.

USG is a regional campus of the University System of Maryland (USM) in Montgomery County that offers degree programs from nine different Maryland public universities.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, USM Chancellor Robert Caret, USM Regents Chair Linda Gooden, university presidents from around the state and USG Executive Director Stewart Edelstein gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the facility.

Congratulations @UatShadyGrove on the #BSEGrandOpening! The degree programs in this impressive facility will prepare students for careers in some of the most sought-after and fastest growing industries. #BuiltforBreakthroughs pic.twitter.com/K0OAQ0JHP2

— CollegeTracks (@CollegeTracks) November 8, 2019

The BSE is a six-level, 220,000-square-foot, $175 million facility that will offer several programs relating to STEMM — that’s STEM plus medicine, given the focus on healthcare careers — such as biosciences, engineering, healthcare and computational science disciplines beginning in January.

“Most of the students we have wouldn’t generally be pursuing a four-year degree,” Michael Knapp, chairman of USG’s board of advisors, told Technical.ly. “This building allows those students to really take it to the next level and acquire degrees in most STEMM disciplines, which will help our local economy grow and provide them opportunities they never would have had before.”

Another notable feature of the facility is a community dental clinic operated by the dentistry school. The clinic boasts 20 dental chairs and four surgical offices. Students pursuing dental hygiene education will be able to earn course credit at the clinic, assisting with patient care under faculty supervision.

USG will also add new dental programs from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. There will be a dual degree program in clinical dental hygiene leadership and a post baccalaureate certificate in oral health science.

“The facility will not only allow us to train future leaders, but also to take care of the community,” said Mark Reynolds, dean of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. “We’re very pleased about the opportunity to bring care to citizens that often would otherwise go unmet.”

BSE has positive implications for the future as well, allowing USG to increase enrollment capacity from its current 3,000-plus students to more than 7,000 over the next several years.

“Montgomery County is an exceedingly diverse community, so it allows students to learn how to provide medical and health services in a culturally appropriate environment,” Knapp said. “It’s going to be fun to see how it grows and all of the stories that come out of it that we haven’t anticipated yet.”