(Radio Iowa) – The University of Northern Iowa is renovating a portion of its technology center to accommodate its new nursing program. U-N-I’s Michael Hager says the majority of the work is on classrooms in the third floor where they are building simulation labs that he says are an integral component to the curriculum. The budget for the first phase of the Innovative Teaching and Technology Center for Nursing is five million dollars and he says an unusually large percentage of that budget is dealing with the furniture and equipment — because of the cost lab equipment is a higher compared to most academic programs. U-N-I hopes to help with the shortage of nurses in the state with the new nursing program anticipated to start in Fall 2024. The Board of Regents gave approval for U-N-I to move ahead at its meeting last week.