The CON is committed to increasing its research initiative, and since 1969 the Niedfelt Nursing Research Center (NNRC) within the CON has provided extensive support for faculty and student research efforts toward that objective. It is one of the first non-federally supported nursing research centers in the nation, established in honor of Florence Niedfelt's significant donation to the College of Nursing. Today the NNRC maintains a team of 8 faculty, staff, and research assistants, dedicated to the research enterprise. Facilities include 13 research offices, a conference room, a statistical and data analysis room, two lab areas, and a grants resources area. The Center houses a collection of books on measurement, research methods, and statistics and maintains a sizable collection of instruments for collection of biobehavioral data. 

The NNRC team actively supports the college’s objective to increase national prominence as a research health sciences center. This is accomplished by pursuing four objectives: