BUILDING UP THE SCIENCES LOVING WHAT GOD LOVES
BUILT ON FAITH Dordt College’s original science building, completed in 1966, was the perfect size for its time. But, over the years, God has blessed us with tremendous growth in new areas such as engineering, construction management, agriculture, and nursing.
Our student body continues to grow. The new Science and Technology Center addition that opened in August 2014 makes room for more students and offers them better research opportunities. It also joins the sciences with other disciplines on campus. When we broke ground for an expanded science building in May 2013, it was with a leap of faith grounded in the confidence that our supporting communities would see our very real need for updating these facilitites. We trusted that the growth God has blessed us with would be upheld by our supporting community. Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends of the college, we raised the $12 million needed for Phase One. We now need your help to move ahead with renovating the original building, updating labs and classrooms to complete the project. Our total need is $20 million. Please consider this project in your charitable giving. Thank you for your prayers and support,
Dr. Erik Hoekstra President
Our updated science facilities are stewardly and forward-looking. They are based on the conviction that theoretical insights must be modeled in responsible service through research, design, pedagogy, and leadership opportunities if they are to affect how science and technology drive our world.
INTERCONNECTED Science touches every part of our interconnected world. Students develop a better sense of how they can have an impact when they see those connections. Across the country today, the fastest growing majors are interdisciplinary ones. Dordt College is training Christian leaders to work in areas such as efficient design and lean manufacturing, software development, teaching, biostatistics, renewable energy systems, biomedical engineering, earthquake-safe structures, construction management, and much more. We are building on our tradition of excellence in the sciences to strengthen programs in applied science and technology majors so that our graduates will have a positive impact on our world.
COLLABORATIVE Growing and persuasive evidence shows that cooperative teams of teachers and learners achieve at higher levels and retain information longer than students who work individually. Shared learning gives students an opportunity to engage in discussion, take responsibility for their own learning, and become critical thinkers. Training tomorrow’s professionals and citizens requires not only good teaching and mentoring, but also facilities that allow for and encourage hands-on, project-based learning.
“Our society has an increasing demand for data and a lack of professionals who can manage it. There’s a high demand for people with God-given ability in and passion for mathematics and statistics.” Dr. Nathan Tintle, statistics
Once completed the project will: 1. Provide project-based learning spaces for research and design, giving students a more integrated lab and classroom experience. 2. Provide collaborative teaching and learning spaces, including technologyenabled classrooms and clustered faculty offices. 3. Connect the science building to the classroom building, creating opportunities for students in all majors to see how science connects to living in today’s world. 4. Provide facilities for hosting conferences. 5. Provide space for twice as many science and technology majors.
STUDENTS SAY... MEGAN KOOIMA Biology major
JACOB HACKBARTH
Chemistry major
“I transferred to Dordt because I wanted an academically challenging program. Dordt has challenged me. They’ve gotten away from cookiecutter labs and encourage us to explore something we’re interested in. We design experiments with the help of a professor and then assess and explain our results to others.” “I have been impressed time and time again by the professors here and their involvement with their students’ learning. With the new science building, I see opportunities for professors and students to take collaborative lab experiences to the next level.”
ALUMNI SAY... MIKE VANDER WEL, P.E. (’89)
Tooling Chief Engineer, The Boeing Company
RAY MIDDEL (‘88)
Vice President, Global Services at GEA
DANIELLE DE BOER (‘13)
Engineering major, at groundbreaking ceremonies
“What success looks like in my environment is that people look at you and see you as someone who thinks about things in a different and deeper way. We need highly qualified people with a perspective that Dordt gives to enable us to succeed. Good principles, rooted in creation, don’t change.” “The Reformational world and life view we learned at Dordt shaped us and drives the way we live and work today. We’re happy to help update the science building so future students will also get such an education.” “I can’t count the hours I spent studying in the labs and learning in these classrooms. They helped equip many students to be engineers, environmental scientists, chemists, but most importantly to be image-bearers of Christ. I’m proud to be able to see the beginning of a new era for the science departments, a little bit envious too, and excited to see where God will take the next generation of students.”
“Education is a means by which we hone our skills and find out where to best use our gifts for kingdom service. This building is a renewed commitment to such education.” Deborah Tyokoghir, biology major
“Collaboration between individuals and disciplines will be one of the defining features of 21st century science. The lab facilities and especially the communal workspaces allow this sort of collaboration to happen organically—already it’s been great to hear the discussions and watch students and faculty use the spaces created during Phase One.” Kayt Frisch, engineering and physics
COMPLETION PHASE
LEVEL ONE:
Biology, agriculture, environmental science
COMPLETION PHASE
“Employers like hiring Dordt nursing graduates. They are not only well-prepared for nursing practice, but they display Christian values that set them apart.� LEVEL TWO:
Chemistry, physics, astronomy
Dr. Deb Bomgaars, nursing
HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE DORDT REGULARLY EXCEEDS NATIONAL AVERAGES, PARTICULARLY IN THE SCIENCES
100% 96% 84% 72% 60% 48% 36% 24% 12%
“Our world is overwhelmed with information from scientific and technical experts. What we often lack is the wisdom to sort out what information is important and why we should care about it.” Dr. Ethan Brue, engineering
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Forbes.com has named Dordt College one of “America’s Best Colleges,” ranking it in the 90th percentile of all colleges in the nation.
Over the past five years, over 85 percent of Dordt pre-physical therapy grads have been accepted to graduate school, compared to the national average of 46 percent.
Dordt consortium In 11 of the past Nine out of 10 nursing students 15 years, Dordt pre-med Dordt have a 100 percent students taking graduates get into placement rate the fundamentals medical school. for B.S.N. graduates of engineering Nationally, only within six months (FE) exam have a one in three are of graduation. 100 percent pass accepted. Nationally, this rate rate on their first is 88 percent. attempt. Nationally this average is about 80 percent.
GRAD PROFESSORS SAY... DR. PATRICK HALBUR
Professor and chair of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Science at Iowa State University
DR. LOWELL GREIMANN
Former chair of the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department at Iowa State University
“It’s very well known among the faculty that students coming from Dordt will emerge to be class leaders and will be highly sought after.”
“I especially wanted to attract Dordt graduates to Iowa State graduate programs because I knew that even when exposed to challenging problems they may not have seen, the students would be conscientious, eager to work hard, and do a good job as we worked together on research projects. Dordt students work well on research teams and do well in the graduate classes, and are interested in more than engineering.”
DONORS SAY... TERRY KATSMA (‘80)
“Christian educational institutions need donors and supporters to partner with them in the important task of helping the next generation of leaders formulate a Christian perspective for living.”
DR. MARK LINK (‘82)
“I have been working with the Dordt engineering department over the last year in our work on commotio cordis, sudden cardiac death with chest wall impact. We are exploring the mechanical variables responsible for this tragic event. It has been great to work with Engineering Professor Kayt Frisch and one of her students. I look forward to continuing this work, and to the discoveries that such collaboration can bring.”
Wisconsin State Legislature 26th District Representative
Cardiac electrophysiologist and internationally known expert in commotio cordis at Tufts University School of Medicine
“Our students are future leaders in their professions. We are giving them hands-on experience and tools so that they can understand and do good science.” Dr. Robbin Eppinga, biology, former researcher at Mayo Clinic
NATURAL SCIENCES GROWTH ENROLLMENT IN THE TOP 5 NATURAL SCIENCES PROGRAMS 540 504 468 432 396 360 324 288 252 216 180 144
“The renovation will modernize lab spaces that were built in the ‘60s. Improved ventilation, increased space, and updated equipment will make them safer places to teach and learn. Dr. Tony Jelsma, biology
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BECOMING REALITY A dream that is finally becoming reality. That’s a good description of this science building project at Dordt College. It is time for our facility to match the growth and the quality of our programs.
For years we have seen our engineering program grow in enrollment and in excellence. We have seen Dordt’s nursing program blossom, gaining the highest praise from accreditors and becoming known and respected regionally and nationally. Our pre-med and pre-vet students are accepted to graduate programs at rates that are far above the national norm. Dordt agriculture students compete and excel in national competitions with students from large state-funded agriculture schools. Dordt science graduates are making an impact around the world! Why? I have no doubt that it is partly because of the quality of students who choose to attend Dordt College. But I believe it is also because Dordt’s programs, Dordt’s faculty, and Dordt’s students start with this foundational truth: Our world belongs to God, and Christ— the king of all creation—calls us to join him in his work of renewal. If you believe that our world belongs to God, if you believe that God calls Christians into science, if you believe that Christian hearts and voices are needed in the conversations surrounding science and technology—in research labs and seminars, in the doctor’s office and hospital room, and in producing food for a hungry world—then please join us in supporting this important and timely project at Dordt College.
John Baas Vice President for Advancement
SCALE OF GIVING GIFT SIZE GIFTS REQUIRED
TOTAL
$2,000,000
1
$2,000,000
$1,000,000
3
$3,000,000
$500,000
5
$2,500,000
$250,000
10
$2,500,000
$100,000
25
$2,500,000
$50,000
70
$3,500,000
$25,000
200
$5,000,000
$10,000
250
$2,500,000
$5,000
300
$1,500,000
TOTAL
864 $25,000,000
498 Fourth Ave NE Sioux Center, IA 51250-1606 www.dordt.edu/build
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