19 minute read
2021 Annual Review
THE YEAR IN HIGHLIGHTS
Behind-the-scenes support key to readying new academic center
In January 2021, the master of occupational therapy (MOT) program relocated into new lab spaces in the Dr. Myron Wentz Center for Health Sciences & Engineering. The Operations team worked through the pandemic to oversee construction and ensure that the facility was ready for occupancy. In addition, the master of physician assistant studies (MSPAS) program required the installation of extensive program equipment, including three Anatomage tables, five high- and low-fidelity “Manikins,” and a software and camera suite for patient simulation and exam rooms.
Information Technology Services provided significant technical support and learning space engineering for implementation of this highly advanced health education technology. This included installation of three high-end video management and software servers; 16 academic cameras for simulation, teaching and exam rooms; multiple network switch and wireless installations; and support for the Manikin-based, real-world simulators. The team also provided support for the engineering department in order to ensure lab equipment was operational for fall semester.
The new facility is 40,000 square feet, bringing the on-campus square footage devoted to College operations to 1.22 million square feet.
Application process opens for future physical therapists
The doctor of physical therapy program (DPT) is accepting applications for its first cohort of 48 students to begin in January 2023. The application for candidacy is on track to be submitted in June 2022 to the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). The DPT program has 44 clinical contracts and 100 letters of intent with local, regional, and national clinical sites to offer full-time clinical education experiences to North Central College DPT students.
Physician assistant studies launches January 2022
The first cohort of future physician assistants will begin their two-year degree program in January 2022. The staff and faculty in the medical sciences department worked hard to ensure that the master of science in physician assistant studies (MSPAS) program would receive Initial Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA), the accrediting body for physician assistant education. This distinction means the College meets the high standards of excellence and innovation established by ARC-PA.
Physician assistant students will focus on content area instruction during their first year, followed by a year of clinical rotations, completed in both inpatient and outpatient settings in a variety of hospital and private practice sites. “The demand for highly trained healthcare professionals is on the rise and has sharply increased throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is ready to meet that need,” said Marci J. Swede, dean of the School of Education and Health Sciences at North Central College.
Health Science graduate program enrollments are projected to climb while engineering majors have quickly attracted significant numbers of students.
Navistar makes significant gift
North Central College received nearly $1.4 million in total gifts and grants from corporations, foundations, and government entities during fiscal year 2020-2021. The most significant contribution was a $750,000 gift from Navistar for an Engineering Education 4.0 Partnership. The Navistar gift will provide capital, scholarship and program support, and is recognized in the new Manufacturing Processes Lab.
More STEM teachers goal of NSF grant
A $75,000 faculty grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is being used to build capacity and partnerships that will ultimately result in more high school teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The goal is to prepare teachers who are equity-minded and willing to teach in high-needs schools. The grant represents the College’s first NSF grant in nearly 30 years and lays the groundwork for a future request of $1.2 million from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program for students from under-represented groups.
Newly acquired property houses Shimer
A newly acquired private home at the southwest corner of Benton Avenue and Loomis Street will now house the Shimer Great Books School and School of Graduate Programs & Professional Studies. In addition, a $4 million gift from the estate of William J. Davis will fund a new staff position dedicated to coordinating Shimer recruitment and program leadership; faculty and scholarship support; and increased marketing resources.
Major in nutrition builds on campus experiences
A new bachelor of science in nutrition science is designed to prepare students for internships, graduate school and the job market, with hands-on experiences in campus settings: Chartwells, the community garden, Dyson Wellness Center and Cardinal Fit.
Brilliant Future Campaign garners $15 million
The Brilliant Future Campaign continues to resonate with donors, reaching 84 percent of the $150 million Campaign goal—a total of $125,988,200— with $15,021,841 raised in fiscal year 2021. This includes $11,330,841 in outright gift and pledges, and $3,691,000 in will commitments. Results were boosted by achieving the goal of $1.4 million in donations to the North Central College Fund and the most successful Day of Giving ever (in 2021), raising more than $400,000.
Athletic achievements
4 Individual National Champions
4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) titles
16 NCAA All-Americans
3 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
Be The Change celebrates diversity
During fiscal year 2021, the sports information department worked to build empathy and understanding among North Central College community members by sharing the voices of student-athletes, graduate assistants and coaches. The department produced 15 videos that formed a social media series branded “Be The Change.” Participants shared their views on growing up as a biracial athlete, issues with body image and mental health, reactions to racial protests, and the diversity of an 11-man football huddle. The goal is to create a culture where open discussions of race, gender and sexual orientation are encouraged to provide a more diverse, equitable and inclusive environment in the North Central athletics community.
Recruiting beyond May 1
An aggressive plan to secure deposits beyond the traditional May 1 deadline resulted in significant results for the fall 2021 new student population. An additional 94 first-year and 129 transfer students made deposits after May 1. The effort required collaboration by the Offices of Admission, Financial Aid and Student Success, and the athletic department and orientation staff. Additionally, new student-athletes represented 53 percent of the fall 2021 class, up from 38 percent the year before. Athletic recruitment significantly impacts out-of-state enrollment and campus residence life.
A focus on transfer admission and degree completion
The Office of Admission is partnering with Academic Affairs to improve processes for transfer applications, the review of transcripts, curriculum planning and new parent communication. In addition, North Central College has signed articulation agreements with five community colleges to ensure ease of admission, student engagement and success, and degree completion in a combined four years.
"We developed the institution’s first set of articulation agreements to ‘create a clear and unobstructed pathway of coursework for qualified students who aspire to earn a bachelor’s degree,’” said Nick DeFalco ’09/M ’14, director of transfer admission. “Our agreements are not just curricular maps to guide students on what courses to take; they include a thoughtful approach to their long-term success by asking faculty to consider their academic and social integration into the campus community.”
In addition, North Central hosted a first-ever football tailgate party, (pictured, right), for current and prospective transfer students and their parents. More than 80 people attended, including staff, faculty and student leaders on campus.
Campus climate survey builds toward inclusiveness
In September 2020, a Campus Climate Survey working group was established to assess the overall campus climate as part of a commitment to create a more inclusive North Central College. The survey was conducted during 2020- 2021 with the oversight of Suzanne Chod, professor of political science; Nicole Rivera, associate professor of psychology; Jennifer Shah, assistant professor of education; two graduate assistants, Milia Harris ’20/M ’22 and Khadeil Ergas M ’22; and more than 20 undergraduates who assisted with focus group facilitation. The research teams collected both qualitative and focus group data drawn from students, staff and faculty.
Khadeil Ergas
“Including students in this process as co-investigators was critical for transparency and confidence in our findings,” said Rivera. “Students bring a unique lens to this work because of their lived experiences and perspectives.”
Harris and Ergas worked to code and interpret the data, mentored undergraduates working on the project, and helped present findings at campus forums (pictured, right). Research will continue in 2022 to refine preliminary results.
“We learned from the results that students, faculty and staff are wanting to seek change and as a community, we have proof now what is truly needed as a campus,” said Ergas. “So far we have the information from students, faculty and staff, divided by roles and ethnicity … we just need to listen and address major issues and over time the change will come. ... it starts with us all working together to promote change, community and diversity.”
Added Rebecca Gordon, assistant vice president for equity, diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer: “The next steps are to codify strategies and long-term action plans to bring about cultural change.”
-KHADEIL ERGAS M’22
BUILDING STRONGER
COVID-19 requires extraordinary response during 2020-2021
Shield Illinois COVID-19 testing resulted in more than 300 tests per day at its peak in March 2021.
Dyson Wellness Center:
In addition to individual appointments, counselors offered weekly virtual services during 2020-2021, including support groups for students in quarantine and isolation as well as for Black students, a workshop promoting wellness, and Let’s Talk, an off-site consultation model.
In fall 2020, two contact tracers were hired at the Dyson Wellness Center. Due to high workload, two additional contact tracers were added in February 2021. Contact tracers and other medical staff provided services for 746 community members (669 students and 77 faculty/ staff) in isolation and 872 community members (780 students and 92 faculty/ staff) in quarantine. Contact tracers' efforts on campus resulted in 5,764 outreach appointments with community members.
Shield Illinois COVID-19 testing:
A highly accurate saliva-based test created by researchers at the University of Illinois enabled the College to increase its testing capacity and narrow the window for COVID-19 exposure by more quickly identifying and isolating positive cases. By routinely testing students, faculty and staff, the College was able to monitor the effectiveness of other campus-wide health and safety measures and quickly identify increases in infection rates. Starting in January 2021, the College conducted ongoing COVID-19 testing for student-athletes and athletic staff participating in organized sports activities. By March 2021, the College was conducting an average of more than 300 COVID-19 tests per day.
Cardinal Operation Hope and Help (COHH):
This committee assisted students experiencing insecurity around basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, transportation and educational supplies. For the 2020-2021 academic year, COHH received 113 financial assistance applications and funded more than $39,700 to students in need. COHH is also continuing a program that issues donated laptop computers in good working condition to students by request. In addition, the Office of Student Affairs administers the Class of 1993 Book Fund to aid students in an unexpected financial emergency. The African American Alumni Association (AAAA) Book and Educational Supply Fund assists Black students who are experiencing a financial emergency or ongoing need.
Academics
Throughout the past fiscal year, COVID-19 affected everything from course section modalities, to the academic calendar, to the daily class schedule, as well as class attendance. Courses held in person were converted to one of four other modalities: online-synchronous, online-asynchronous, split, or blended.
Classes ended before Thanksgiving 2020 and finals were held remotely the following week, requiring the semester class schedule to be lengthened to 70-minute and 100-minute sections. The goal was for students not to come back to campus after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Condensing the calendar and shifting modalities necessitated every instructor rewriting their syllabi. In addition, when students needed to be in isolation for two-week intervals, and their close contacts went into quarantine, many instructors provided remote learning materials for individual students.
For spring semester 2021, undergraduate classes started on Monday, January 25— two weeks later than originally planned, with Commencement held on May 10. The College also condensed “spring break” to a one-day hiatus.
Student Involvement
Multicultural student picnic, fall 2021
Student organizations transitioned to on-campus meetings in spring 2021. More than 20 student organizations remained active and held more than 50 events, both in-person and virtually, attracting 1,653 participations. The Office of Student Involvement, collaborating with the Institutional Response Team (IRT), created documents and processes to allow increased campus activity, such as On- Campus Event Guidelines and Intramural Sports Protocol. Each document provided instructions for how student leaders and advisors could resume inperson activities in spring 2021.
North Central College remains financially strong and just completed its 50th year of operation with a balanced budget
In fiscal year 2020-2021, total operating revenue, after financial aid, increased 1 percent to $81.8 million and the College recorded an operating surplus of $5.8 million, much better than anticipated.
Net tuition revenue and auxiliary revenue declined as a result of a smaller incoming first-year student class, added student support through financial aid, and a reduced population of students in campus housing. Other impacts to revenue include $10.9 million from gifts and grants and $2.5 million in HEERF II institutional, which was used to offset lost revenue and reimburse expenses related to COVID-19.
The College’s operating expenses decreased by $3.9 million or 4.9 percent, to $76.0 million as of June 30, 2021. Going
into fiscal year 2020-2021 the College implemented significant cost reductions to offset anticipated lower revenue. The College was able to realize expected cost savings and then some. Expenditures were significantly below expectations for campus activities and less need for travel. The College did see an increase in some categories of expenses, such as building/maintenance supplies, utilities, and some COVID expenses, including onsite testing.
In fiscal year 2020-2021, the return on the endowment was 29.8 percent and its value increased from $112.3 million at the end of fiscal year 2019-2020 to $144.5 million at the end of fiscal year 2020-2021.
Despite a challenging environment, the offices of admission and financial aid, coaches, faculty and staff worked tirelessly during fiscal year 2020-2021 to recruit an incoming class of 738 new students. This represents a first-year class of 512 and a transfer class of 226. Full-time enrollment is 2,637 which reflects smaller first-year and transfer classes, the latter impacted by lower enrollments at community colleges during the pandemic.
Fortunately, full-time graduate revenue continues to grow, with the first class of physician assistant studies students enrolling in January 2022. The College’s revenue has been impacted significantly by the introduction of the master of occupational therapy degree program in fall 2018.
Infrastructure ready for health sciences and mechanical engineering
The dedication of the new Dr. Myron Wentz Center for Health Sciences and Engineering officially signifies a new era at North Central College. It culminated the extensive and visionary planning that has been unfolding to create a fully staffed and equipped facility to enter the field of medical education. The building stands ready to launch the careers of professionals in occupational therapy, physician assistant studies and physical therapy. Additionally, the Manufacturing Processes Lab located on the ground level will prepare students in the growing engineering discipline.
“(This facility) has to foster the best kinds of collaboration among students and faculty … and give students everything they need to succeed in complex and evolving career fields in health sciences and engineering,” said President Troy Hammond at the Oct. 7 dedication. “We are here today because at North Central, we dream big. We all dream big dreams for North Central College and its students … And, working together, we make those dreams a reality.”
Professor Frank Harwath conducts tours of the Manufacturing Processes Lab after the building dedication.
The ceremony included revealing the exterior signage that honors the role of Dr. Myron Wentz ’63 (H) ’11 in this important new strategy in health science. He earlier pledged $10 million to help fund the development of the programs prior to accreditation and the admission of tuition-paying graduate students.
“I am deeply moved by his confidence, his trust, and his belief in the College and its people. His generosity has helped secure North Central’s future. It ensures that we can continue to adapt to the changing needs of students,” said Hammond.
Marci Swede, dean of the School of Education and Health Sciences, said, “Our goal is to impact the quality and equity of health care through education. This beautiful center will facilitate the best practices in medical education and ... was built with our mission and values at its heart. The unifying values of all our health professional programs reflect those of North Central: a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; centering on interprofessional education; and support for mental and physical well-being.”
After the official ribbon-cutting and sign reveal, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni and Naperville residents in attendance embarked on tours of the facility. While designed for graduate programs, undergraduate students in STEM fields will have access to the building’s medical technologies as well as early admission programs for their continued professional studies at North Central.
“This space represents the convergence of the liberal arts with pre-professional programs in a way that is consistent with what defines the North Central experience,” said Stephen Maynard Caliendo, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Students in a variety of undergraduate majors will apply their core skills to address community needs through careers in the health sciences and engineering. They will address inequities, find creative solutions to problems, and contribute to the creation of a more equitable nation and world.”
Helping students develop and navigate an academic success plan
Academic challenges, family demands, health issues, outside commitments and social distractions—the path to earning a degree can be altered by any number of obstacles.
And the loss of momentum can derail even the most committed students, who risk losing credit hours, athletic eligibility and their scholarships and/or financial aid.
Academic Affairs has introduced a new staffing structure and approach to academic support to build on the existing strengths of the staff and create a
collaborative and a responsive system to respond to these diverse challenges. The intensified approach brings together academic advising, student disability services and the Center for Student Success under the direction of Mindy Diaz (pictured above, left), now director of academic success and support programs. She was formerly director of student disability services.
“We want to replicate the model that we use in disability services, which is to focus more holistically on providing services,” said Diaz, whose staff will eventually be located in a renovated space in Oesterle Library.
- MINDY DIAZ, DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS & SUPPORT PROGRAMS
Students needing assistance are often identified by faculty and staff using the Early Alert Form. Depending on the needs of the identified student, they will now be referred to one of three retention specialists within the redesigned team. They will be responsible for supporting students at greatest risk of attrition due to academic performance and other factors in their learning environment.
“Students can struggle with time management, managing their emails and not knowing where they stand in class grade-wise,” said Diaz. “Suddenly they’re falling behind in their classes. It might be too much time spent on social media or video games—and something like establishing a schedule for homework can help them. They don’t always understand that asking for help is the correct thing to do.”
STAYING ON TRACK TO GRADUATE
Other unforeseen obstacles can require extensive and thoughtful intervention. Exercise science major Marco Serafini ’22 (pictured opposite page, right) has all the attributes of a dedicated student—but he was struggling in his classes due to a serious medical condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). During spring 2021, Serafini was trying to keep up with his classwork but was losing weight and couldn’t stand for long or ride in a car without dealing with vertigo.
He feared he’d have to completely drop out of North Central, so he connected with Diaz virtually and she began to formulate a plan to work with his professors. “My mom was crying during our first meeting because I was getting the help I needed,” he said. “I was so anxious and stressed—I didn’t think I’d be coming back.”
Diaz contacted Rachel Luehrs, assistant professor of exercise science, and Michelle DePasquale and Alexis Chambers, both professors in psychology and neuroscience, to help Serafini with a plan to finish his classes which included dropping a course and taking a temporary incomplete in another. He then resumed his studies over the fall as his health improved. With physical therapy, Serafini has recovered enough to attend classes on campus in spring 2022.
His first return to campus in many months had him meeting Diaz in person for the first time. “We actually hope we’re not working together anymore in the future,” she said.
As Serafini focuses on restoring his strength and health, he’s grateful for the attention he received and the flexibility of his professors. And he’s gained a renewed passion for health and wellness—as well as a future exercise-related career. “I’d forgotten how much I loved it,” he said.
