With only five majors and two minors dedicated to health science related fields, North Central’s new $60 million science center is a necessary expense.
The seven health science programs at the 3,000-student liberal arts college find their current home in the 45-year-old Kroehler science center. Kroehler is expected to be renovated after the new science center is completed, to accommodate liberal arts and business disciplines.
North Central’s move comes at a time when college majors and job openings all point to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related fields. STEM fields have not been a foundation of the college’s curriculum historically.
According to the college’s website, North Central College was founded as “a comprehensive liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church.” Furthermore, “North Central fulfills its mission by recognizing the individual needs of students at different stages of life and from different ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds.”
The college is following suit with institutions across the country, providing a path to faster than average job growth, (increases from 20 to 39 percent). Smaller than North Central, Benedictine University offers biology, chemistry, physics, occupational therapy, and various degrees related to medicine.
Similarly, Elmhurst College offers biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and a renowned nursing program. Wheaton College, closest in size to North Central College, offers biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science.
The Chronicle’s Bob Tomaszewski recently commented on the slow building of the new science center. While the slow building process can be compared to the slow acceptance of STEM majors by the North Central College community, it is nonetheless necessary.
The forthcoming science center is a necessary expense for North Central College. The staggering $60 million cost, can at first, seem gratuitous. However, the building cost is being covered completely by gifts from alumni and donors, already reaching 40 percent of their goal.
The construction of the science center provides a benefit to the entire North Central College community. The benefits, adding value to the college, significantly outweigh the costs, establishing a world-class resource facility for the students, new office space for faculty, and a sign of innovation for the community of Naperville.
Contributing writers: Kevin Driscoll, Marissa Allen, Steve Pulaski, and Kasumi Hirano
