OCC RECEIVES EXCELLENCE AWARD

Grace College’s newest building, the Orthopaedic Capital Center, has received the 2007 Excellence in Masonry Award from the Indiana Concrete Masonry Association.

The award was presented at the Indiana Concrete Masonry Design Awards Program on January 10 in Indianapolis. Tom Dunn, Grace’s chief operations officer, Jeremy Ringger and Terry Emmons from Weigand Construction, and Kevin Scully and Katie Papagiannis from Design Collaborative represented their organizations at the awards program. Weigand Construction and Design Collaborate were the contractors and architects for the OCC project.

The distinctive curved wall on the front of the Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace is one of the building's features highlighted in the 2007 Excellence in Masonry award presented by the Indiana Concrete Masonry Association.

The OCC was selected for the award on the basis of several features. First was the architects’ decision to judiciously use masonry to achieve visual impact when approaching the building from varied viewpoints. Also, masony-clad elements read very well against the metal-clad walls and cornices of the elements between them. In addition, concrete masonry was used as an interior material in a pragmatic and straight-forward manner throughout the building. The use of limestone and white brick, plus the curved, masonry-columned wall of the exterior was also mentioned.

The building was selected for the award by a jury composed of three architects from Cincinnati, Ohio, Eric Inglert, John Rogers, and Keith Hall.

The Orthopaedic Capital Center, completed in May 2007, is a 56,000-square-foot facility located on the Grace campus in Winona Lake. It is the home of Grace College athletics, chapel, and the school’s Business Department. Its main arena can accommodate 2,500 people for large events such as concerts or seminars. There are also classrooms in the OCC, including a video conference room for 100-220 participants. The facility was built in partnership with local orthopaedic companies and provides a major event center for the college and community.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT ACADEMIC RESTRUCTURING

Summary of academic restructuring:

The program changes at Grace are taking place after a long study by an ad hoc committee of administration, faculty, and staff management. The committee's objective was to examine every aspect of our academic structure, including degree programs and departmental alignments, and recommend changes that would enable Grace to achieve the objectives of its strategic plan, to better serve our market of prospective students and the majors and career paths they are choosing, and to increase efficiencies at Grace. None of the program changes have had to do with academic quality or any other issues of integrity or orthodoxy.

The committee’s recommendations were presented to the administration in the fall of 2007, and in consultation with the committee, department heads, and faculty, the administration made the decisions for changes that were announced December 14. As a result of the decisions, several faculty positions will be dropped and other faculty positions added. The changes are effective the fall 2008 semester.

Foreign Languages and Cultures Department

The German and German Education majors have been discontinued due to low enrollment and limited market demand for these majors. Grace will not offer German language programs after this semester. The department currently is developing curriculum changes to maintain the International Languages major. Majors fields of study in the department are French, French Education, International Languages, Spanish, and Spanish Education, with minor fields offered in French and Spanish.

Social Work Major (B.S.W.)

Grace College’s Social Work program gained accreditation from the Council of Social Work Education, which is an extremely significant accomplishment, is difficult to achieve, and is evidence of high quality.

But the Social Work program, like social work programs at many colleges and universities, has attracted relatively few majors. The Grace administration recognizes that academic programs with low enrollment have an adverse financial impact on the Grace ministry. Like all of the decisions we have made regarding program changes, the issue with Social Work has not involved quality, but low enrollment.

The faculty and administration have planned an orderly transition that will serve the needs of current juniors and seniors working toward their BSW degree. A major feature of the program has been that it requires social work majors, all of whom are juniors and seniors, to have been formally admitted to the social work major via an application and interview with faculty. All of these students will be able to complete the program and graduate with an accredited BSW degree. This includes all the required upper-level course work and the field experience. No additional students will be formally admitted to the program.
Therefore, the tentative closure date for the BSW degree program is May 2009, at which time the current juniors who remain fully admitted to the program and complete the academic requirements will graduate.

Social work faculty will assist prospective students and accepted students in exploring other options for them at Grace College. We also will be happy recommend other Christian colleges and universities to prospective students who strongly desire to pursue social work as a major field of study.

Management of Information Systems Major

The Computer Information Science Department will be merged into the Business Department and offer a major in Management of Information Systems in place of the current Information Technology and Management of Information Technology majors. In addition, the Information Processing major will be eliminated.

The new Management of Information Systems degree program, currently being designed, will be a blended degree that focuses on preparing students for Information Systems careers within an organizational setting. Potential careers for graduates will include business application programming, systems analysis, web development, and other positions that integrate technical and business skills.

The Business Department also will add four faculty—Dr. Darrell Johnson in Sport Management, Prof. Rick Koontz in MIS, and two new Ph.D. faculty in accounting/finance and marketing.

Physical Education Department

The Physical Education degree program decision also is market driven.
There are increasingly limited job opportunities for physical education graduates, but there are expanding opportunities in sport management. The administration made the decision to discontinue the Physical Education Department and degree program and expand and enhance the sport management program, with this degree program being placed in the Business Department.

Not only will a Sport Management degree program in the Business Department offer programs that are more desired in the market, but also this gives Grace a better chance to grow and operate more efficiently.

While the curricula are still under development, we are looking at a degree program that can offer preparation for several career tracks, when the Sport Management major is combined with different minor programs or part of a double major. These include sport business management, fitness management (such as YMCA, youth clubs, or personal training), coaching management (coaching at all levels through professional sports), sport ministries (Fellowship of Christian Athletes, missions, youth work, international sports teams), sport medicine, and sport media (print and electronic media reporting and management).

History and Social Studies Department

We are studying the feasibility to add a major in Political Science and we will add one full-time Ph.D. faculty member.

Mathematics and Science Department

This new department will include the present Mathematics Department, Biological Science Department, and Physical Science Department. One major was dropped, the General Science major, due to low enrollment.

School of Ministry Studies

One of the major changes is the creation of the School of Ministry Studies, which will include the current seminary programs and the undergraduate programs now in the Religious Studies Department. This is being done to take advantage of opportunities for significantly improved efficiencies in faculty resources and to better integrate the undergraduate and graduate theology and ministry programs under the seminary’s focus on preparation for practical ministry.

There will be some curriculum changes that are being studied now, as well as tentative developmental work on a new joint bachelor of arts/master of arts and/or master of divinity program that could be highly attractive to undergraduate students planning on entering seminary.

Online Education

Grace Seminary has begun a pilot program this semester with two online seminary courses. Grace will start marketing Grace Online in April, with some seminary programs and a Master of Arts in Education degree program to be offered through the new School of Adult and Community Education later this year. Significant growth in the online program is expected in the near future, with additional classes to be offered each year.
In the future, students will be able to take Grace Online courses as well as on-campus courses to complete degree programs in less time. Additional online and on-campus courses will be developed as part of the community education program.

NCATE EXTENDS TEACHER EDUCATION ACCREDITATION

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) recently notified Grace College that the Teacher Education Department’s accreditation has been extended another full seven-year term. NCATE accreditation is the national standard of excellence for departments of education at U.S. colleges and universities.

The NCATE accreditation team visited Grace last spring to conduct its rigorous examination of the college’s teacher education program. Graduates from NCATE-accredited colleges and universities may transfer their teaching licenses easily among most states.

WESTMINSTER GUEST ROOMS AVAILABLE

The Westminster Guest Rooms are once again accepting reservations.

The guest rooms can be rented by anyone who has an affiliation with Grace College whether a graduate, student, parent of a student, campus visitor, or visiting the campus for business purposes.

There are five rooms available, each having a queen-sized bed, private bath, cable television, internet access, and an iron and ironing board. Each room is decorated differently, but all are furnished in a Mission Oak style.

The room rate is $55.00 per night including all taxes. A continental breakfast is available upon request for an additional $5.00 per person and includes a carafe of coffee or tea, large muffin, juice, and fresh fruit delivered to your room.

Rooms can be reserved by calling Kathy Gill at 574-372-5100, ext. 6501, or by sending an email to gillkf@grace.edu. Cash VISA, Discover, and MasterCard are all accepted.

LEAD DONOR LAUNCHES FGBC SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Thanks to a generous lead donor, Grace College will be able to offer $1,000,000 in four-year FGBC Scholarships beginning fall 2008 to new students from the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (FGBC).

To qualify for one of the 200 FGBC Scholarships in the amount of $5,000 ($1,250 per year), admitted applicants must be from a Grace Brethren Church and meet one of the following academic requirements: 3.1 GPA or top 40 percent of class or combined SAT of 1,000 (math/reading) or ACT composite of 21.

Students will automatically be considered for FGBC Scholarships through the Grace College application for admission and will be notified when accepted. FGBC Scholarships are renewable each year, for four years, provided academic good standing is achieved at the end of each academic year.

CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCES FAITH

Choosing a college or university is one of the defining decisions in the life of a Christian Student. Every college campus community reflects unique characteristics that impact faith, character, moral choices, and the truth and authority of Scripture.

The Grace College community is for the evangelical Christian student for whom faith and spiritual maturity is a priority. This is why Grace is one of the few Christian colleges that requires a faith statement and spiritual life reference as a normal part of the application process.

By affirming both the truth and authority of Scripture and the infinite grace of God, Grace College is dedicated to helping students find a deep and mature Christian faith.

Chuck Edwards, internationally known author and speaker and the Director of Bible Study Curriculum for Summit Ministries, discusses the impact a college campus community can have on the student’s spiritual life in his article, “Why students walk away from Christ, and what can be done about it!”

Click here to read his important commentary.