DePaul hosts leaders from Catholic universities to discuss enrollment and mission

DePaul’s Center for Access and Attainment recently hosted Catholic higher education institutions from across the nation for a first-ever symposium titled “Balancing Market and Mission: Enrollment Management Strategies in Catholic Higher Education.”

The symposium brought together enrollment and mission leaders to discuss the balance between mission aspirations and market realities as they shape enrollment strategies and outcomes. Also explored were commitments to diversity in enrollment strategy as a manifestation of mission as well as Catholic values and identity as revealed in institutional marketing.

The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president, welcomed guests during an opening dinner. The symposium featured presentations by David Kalsbeek, senior vice president for Enrollment Management and Marketing (EM&M), and Jon Boeckenstedt, associate vice president for Enrollment Planning and Policy. Keynoter Arnold Mitchem, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, talked about the role of Catholic colleges in the national debate on college access.

The event was made possible with financial support from the Vincentian Endowment Fund and EM&M. An article about the symposium was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education and was one of the most read articles on Chronicle.com on the days following the event. The full text of the article can be accessed at:  http://chronicle.com/article/Catholic-Colleges-Work-to/48699/.

Graduation ceremony held in Bahrain

Fifty-nine DePaul graduates, who completed a master's degree from the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), were honored in a ceremony held Oct. 21 in Manama.

J.D. Bindenagel, vice president for Community, Government and International Affairs (above right), was the featured commencement speaker and handed out diplomas. He was joined by Ali Fatemi, chair of the Department of Finance; Chris Roberts, director of the School for Hospitality Leadership; and Michael Jedel, associate dean for International Programs and Distance Learning.

The event was held under the patronage of Prime Minister His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Abdulla Saif, economic affairs adviser; Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, court minister; BIBF board members; and U.S. Embassy officials also attended.

President’s Book Club welcomes leading expert on Cuba

The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., president, hosted the fall quarter gathering of the President's Book Club that discussed the book: "Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know." Joining the lively discussion on Oct. 27 in the Richardson Library was the author, Julia E. Sweig. She is the Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies and Director for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Faculty, staff show heart during annual walk

About 120 faculty and staff participated in this year’s Metro Chicago Start! Heart Walk on Sept. 25 in Grant Park.

Participants helped raise more than $11,000, which will help organizations with research on preventive care and treatment of heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.

The top three team captains, who collectively raised more than $5,000, were Maureen McGonagle, Campus Recreation; Bonnie Tunick, College of Law; and Janine Komornick, School for New Learning.

DePaul helps sister institution during time of need

DePaul’s sister institution, Adamson University, recently was hit by a tropical storm that brought the worst flooding to the Philippines in four decades, killing hundreds of people and displacing thousands.  The storm struck in Manila, and dumped more than a month's worth of rain in 12 hours.

DePaul has offered to help by making a sizeable donation as a gift from one sister school to another. The Office of Student Affairs also is in the process of creating a fund to assist Adamson as it repairs its own facility and provides relief aid to the surrounding community.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, please make a check out to DePaul University with “Adamson calamity fund” noted on it. You may forward your contribution to Lou O'Brien in Student Affairs. If you prefer, Adamson University has set up an account with the Ayala Foundation USA. Checks can be sent directly to the foundation at the following address. All checks should have "Adamson University" clearly noted on them. 

Ayala Foundation USA

255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 428

Redwood City, CA 94065

CIM sponsors this year’s international film festival

DePaul celebrates gold LEED certification

DePaul brought home the gold when it built the Msgr. Andrew J. McGowan Environmental Science and Chemistry building, and its medal ceremony was held late last month near the facility’s greenhouse and rooftop garden.

George Tuhowski, U.S. Green Building Council Chicago Chapter board vice chairman, congratulated the university and presented a beautifully engraved glass medallion to DePaul recognizing its gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The plaque was installed in the building’s Belden Avenue foyer immediately following the event.

Provost Helmut Epp noted that McGowan South is the only university science facility in Illinois to have earned gold, while James Montgomery, director of the Environmental Science program (above right), praised DePaul’s efforts to earn the gold.

Caitlin Schulze, a senior majoring in Environmental Science (pictured above left with Bob Janis, vice president of Facility Operations), expressed her pleasure with the new facility by contrasting the previous method of identifying new space for projects that used chicken wire and butcher paper to the clean, large work area students and professors have now.

Project collecting donations for the homeless

Chartwells Dining Services has been spearheading the DePaul Cares Community Outreach Project to assist St. Vincent de Paul Church in its work to feed the homeless. Faculty and staff can participate by contributing to its food and clothing drives.

Each day, St. Vincent’s provides a basic meal for many homeless in the area. Chartwells has been donating food as well as time to help. “Chartwells makes food donations to the church’s weekly Seton Sandwich Kitchen Program, and each month, its professional staff prepare and serve a high-quality meal to the homeless,” says Stephanie Moye, director of operations.

Moye encourages faculty and staff to participate in the food and clothing drive. Non-perishable food and clothing may be donated at the Country Market, located on the second floor of the Student Center, throughout the month of October. Additional donation dates are planned for the future.

For more information, contact Ken Holbrook, director of dining, at kholbroo@depau.edu.

Retreat helps SOE in future planning

Nearly 100 faculty, staff and stakeholders of DePaul’s School of Education (SOE) gathered for a two-day planning retreat Sept. 10-11 in Lincoln Park. The event, “Advancing Our Mission: Steps to Transform the Lives of Individuals, Schools, and Communities,” gave SOE partners the opportunity to weigh in with their ideas to influence the school’s vision and help guide the direction it will take over the next three years.

In addition, staff from other areas of the university that support the work of SOE, as well as a diverse crowd of community stakeholders including SOE alumni and key representatives from the Golden Apple Foundation, the Rainbow Push Coalition and Chicago Public Schools, attended.

In his closing remarks, SOE Dean Paul Zionts thanked everyone for their participation. “I cannot tell you how excited I am to be here to help you undertake the work that we’ve charted” through the planning sessions, he said. “There were so many fabulous ideas that came out of this.”

Commemorative bricks laid on Lincoln Park Campus

More than 50 faculty and staff have left their mark at DePaul with a personalized brick that is part of a new field of bricks near the entrance of the Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Science Building. The bricks were purchased by faculty, staff, alumni and friends as part of the “Paving the Way for Excellence in Science” drive. Proceeds from the brick sales counted toward fulfilling a $1 million challenge grant that the Kresge Foundation awarded the university’s “Campaign for Excellence in Science” that raised $20 million. 

The field consists of 428 bricks, which, depending on their size, cost $200, $500 or $1,000 each. The bricks commemorate loved ones, celebrate a graduation or honor a professor, classmate, friend or colleague. “We were delighted with the success of the recent buy-a-brick drive,” says Bridget Dillon, assistant director, Stewardship and Donor Relations. “The participation of many faculty and staff members demonstrates the devotion of DePaul employees.”

Free CPR/AED classes available

This spring, the Department of Campus Recreation began offering free Adult CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) classes for current DePaul students, faculty and staff.  Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis, and classes will be available at various locations and on various days/times throughout the year. 

Information about fall classes is available on the Campus Recreation Web site at http://campusrec.depaul.edu/pgmserv/cpr.htm.

Fee waiver encourages applicants

Do you know a student interested in applying to DePaul? Help encourage him or her to apply by requesting that the application fee be waived.

The Office of Undergraduate Admission offers DePaul faculty and staff the opportunity to request the undergraduate application fee be waived for one prospective student applying for admission.

Each faculty and staff member is eligible to submit one fee waiver request per academic year, and requests can include family members.         

A fee waiver request can be submitted online at http://www.depaul.edu/facultystaffwaiver. 

If you have questions, contact Michael Rice at Ext. 2-8898 or mrice7@depaul.edu.

Space reservations now available for Loop Campus

Reserving space on the Loop Campus through Conference Services just got easier now that it can be done directly through the Event Management System (EMS) Web site. 

Similar to reserving space in the Lincoln Park Student Center or Cortelyou Commons, you now can go to the EMS Event Web site and reserve space online for the 8th and 11th floors of DePaul Center and rooms 1403 and 1411 of Lewis Center.

Visit http://studentcenter.depaul.edu/VirtualEMSenterprise for more information.

DPU Alerts can save your life

Did you change cellular or home phone numbers since last spring? Has your e-mail address changed? If so, you need to update your contact information so DePaul can reach you in an emergency.

DePaul’s emergency notification system is called DPU Alert, which will contact everyone who registers with a combination of text messages, e-mails and phone calls in the event of a life-threatening situation on campus.

“Updating is easy and takes less than five minutes,” says Ed Gregory, director of Business Continuity Planning. 

To share or revise contact information, visit the Demographic Portfolio tab under Campus Connection and click on DPU Alert. Enter or verify that your e-mail address is correct.

The phone number can be a cell or land line. A text SMS message option is available if you subscribe to that service with your cell provider. Be sure to enter your complete 10-digit number in the phone number fields. Do not enter “same as above” because the system needs an actual number in each field to reach you by phone.

Consider adding an entry for DPU Alert in your cell phone directory. DPU Alert calls originate from (312) 362-7660.

The university is planning a system-wide test at noon Oct. 6 to introduce all new students, faculty and staff to it and remind everyone else to update their information, says Gregory.

Master plan moves ahead

DePaul’s proposed master plan for the Lincoln Park Campus has been submitted to the Chicago City Council. The next step is a review and public hearing on the plan by the city’s Plan Commission and then a review and public hearing by the City Council Committee on Zoning.

If the plan, called an institutional planned development, is approved by those two bodies, it goes back to the full City Council for a final vote. “We are hopeful that we will have final City Council approval by the end of the year,” says Fran Casey, DePaul’s director of Community Affairs.

Three community organizations in Lincoln Park as well as the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce have expressed their support for the 10-year plan, Casey says. The primary focus of the plan is designed to develop and enhance Music and Theatre programs and facilities, as well as provide a new academic building and a new art museum. For more information on the master plan, visit http://president.depaul.edu/MasterPlan/index.html.