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North Park offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs in liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies. Classes average 17 students. 84% of our faculty have terminal degrees. Academics here are rigorous and results-oriented.
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North Park Offers Nonprofit Management Degree Online Beginning Fall 2012
Violet Ricker said she stays in touch with students who studied with her in the SAL undergraduate nonprofit management program.
Undergraduate degree option available through School of Adult Learning
CHICAGO (August 16, 2012) – A popular North Park University bachelor's degree program for professionals who aspire to leadership positions in the nonprofit sector can be completed exclusively online beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year. The University's undergraduate nonprofit management degree will be among other bachelor's degree programs that students can earn online through the School of Adult Learning (SAL).
North Park University is known in the Chicago area for many academic programs, including educational offerings in the nonprofit arena. With this new option, SAL students will be able to earn nonprofit management degrees through a combination of online and in-person classes, or exclusively online. The online option is a plus for students who may not be able to attend classes in-person or who live outside the Chicago area, said Dr. Pamela Ransom, SAL associate professor and chair of the school's nonprofit management and criminal justice majors.
SAL students in nonprofit management gain a foundational understanding of the nonprofit sector, plus specific skills and professional contacts to be successful managers, said Ransom. "What is different about our program is that we have a real-world component, and a real-world focus about not-for-profit management," she said.
SAL nonprofit management students learn how to work with boards of directors, manage volunteers, raise funds, manage finances, organize special events, write grant proposals, and develop advocacy skills for their organizations. Students typically range from young adults to more experienced professionals who want an accelerated program that fits their life schedules.
Students who have earned the degrees have moved into interesting and fulfilling careers. Violet Ricker earned her degree in 2010 through a combination of online and in-person classes, which she took at the University's satellite campus in Grayslake, Ill., and at the Chicago campus. Today, she is executive director of Waukegan Main Street, a nonprofit organization that works for community and economic development in downtown Waukegan, Ill., her hometown. It's part of the Main Street Network that works to revitalize communities across the United States.
Ricker entered the North Park University program from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., where she had been studying political science. While there, she did nonprofit community work, and found that was her calling. Ricker learned of North Park's nonprofit management program through an online search, and returned home to study in the University's program.
The degree program brought together many disciplines, Ricker said. "I understand the connectedness of volunteer development, fundraising, communication, and community outreach," she said. "To have that in a program versus learning on the job is very valuable. The best part for me was collective expertise from my fellow students in the program." Ricker still remains in touch with others who studied with her, trading advice and sharing business ideas.
Lindsay LeVally earned a degree in nonprofit management in 2009 through the SAL, attending classes in-person and taking at least one course online. She is currently in the process of moving to Springfield, Ill., where she will manage a new branch office for Grimco, Inc., a national wholesale sign supply company. LeVally heard about North Park University from a colleague when she was an AmeriCorps volunteer. After AmeriCorps, LeVally worked in different roles, before landing at Grimco, where she got into sales by writing marketing plans for her nonprofit classes.
"I was able to get this job with the degree, and I've been here a year and a half," LeVally said. "I'm now being given a chance to manage a branch in Springfield. I wouldn't even be working for Grimco without this degree. Every paper I did was on my company when I was at North Park."
LeVally began work on a master's degree in management at the University in 2010, part of a "continuum" of education available to University students who want to go further. "Students can get a bachelor's degree in nonprofit management, and then move to the master's program in nonprofit management," Ransom said, "plus, we have the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management for continuing education."
University Scientist Chairs National Meeting on Computer Programming Language
Professor Johnny Lin
Johnny Lin leads 'Python' symposium at New Orleans meteorological meeting
CHICAGO (January 18, 2012) – A North Park University physicist is chairing a national meeting this month devoted to Python, a fast, powerful and versatile computer programming language growing in popularity among people working in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. The symposium and two short courses in uses of Python are part of the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), Jan. 22-26, in New Orleans.
Dr. Johnny Lin, professor of physics, will teach an introductory short course on Python, and chair the New Orleans symposium, at which scientists from around the country will present papers highlighting the programming language's use in modeling and analysis. Last year, the AMS annual meeting was the site of the first Python symposium which Lin also chaired. Lin, who uses Python in his own teaching and research work at North Park University, helped write the proposal to AMS to create the symposium. At that time, there were virtually no scientific meetings in the atmospheric sciences to discuss Python. Colleagues formerly at the University of Chicago, where Lin did postdoctoral studies, and Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratories, worked with Lin to organize the symposium.
The AMS symposium is a place where users can call attention to Python "as a real platform for doing scientific work in the atmospheric sciences," Lin explained. Speakers will share Python techniques and ideas, help build a support community for users, and help grow the language as an atmospheric sciences programming platform, he said.
North Park University also teaches the Python programming language in beginning computer science classes, in part because it's easier for students to learn and apply to other programming languages.
Alan Iliff, North Park University professor of computer science, said he first began teaching the programming language five years ago after a University computer science alumnus suggested he look into it. Students learn how to write computing programs faster using Python, he said. "It's very easy to write programs with Python. What makes it a good teaching language is what makes it popular for programming," he said.
"A real solid approach in teaching computer science is to teach the things that won't change – in Python we teach things that are quite similar in other programming languages. After I use Python first, then I use Java (or another programming language) in the next semester," Iliff added.
Python is also part of the "open source" movement, which allows users access to information about the product's design so they can contribute ideas to its improvement, Iliff said.
Programmers have used Python for nearly 25 years, Lin explained, and the recent development of scientific computing packages in the language has helped increase its use among atmospheric scientists. This has given atmospheric scientists the ability to do their scientific work and couple it with a variety of other computer-based tools and interactive applications, making the science more useful. Python is the "critical glue" that makes it all happen, Lin said. "It's more versatile than anything that atmospheric scientists have used traditionally."
At the New Orleans symposium, a notable expert in the field will speak, Lin said. Already, planning has begun for the 2013 Python symposium at the AMS meeting in Austin, Texas.
North Park University Welcomes Students, Faculty, Staff for 2012–2013 Academic Year
Dr. David Parkyn, president of North Park University, Chicago.
President addresses enrollment, recruiting realities
CHICAGO (August 23, 2012) — North Park University will open its 121st year when classes begin August 27. The University is welcoming more than 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students this year. More than 550 students are entering college for the first time or are transfer students, representing more than 30 states, and at least seven countries outside the United States.
First-year commuter and residential students, as well as transfer students, began arriving August 22, and are participating in Threshold, an orientation program for new students, through August 26. Returning students will arrive as early as August 25. Some athletes and international students arrived earlier this month.
Faculty and staff met at the Chicago campus August 21 for the University's annual Gathering Day activities at Anderson Chapel. Dr. David Parkyn, president of North Park University, presented his annual State of the University address, discussing several topics of interest.
Looking ahead, Parkyn cited the October 26 groundbreaking for the Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life as a indicator of a great year, and a "transformational" project for student learning at the University. The building project is the significant component of Campaign North Park, a comprehensive $57 million fundraising campaign for the Johnson Center, the University's Annual Fund, student scholarships, and Chicago-based academic programs and faculty development.
Parkyn also noted complexities in academic enrollment, reporting that undergraduate retention is up, recruitment results are mixed in adult, graduate, and North Park Theological Seminary programs, and new undergraduate enrollment is below the target set for this academic year. The University will begin the school year with 110 fewer new undergraduate students than one year ago, and 35 fewer new students than its recent five-year average. Faculty and staff will be invited to fall community gatherings to discuss enrollment data, recruiting of students, and to share ideas to effectively address the challenge of student recruitment in the years ahead, Parkyn said.
Parkyn told the faculty and staff that challenges in both undergraduate and graduate enrollments are signs of a rapidly changing marketplace and learning environment. The University "must update the way we recruit students, tell our story, what we offer to students, and how we approach teaching and learning," he said.
"We must discover how we need to change, and we must embrace this necessary change deeply and quickly," Parkyn said. "Our responsibility is to imagine new ways of being North Park, and to engineer these into a renewed North Park."
As evidence of the need for change, the University president cited rapidly expanding use of mobile devices for communication, access to information, and for learning. He also cited recent studies that suggest young adults raised in evangelical churches have "a deep love for Jesus and a growing ambivalence about the church." Both are concerns, Parkyn said, "because at North Park we love Jesus and the church, and because we are a church-related university."
North Park University is "an exceptional institution" for educating students into faith and preparing them for church vocations, he said. "Our responsibility is clear: to make sure that after their formative years with us, today's young adults love Jesus more deeply than they ever have, and to assure that the future of the church, now in their hands, is in good hands. This is no small responsibility, but we're among the very few who can address it because of the critical, timely, and formative role we have in the lives of young adult Christians," Parkyn said.
The University values the expertise and experience of its employees, the president said. "In every challenge before us we must not forget the talent in this room, the intelligence our community will bring to these challenges, and the creativity we will draw on to address these opportunities together," Parkyn said. Quoting business writer and author Jim Collins, Parkyn added that he has "a deep and abiding confidence that we will reach the tops of our mountains because we will climb together."
Gathering Day activities also included worship, a performance of hymns led by the Children's Choir of Oakdale Covenant Church, Chicago, and introductions of new faculty and staff. New undergraduate students and their parents were welcomed to the University August 22, at an opening convocation. New Seminary students were welcomed at a breakfast August 23, with additional orientation activities to follow.
North Park University offers 37 majors and a variety of minors, pre-professional programs, and certificates. Graduate students can earn master's degrees in education, music, nursing, business, nonprofit management, theology, and ministry. Working professionals and adult students can earn bachelor's degrees in eight majors through courses offered in evening and weekend classes in Chicago, Arlington Heights, Grayslake and Waukegan, all in Illinois, plus online formats. The University is comprised of a college of arts and sciences, five professional schools, and a theological seminary. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Covenant Church.
North Park University Campus Buildings Renovated, Updated this Summer
Renovations in Anderson Hall were extensive, including a newly refurbished lobby.
Meanwhile, site prep continues for the Johnson Center
CHICAGO (August 20, 2012) — As site preparation proceeds for the highly anticipated Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life, several notable improvements were also made to existing campus facilities this summer, said Carl Balsam, North Park University executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Residents moving into the Anderson Hall this month will see significant changes, including code-mandated infrastructure improvements — such as a retrofit of fire sprinkler systems and the upgrade of an obsolete elevator — combined with substantial improvements to the living spaces of the building, Balsam said. "The entry lobby was completely redesigned and furnished. The rooms were freshly carpeted and repainted. Perhaps most notable was the installation of new furnishings in all of the rooms, including modular furniture that can be stacked in a variety of combinations," he said.
New wood doors with Salto locking devices were added throughout Anderson Hall, allowing residents' access to their rooms via the proximity chip in their ID cards. Also added was a new mechanical room which houses the fire sprinkler pump and associated gear, as well as hot water heaters that were added after flooding in 2008, Balsam said.
Outside Anderson Hall, a small parking lot for institutional vehicles was added, since coordination for institutional vehicles was transferred to Magnuson Campus Center and will be under the direction of Dan Gooris, director of campus security and auxiliary services. Gooris and his team will administer driving tests for those wishing to drive institutional vehicles.
Other improvements include continuing refurbishment of various campus offices, including the IT offices in Caroline Hall. Code-mandated fire sprinklers were installed in the Carlson Tower and some Seminary apartments were renovated.
Site preparation for the Johnson Center began shortly after the conclusion of the 2011–2012 academic year. Large trees were relocated from the north berm area of the proposed construction site to other locations on campus, clearing the way for the building site. The University worked with electric supplier ComEd to relocate a significant electrical conduit before the removal of some campus apartments began on the north side of the Greenspace.
A formal groundbreaking ceremony for the 101,000-square-foot Johnson Center is planned for October 26, with construction expected to be completed in time for the 2014 fall semester.
University School of Business and Nonprofit Management Earns Reaccreditation
The IACBE reaccredited both undergradute and gradute degree offerings in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management.
IACBE reaffirms SBNM accreditation
CHICAGO (January 5, 2011) — The Board of Commissioners of the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE) announced that it has reaffirmed for seven years its accreditation of degree programs in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management (SBNM) at North Park University.
Dr. Wesley E. Lindahl, Nils Axelson Professor of Nonprofit Management and SBNM dean, said he is "thrilled" the school was reaccredited. "We value the recognition that this accreditation provides for our management and business programs. The constant improvement model of assessment and planning provides a way for SBNM to stay current and up-to-date in our programming," he said.
"The reaccreditation by the IACBE is an affirmation of the commitment to quality education by SBNM," said Dr. Joseph Jones, University provost. "We have an exceptional group of faculty who serve our students in so many ways. I am proud they have obtained this standard of excellence."
The IACBE, based in Olathe, Kan., is a professional accrediting organization for business programs in student-centered colleges and universities throughout the world. The organization focuses its accrediting process on outcomes. The University's School of Business and Nonprofit Management was first accredited by IACBE in 2005. Faculty and staff began preparing for reaccreditation in August 2010. They gathered information, updated the school's outcomes assessment plan, documented assessments results and completed a self-study, the results of which were submitted to IACBE in December 2010.
In March, two representatives from other IACBE schools visited North Park University to conduct an assessment and review of the University program. They met with undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, University officials, and members of the school's advisory board. The School of Business and Nonprofit Management responded to a request for more information during the summer months, and last month, the school was informed that IACBE's board had granted reaccreditation.
The IACBE accredited business programs in these degrees offered by SBNM:
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Master of Higher Education Administration (MHEA)
Master of Human Resource Management (MHRM)
Master of Management (MM)
Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA)
Bachelor of Arts in Advertising
Bachelor of Arts in Business and Economics
Bachelor of Science in Advertising
Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics with concentrations in accounting, economics, finance, international business, management, marketing, and nonprofit management
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