North Park has served five generations of students and continues to grow in diversity, academic relevance, and Christian commitment. Our Chicago location is a great asset that reflects the School’s global reach and outlook.
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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.
North Park Theological Seminary prepares you to answer the call to service through theological study, spiritual development, and the formative experiences of living in a community with others on a similar life path.
The Office of Alumni Engagement fosters lifelong connections by engaging alumni with the university and one another in activities, programs, and services that support the university’s mission and alumni needs.
North Park University President David L. Parkyn addresses the City Club of Chicago on how liberal arts education keeps an engaged citizenry working and living in Illinois.
CHICAGO (January 6, 2017) — On Thursday, January 19, North Park University President David L. Parkyn, along with Dominican University President Donna Carroll, will speak at an event hosted by the City Club of Chicago. The day’s topic is the national challenge of growing tomorrow’s workforce, as well as the state-wide challenge of keeping Illinois’ graduates here post-degree. The panelists will explore how a liberal arts education prepares students with the in-demand skills that keep businesses competitive—and the programs they implemented to help students build ties with the community.
Building an Engaged, Employable Citizenry through Experiential Curriculum
For Parkyn, “connecting college students to the world that surrounds them is key to building an engaged citizenry.” North Park University recognizes a close link between students engaging in hands-on experiential learning opportunities and building a connection to their surroundings. The University has established meaningful learning opportunities outside the classroom that help students become active citizens, who contribute to Illinois’ workforce by landing jobs in the state.
North Park’s experiential learning curriculum—offered through programs including Engage Chicago, the Chicago Intensive, and CRUX—prepares students to work in diverse environments. These hands-on experiences teach students how to be agile in diverse settings—skills transferable to the workforce. Situated in an urban setting, North Park embraces the city of Chicago as part of its curriculum. Students enjoy direct experience working with partner organizations, including nonprofits and civic organizations. “Having the chance to be part of the inner-workings of an organization prepares undergraduates with an understanding of what it means to make a contribution as they enter the workforce,” says Dr. Parkyn.
Value in the Liberal Arts
By way of example, professional services like accounting and tax firms are increasingly changing their business models. Many manual tasks have been eliminated by technology and automation. However, these businesses still need to stay connected with their clients to understand their needs and build trust. The client-service relationship requires strong interpersonal communication abilities. An education in the liberal arts, among other foundational skills acquired, provides a well-developed repertoire of soft skills transferable to in-demand jobs.
Soft skills cultivated from a liberal arts education are used in business settings to understand client needs and respond to them strategically, creatively, and with thoughtful communication. Gregor Thuswaldner, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at North Park, points out, “A history major, for instance, learns to digest disparate information, analyze outcomes, and form an analysis to build a case for consideration; an art major must be original in his or her creativity, thinking about how the audience will receive the art form and how to connect with their audience.”
“A liberal arts education is one that stretches the mind to use creativity and critical thinking to solve complex problems,” says Dr. Parkyn. North Park University designs its liberal arts academic programming so that graduates are well-prepared to make a noticeable contribution to the workforce as engaged citizens with transferable, in-demand skills.
CHICAGO (September 13, 2016) — Selected undergraduate students have concluded research from a mentor-mentee structured, eight-week summer program. Made possible by support from North Park University’s donors, students accepted into the program receive a $3,500 stipend, plus $500 for materials and free on-campus housing, to participate in the North Park Research Experience for Summer Students (NPRESS).
The program started in 2015, and since then, word-of-mouth has made getting a spot in NPRESS increasingly competitive. This year, 13 students were chosen out of 30 applicants. For both the student and the faculty member, the one-on-one mentor-mentee framework, along with a student cohort model, is unique, as this type of relationship is traditionally seen at the graduate and doctorate level.
May 2016 business graduate and NPRESS participant Ana Liz Castillo embraced the mentor-mentee framework. “Throughout the summer, we all faced many challenges, such as how we were going to interpret the data to get the best results, or getting results that were statistically not significant. Having the support of our individual mentors, and the professors from other majors, helped us overcome those walls,” said a pleased Castillo.
North Park faculty members and NPRESS co-directors Dr. Rajkumar Boaz Johnsonand Dr. Aaron Kaestner developed the program to offer undergraduate students a comprehensive and hands-on learning experience, encompassing research, writing, and presenting. “NPRESS gives students the full experience as an undergraduate while also providing students a sense of graduate-level research,” said Johnson.
Inspired by the program, participants like Castillo plan to extend their academic studies into post-undergraduate work. “NPRESS helped me to generate the first findings of a research area that I want to focus on in graduate school,” remarked Castillo. “This past experience with NPRESS instilled research habits that will become extremely useful for me to excel in my graduate studies.”
Commitment to the program is significant, with a minimum of 40 hours of research per week. “Students have regular weekly check-ins with their co-directors and mentors throughout the eight weeks,” said Kaestner. At the end of the eight weeks, students are well-prepared to present to a packed room of faculty, advisors, peers, members of the board of trustees, and donors, held on campus at the Johnson Center for Science and Community Life.
This year’s July 29 and August 31 presentations covered a broad array of research topics from the various divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences and other schools at North Park. NPRESS recipients covered such wide-ranging subjects as Independence Movements in Catalunya and the Emergence of Populism in Espana: A Political Analysis; How Prayer Takes Us Beyond Onto-theology; and Exploring the Relationship Between Inventory Turns on Gross Profit Margin Measures.
NPRESS students agreed that while research is hard work, they welcomed the challenge of combining disparate subject matter. Influenced by North Park’s commitment to using Chicago as our classroom, participant Hannah Hawkinson researched feminist readings of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and of three Gospel narratives, comparing them to the experiences of five immigrant and refugee women in Chicago.
“NPRESS gave me time and space to develop my research skills and academic writing abilities while also supporting engagement with social justice issues here in Chicago,” said Hawkinson, an English literature and biblical and theological studies major. The NPRESS experience “afforded the opportunity to explore these passions in tandem through my research project,” added Hawkinson.
Each of the chosen topics, with a clear set of goals initiated by the students and supported by the mentor-mentee relationship, reflects the North Park mission to prepare students for lives of service and significance. “My mutual passions for feminist theology and social justice were not only allowed, but encouraged, to come together in the pursuit of significance and service,” remarked Hawkinson.
As for the future of NPRESS, Johnson is particularly excited about taking the educational experience to a different and higher level, where research becomes a central component of the North Park experience. “The students are excited about the possibility of doing more,” he said.
The NPRESS Committee also expressed their gratitude to the donors and the board for making the program possible and for providing North Park students with another avenue to connect academic interests with real-life experiences.
Acceptance into NPRESS is based on student merit, outcome, and commitment, and evaluated by North Park’s Undergraduate Research Committee (URC). The application deadline for Summer 2017 will be this spring, and applications are open to faculty and undergraduate students of all disciplines. Inquiries can be made with URC Chair Dr. Jonathan Rienstra-Kiracofe at jrienstra-kiracofe@northpark.edu.
University Partnering with Department of Education to Expand College Opportunity
CHICAGO (June 28, 2016) — North Park University is one of 67 colleges and universities selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Second Chance Pell program, the department has announced.
The pilot program will allow eligible incarcerated students to receive Pell Grants and pursue postsecondary education, enrolling 12,000 prisoners at more than 100 correctional institutions around the country. Qualifying students are likely to be released within five years of enrolling in coursework.
First announced in July 2015, the program had received interest from more than 200 colleges and universities by last October. North Park is one of two institutions in the state of Illinois to be selected as a participating institution.
“The evidence is clear,” said U.S. Education Secretary John B. King Jr. in a statement. “Promoting the education and job training for incarcerated individuals makes communities safer by reducing recidivism and saves taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration.”
A RAND Corporation study found that incarcerated individuals who participated in correctional education were 43 percent less likely to return to prison within three years than prisoners who did not participate in any correctional education programs. RAND also estimated that for every dollar invested in correctional education programs, four to five dollars are saved on three-year reincarceration costs.
The selected institutions “demonstrate strong partnerships between the postsecondary institution and correctional institutions,” the White House Press Office said in a statement. “These partnerships will help to facilitate high-quality educational programs, strong academic and career support services, and re-entry support.”
The announcement comes after North Park became a founding partner of the Fair Chance Higher Education Pledge earlier this month. On June 10, Secretary King hosted representatives of 15 institutions, including North Park University President David L. Parkyn, at the White House to announce the pledge, which seeks to expand college opportunity and eliminate barriers for those with a criminal record.
“The Second Chance Pell program is an excellent mission fit with who we are at North Park,” said Dr. Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, professor of theology and ethics. She spearheaded the University’s application to the program and co-teaches current North Park courses offered in correctional centers. “One of the things I tell our partners is that we’re not just about education; we’re about justeducation. Offering accessibility to groups who traditionally don’t have access to higher education is something North Park is well positioned to do.”
“The population in prison is probably one of the least accessible populations in the country,” Clifton-Soderstrom said. “North Park is Christian, urban, and intercultural. And to be truly intercultural, we need to address some of the barriers to participation in education from all people.”
New partnership makes it easier for more students to connect with North Park
CHICAGO (April 18, 2016) — Students applying to North Park University for Spring 2017 or later will now have the ability to do so through the Common Application, an online system used by nearly 700 colleges and universities in the United States and around the world to manage the college admission process.
According to Genaro Balcazar, vice president of enrollment management and marketing, “For North Park University, becoming a member of the Common Application is about making the college application process a little more manageable for students. North Park and the Common Application share a joint goal of promoting college access by reducing barriers in the college application process.”
The Common Application is a nonprofit member organization that seeks to advance “access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process.” Over 900,000 students use the Common Application online system annually to submit more than four million applications.
“Our partnership will help alleviate some of the complexity of having to complete multiple admission applications, and puts us alongside many of our peers in the industry,” added Balcazar.
“Each of our new members comes to the Common Application with a unique mission and distinctive qualities that attract a broad range of bright and talented students,” said Common Application senior director Scott Anderson. “We are excited to welcome innovative institutions that all share our commitment to advancing college access.”
Interested students can create a Common Application account now. Common Applications for the 2017–2018 academic year will roll over to 2018–2019 and beyond. The answers for any of the questions that appear in the six sections of the “Common App” tab (Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, and Writing) will be preserved. High school counselors can use Common App Ready, a flexible advising tool, to introduce students and families to the college preparation and application processes whenever is best for individual needs.
Students can still choose to submit their application directly through the North Park University website. For more information about how to apply to North Park University, please contact admissions@northpark.edu.
Author Ana SeklerPosted on Categories News, Stories
CHICAGO (September 13, 2016) — Selected undergraduate students have concluded research from a mentor-mentee structured, eight-week summer program. Made possible by support from North Park University’s donors, students accepted into the program receive a $3,500 stipend, plus $500 for materials and free on-campus housing, to participate in the North Park Research Experience for Summer Students (NPRESS).
This year’s July 29 and August 31 presentations covered a broad array of research topics from the various divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences and other schools at North Park. NPRESS recipients covered such wide-ranging subjects as Independence Movements in Catalunya and the Emergence of Populism in Espana: A Political Analysis; How Prayer Takes Us Beyond Onto-theology; and Exploring the Relationship Between Inventory Turns on Gross Profit Margin Measures.
CHICAGO (June 28, 2016) — North Park University is one of 67 colleges and universities selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Second Chance Pell program, the department has announced.
CHICAGO (April 18, 2016) — Students applying to North Park University for Spring 2017 or later will now have the ability to do so through the 