For more than a hundred years, Du Page County`s four small liberal arts colleges adequately met the educational needs of the sons and daughters of the farmers in this largely rural area.
But by the 1970s, the somnolence of these still semi-rural towns was shattered as a legion of research and manufacturing firms began moving to what is today the high-tech corridor along the East-West Tollway.
But while this influx triggered a commercial and residential building boom in Du Page County`s bedroom communities, the growth experienced by these colleges was less visible.
College administrators met the challenge of serving an entirely new group of students, mostly working professionals able to attend classes only on evenings and weekends, not by embarking on costly building programs but rather by making more efficient use of classrooms that were empty during these times. They began to broaden the scope of their liberal arts curriculum by creating a variety of graduate, undergraduate and non-credit certificate programs in business and computer science for these part-time students.
This strategy was successful, and, as a result, three of the four schools (Elmhurst College founded in 1871 and affiliated with the United Church of Christ; North Central College in Naperville, associated with the United Methodist Church; and Illinois Benedictine, a Catholic college in
unincorporated Du Page County founded in 1886), all doubled their enrollment after these changes were introduced.
Non-denominational Wheaton College, founded in 1860 and which has retained its small liberal arts status, has not experienced the same growth.
”Ten or 15 years ago an engineering graduate could work five or six years before his or her skills needed to be upgraded,” said Bonnie Wood, executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association.
”But today changes in technology are occurring so rapidly that the shelf life of an engineer or other technical person is about a year to a year and a half. Then it`s back-to-school time,” said Wood.
”Fortunately workers in the corporate corridor have a choice of excellent schools right in this area to choose from. These small schools perceived the need for technical courses geared toward working adults and changed their curriculums accordingly,” she said.
”It`s a win-win situation. The enrollments at these schools have held steady or actually increased, and the companies who have located in this area have a skilled work force,”said Wood.
”There`s no doubt that the tremendous growth in the area has had a positive impact on the school,” said John Barorowsky, director of public relations at Illinois Benedictine (formerly known as St. Procopius until it became coed in 1968).
”Although we have added an athletic facility, in 1976, and a student center in 1988, most of the changes are reflected in new programs rather than in new facilities,” he added. ”For example, our microcomputer lab is located in the 100-year-old Benedictine Hall.”
Illinois Benedictine began offering graduate programs in a variety of technical disciplines in 1976. Today they have the largest MBA program in Du Page County, with 1,000 of the school`s 2,600 students enrolled part time.
The school also offers a non-credit certificate program, the Institute for Management, for workers who want to improve their managerial skills without a bachelor`s degree.
”The impact of this high-tech growth has been mutually beneficial to both the town and college,” said Barorowsky. ”The influx of these companies created a need for adult education in the evening, and with all our classrooms empty at night we were able to meet that need without embarking on a major building program.”
Wheaton College, which has found a very successful niche appealing to students interested only in a quality liberal arts education, is the only one of the four schools that has not added technical courses to its curriculum.
And for the school the resistance to high-tech changes has been successful. Students from throughout the U.S. apply to Wheaton, and instead of dealing with a declining enrollment the college finds itself having a surplus of applicants, though enrollment remains at the same level and there are no plans to expand facilities.
Wheaton`s graduate school offers advanced degrees only in the liberal arts. And, while computer science and other technical courses are available to full-time students, there are no evening classes for working adults.
However, students at Wheaton, Elmhurst and Illinois Benedictine all have the opportunity to earn both a liberal arts and engineering degree
simultaneously in a five-year program offered through a unique affiliation with the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In January 1991, IIT`s new Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice campus opened in south Wheaton`s Danada development, a mixed-use tract of commercial and residential development. (Both the campus and Danada were once part of the 1,000-acre horse farm owned by Daniel and Ada Rice.) IIT`s 20-acre tract was donated by the Rice Foundation.
Students attending these three colleges spend the first two years taking basic liberal arts and science courses on their respective campuses. The remaining three years are spent living at their schools while commuting to IIT, centrally located just northeast of Butterfield and Naperville Roads.
Although Elmhurst College offers only undergraduate degrees, the presence of growing numbers of working adults in the area has had a definite impact on the school`s building program and curriculum development.
In 1988 Elmhurst opened its new Computer Science and Technology Center.
”This facility meets the needs of both full-time students and returning scholars interested in completing their degrees, sharpening their skills or simply taking a class for self-enrichment,” said Kristin Whitehurst, director of public relations.
For the returning student, these classes are offered in several flexible time frames. Students who have already earned some college credit but want to complete their degrees enroll in the Elmhurst Management Plan and attend an intensive series of evening classes. And the Weekend Option, which was introduced in 1990, offers the same programs on weekends.
Elmhurst College, like the other three schools, offers the community a fixed number of jobs throughout the year. However, the school made an additional contribution to the city`s economic well-being when it built a new physical education center in 1983.
North Central College, located on an eight-acre tract in Naperville`s oldest residential area has the-some might say dubious-distinction of being located in a National Historic District.
”The designation does place limits on how we can expand but it has also resulted in some wonderful restorations that blend in with the character of the neighborhood,” said Marvin Meinz, director of public relations.
Meinz points to Old Main, the college`s administration building built in 1870, the year the college was established in Naperville, which was restored in the `70s.
”We also have one of only two Carnegie libraries left in the state,” he said. ”The building had been shuttered for 10 years after the new library opened in 1960. But with a $1.5 million matching grant from the Kresge Foundation and other corporate gifts, we were able to renovate this unique 1907 building, which now houses our new center for business and computer science.”
North Central`s only new construction has been the Fort Hill residence hall built just south of the college/historic district, a location that puts its contemporary design out of reach of the Historical Sites Commission.
Five years ago, North Central introduced a graduate program in business administration and computer science. Today more than half of the college`s entire enrollment of 2,600 students are enrolled part time in these graduate courses.
The administrators of North Central chose not to expand their Naperville campus but decided instead to open two satellite campuses outside of Du Page County in 1990. Today these adjuncts, located in industrial buildings in St. Charles and Schaumburg, offer complete undergraduate programs for working adults evenings and weekends.
