IWU Buys Building in Dayton, Ohio
By Alan Miller
3/29/05

Indiana Wesleyan University, the fastest-growing college in Indiana and an innovator in adult education, has bought a building south of downtown Dayton that will become the University's Dayton Education and Conference Center.

The 42,000-square-foot building, situated on 2.5 acres of land, is located in the Dryden/75 Office Center at the Dryden Road interchange on I-75.

IWU will use the top floor of the three-story building for classroom and office space and will lease office space on the first two floors to six existing tenants. IWU plans to occupy the third floor this fall after improvements are made.

In the meantime, IWU will open a temporary office on the second floor of the building.

IWU plans to begin offering its first classes in the Dayton area in April. The classes will meet in rented facilities at the Residence Inn, near the Dayton Mall.

The first programs to be offered in Dayton will be a Master of Education degree and a Bachelor of Science completion degree for registered nurses. Classes leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in management will be offered starting in May.

For information on classes, call toll-free 866-498-4968.

The Dayton Education and Conference Center is IWU's third regional campus in Ohio. The Ohio Board of Regents approved IWU's proposal to begin offering classes in Ohio in 2002.

IWU's first Ohio campus opened in Cleveland in January 2003. The second regional campus opened in October 2004 in Cincinnati.

IWU's regional campuses offer graduate and undergraduate degrees in business, accounting, marketing, computer information systems, management, education and nursing. IWU awards more Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Education degrees than any college in Indiana.

IWU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. In addition:

• The nursing program is accredited by the Commission for Collegiate Nursing Education.
• The education program is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

IWU's five-year goal is to have 500 adults enrolled in classes on the Dayton campus. Part-time faculty members, most of them drawn from the ranks of working professionals in the Dayton area, will be recruited to teach many of the classes.

Almost 25,000 adult learners have earned degrees since IWU's College of Adult and Professional Studies began offering classes in 1985. About 8,500 students currently are enrolled in classes at sites throughout Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio and via online programs.

Enrollment in IWU's traditional programs on the main campus in Marion, Ind., has more than doubled in the past 15 years, from 1,136 students in 1990 to 2,653 students in the fall of 2004.

In addition to the three regional campuses in Ohio, IWU also has six regional campuses in Indiana - two in Indianapolis and one each in Fort Wayne, Kokomo, Columbus and Shelbyville. IWU opened its first out-of-state campus in 2001 in Louisville, Ky.

Alan Miller is the University Relations Director at Indiana Wesleyan University.