IWU Trustees Pleased with Drawings of New Chapel/Auditorium

Architectural renderings of Indiana Wesleyan University's proposed chapel/auditorium were presented to the IWU Board of Trustees at its fall meeting on October 5. The new facility will be built to the south of the new Student Center between 43rd Street and University Boulevard (formerly 44th Street).

The $22 million chapel/auditorium will seat about 3,800 people and is to be completed in January 2010. The building will host chapel services, which are held three times a week for students, and will serve as a large gathering space for campus and community use.

Design Collaborative, a Fort Wayne architectural and engineering firm, designed the chapel/auditorium. The company specializes in facilities for colleges and universities and has designed several buildings on IWU's Marion campus.

Dr. Henry Smith, IWU President, also announced at the meeting that two key IWU administrators had asked to be reassigned to their previous responsibilities:

• Jerry Shepherd, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Marketing, will return to Adult and Graduate Studies where he will oversee the recruitment of online students. Kris Douglas, a former IWU employee who now is a regional vice president for the Institute of Professional Development, will succeed Mr. Shepherd. The changes are effective January 1, 2008.
• Dr. Steve Lennox, Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Religion, will return to teaching full-time. A nationwide search will begin for a new Dean of the Chapel.

In other business at the October meeting, trustees approved:

• A Zambia semester abroad, to start with the Fall 2008 semester.
• A Master of Divinity degree, with various concentrations.
• A 24-credit-hour minor in Latin American and Iberian Studies.

An Education Specialist degree in Educational Leadership. The Ed.S is a step beyond a Master of Education degree and leads to a school superintendency.

President Smith announced that a $3.6 million renovation of Noggle Christian Ministries Center will begin in December and is to be completed in time for the Fall 2008 semester. During the remodeling, the Division of Religion will temporarily relocate to the former College Wesleyan Church building.