# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_1969_S274 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 274 HIGHER EDUCATION 6. The Center for Continuing Education In response to the encouragement given by the Synod, the college has been actively engaged in the vari- ous programs for the continuing education of its pro- fessional workers. Institutes and workshops have been held in generous numbers during the past 2 years and have been attended by many pastors and teachers in the Chicago area, as well as from more distant places. Some of the institutes held include the following: Conferences for Principals of Large Schools, Lectures in Church Music, Art Workshop on Liturgical Banners, the New Grammar Institute, Early Childhood Education, Science Fair for Elementary Schools, and Science Teachers Institute. New extension programs include an in-service edu- cation program for teachers of the Southern District conducted at Alabama Lutheran Academy and College under the sponsorship of the Board of Parish Education of the Southern District; an extension center at Northern Illinois University offering students the opportunity of earning up to nine semester hours’ credit in theology which may be applied toward satisfying degree re- quirements; and an extension center at Concordia Senior College in Fort Wayne, where a summer pro- gram will include courses offered by Concordia Teach- ers College in the areas of education, psychology, and mathematics. 7. Step One: Music for Youth This program was offered for the first time in the summer of 1968. It provided an opportunity for 36 high school students who had completed their junior year to come to our campus for a college-credit study program in music. The program included courses in theory, literature, and performance. One of the chief purposes of the project is to interest young students with musical talent in pursuing a career of full-time service in the church as musician, parish teacher, or director of Christian education. The program is to be continued at least through 1972. 8. Children’s Theatre An impotrant addition to the college’s drama pro- gram and to the college’s service to its geographic areas has been the expansion of the Children’s Theatre. Dur- ing the past 2 years the total number of on-campus per- formances has increased to 24 per year, and the atten- dance reached 9,900 this year. In addition to the on- campus program, the Children’s Theatre toured to Mil- waukee and Detroit for a total of 12 performances. The college students participating in this program become acquainted with the Children’s Theatre repertoire and meet unique challenges and opportunities presented by the learning of basic staging skills and by the contact with juvenile audiences. They also learn to see actual situations under which drama must be offered in the typical parish situation. E. Plant and Property During the past biennium only a minimum of minor capital improvements were undertaken at the River Forest campus. While these projects do reflect minor improvement in physical facilities, the college feels con- strained to advise the Synod that the continued diminu- tion of synodical funds for preventive physical plant maintenance is causing an alarming rise in the number and complexity of problems. Unless preventive main- tenance is assured through regular appropriations, a backlog of major renovating projects is bound to de- velop. The college is grateful that extensive planning efforts carried on during the past biennium and longer are now cu minating in another major building program on the River Forest campus. A residence hall, financed by a loan under the college housing program of the Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development, will be under construction by mid-1969. With funds allocated from the Ebenezer Thankoffering, the present library will be remodeled and enlarged to about twice its present size. A chapel-auditorium, planned to offer a greater flexibility to both worship and drama activity, will be constructed with funds available as the gift of the Northern Illinois District at the time of the college’s centennial. A new community building to be con- structed will include the food-service facility, book- store, post office, student recreation areas, and office and work space for Student Association activities. The addition of these buildings will bring about a major reorientation of the campus. The major public entrance to the campus will be changed from Augusta St. to Division St. Other general campus improvements will be undertaken as funds may become available. The college continues its management and use of the existing facilities at North Riverside. This utiliza- tion has been intensive, and the college looks for- ward not only to the continued use of the facilities at North Riverside and improvements to them as required but also to the eventual development of this site as a full second campus serving the college and the Synod. The Board of Control has submitted to the Board for Higher Education its building requests for the next three biennia. These requests are reflected in the report of the Board for Higher Education to the Synod. F. Plans for the Future The future of the college lies in continuing to pro- vide for the Synod the services that are needed as part of God’s mission to the world. The River Forest campus is approaching full optimal utilization. With the eventual remodeling of spaces that may be vacated by the trans- fer of some functions to new buildings now under way and the addition of some residence hall space, the master plan providing for the enrollment of 1,800 students on the River Forest site will be fulfilled. The college is grateful that it is being permitted to continue to develop and coordinate the use of the North Riverside Center and to include this site in its long- range planning.