# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2007_S83 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) SYNOD REPORTS 83 * Robert Alan Grimm Hall, a $20 million, three-story, state-of-the- art classroom facility, was completed in the spring of 2007. ¢ Concordia earned three national athletic championships in the past three years. ¢ Coaching & Athletic Administration, International Studies, Fam- ily Life Ministry, and online MA in Education were added to the university’s list of graduate study programs. ¢ A new partnership was established in 2006 with the Ecole Supérieure Libre Des Sciences Commerciales Appliquées (ES- LSCA) in Paris, France. The partnership is an exchange program allowing students to attend the university in Paris for one year. Upon graduation, students earn a BA in International Business from both Concordia and the ESLSCA. * Following the devastation by Hurricane Katrina, 44 faculty, staff, and students contributed 2,112 hours of relief work in Mississippi. More than $10,000 was raised by the campus in 2006 to support the work trips, and more than $43,000 was raised to support the Red Cross and Lutheran World Relief efforts. ¢ In May 2006, Concordia honored 446 graduates—the largest graduating class in its history. ¢ In April 2006, 126 students were recognized for receiving their first calls to begin full-time ministry in The Lutheran Church— Missouri Synod or for moving on to the next stage of preparing for ministry. ¢ The Center for Faith and Business was established in 2006 to train and equip students and businesspeople to integrate their faith and their work. * Concordia University received full reaccreditation in 2006 from its regional accrediting agency and earned national accreditation in athletic training education from the Commission on Accredita- tion of Allied Health Education Programs. The university is one of 15 universities in California with this special accreditation. ¢ Thrivent Financial for Lutherans presented two grants totaling $175,000 to establish new programs on campus. A $100,000 grant is funding His Light, Our Path: The Service Learning Cen- ter. The purpose of the new center is to empower students to plan and manage servant leadership activities. An additional grant of $75,000 was awarded to fund new estate gift planning activities under the project title Laying a Cornerstone for the Great Com- mission, ¢ The President’s Academic Showcase was established in 2004 to highlight and promote competitive undergraduate research projects. Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon, WI—Patrick Ferry, President ¢ 1881-2006, 125 years of providing Lutheran Christian Education in the metro-Milwaukee area and beyond! The campus commu- nity celebrated its 125th anniversary year with a grand gala at the Milwaukee Art Museum attended by over 700 people. The year of celebration had started in August, 2005, with the opening service at historic Trinity Lutheran Church in downtown Milwaukee, site of the school’s humble beginning in the church basement with 13 students. The Rev. Dr. Gerald Kieschnick served as preacher. ¢ Continuing as part of the 125th anniversary celebration, the highly successful Leadership Series, now in its fifth year, held a special presentation in May 2006 that brought together CUW president Dr. Patrick T. Ferry, Milwaukee archbishop Rev. Tim- othy Dolan, and Marquette University president Father Robert A. Wild to discuss the leadership principles embraced by faith-based learning institutions. ¢ For the past 20 years, enrollment has continued its upward spiral, with 5,574 students enrolled at our main and satellite campuses. «A formal dedication held September 2006 attracted throngs of people to the newly built amphitheatre, which was part of the $8 million project to stabilize the Lake Michigan bluff. The entire project is slated to be completed this summer. * Beginning in the fall of 2006, our athletic teams joined a new con- ference—The Northern Athletic Conference. Men’s and women’s hockey will be introduced as the two newest intercollegiate sports in the fall of 2007. ¢ Coburg Hall was razed, and ground was broken at the opening service, August 2006, for a $17 million, state-of-the-art residence hall overlooking Lake Michigan. It will be ready for occupancy in late fall 2008. ¢ The Ministry Technology Mentor (MTM) project is a collabora- tion between CUW and the North and South Wisconsin Districts. Over the past six years the MTM Project has received over $900,000 in grants and has just recently moved from a regional project to a national program. Lutheran teachers, administrators, and other church workers across the nation have the opportunity to take graduate classes in technology and leadership at nearly a 75% savings by combining the MTM Scholarship and the CUW Lutheran Teacher Grant. * George W. Bush served as commencement speaker in May 2004. He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree. ¢ New programs were added: Bachelor’s in Environmental Stud- ies, Master’s in Education/Environmental Education, and the Transitional Occupational Therapy Assistant program. Concordia University, Portland, OR—Charles Schlimpert, President ¢ As part of the For the Sake of the Church campaign by the Con- cordia University System, the university now guarantees any qualified Lutheran student choosing to attend Concordia Univer- sity a minimum of $5000 in financial aid each year and now pro- vides an average of $10,500 in financial aid to each professional church work student. ¢ Record enrollments each year for the past five years culminated in over ],600 students in the fall 2006 semester. The university en- tered a partnership with the Northwest District of the LCMS to design and implement the ‘Center for Lutheran Studies,” aimed at bringing the Christian faith and its Lutheran expression to bear on regional opportunities. * Concordia University launched the first new baccalaureate nurs- ing program in Oregon in over 40 years. ¢ The Northwest Center for Children’s Literature, created by Con- cordia University faculty, serves as a clearing house for all things involving children’s literature in the Northwest, serving teachers, parents, students, authors, and publishers by providing a noncir- culating preview library of all pre-K through young adult books published in the U.S. * The university celebrates the elimination of all historical operat- ing indebtedness, which now allows for expanded services and programs to its students, the church, and the surrounding region. ¢ As part of the university’s commitment to community engage- ment, 25 of the university’s top students (in all programs) were recruited and trained as the “Concordia Teacher Corps” to serve disadvantaged area students at risk of dropping out of schools. ¢ The regents committed themselves and the university to a capital campaign with the goal of constructing a new library/class- room/office facility by 2010. Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, IL—John F. Johnson, President ¢ The inauguration of its 10th President, Dr. John F. Johnson, in November 2004 ¢ Achieving record enrollments in its undergraduate and graduate programs, culminating in a total enrollment of over 3,800 students in the spring 2007 semester « Expanding its graduate degree offerings to more than 60 off-cam- pus sites in the Chicagoland area through a “nontraditional” co- hort program delivery model «The development and adoption of a long-range institutional strategic plan to guide the university in its future growth over the next seven years ¢ The organization of a new college—the College of Graduate and Innovative Programs—which will administer all graduate degree 2007 Convention Workbook