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Campus News
RESEARCH LEADS TO TOYOTA PATENT
“People have been studying this for years,” said Rich DeJong, professor emeritus of engineering at Calvin University. “And we’ve figured it out.”
The “it” is how to reduce the wind noise in an automobile when traveling at highway speeds. The “we” is a team of faculty and student researchers. Together, their discovery led to a patent for Toyota Motors Co.
“It’s very unusual for undergraduates to be involved in this research in the first place,” said DeJong, “let alone be part of a patent.”
DeJong’s experience in the automotive and aerospace industry has served students well over the years. Through his connections, Calvin University gained access to a unique piece of equipment used in this research: a wind tunnel, which DeJong says is one of only about a dozen of its kind in the country.
Beyond the cutting-edge equipment, it’s the industry connections that are bringing projects like this to Calvin’s campus. One of DeJong’s former students in the 1990s, Todd Remtema, now works in Toyota’s research center in Ann Arbor. He’s been sending research projects Calvin’s way for years, and when he needed someone to find a solution for this specific problem, he asked Calvin to take a shot.
DISCOVER MORE
To read more about the patent and research, visit calvin.edu/go/toyota. University president Michael Le Roy is joined by university leaders and supporters for the ceremonial breaking of ground.
BREAKING GROUND ON BUSINESS SCHOOL
On March 2, Calvin University held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new School of Business building. The ceremony was livestreamed at the future site of the new building, just south of the DeVos Communication Center.
The establishment of the new school was announced in spring 2020 following a $22.25 million gift, the largest single gift in the institution’s history.
The cost of the building project is about $10.25 million, which includes the construction of the 15,000-square-foot building that will house new offices, modern classrooms, contemporary breakout spaces, and large gathering areas. Funding to improve shared spaces in the existing DeVos Communication Center, which will connect to the School of Business, are also included in the construction cost.
The remaining funding from the $22.25 million gift will provide significant endowment funds that will be used to support the new dean of the School of Business and business faculty. The purpose of the endowment is to serve as a catalyst for a number of new academic programs intended to serve new populations of students at Calvin.
GDK Construction is managing the project, which will commence in spring 2021 and is scheduled to be completed by mid-summer 2022.
SEE THE VIDEO
Watch an inspiring two-minute video of the groundbreaking at
calvin.edu/go/groundbreaking
The lower level of the Spoelhof University Center has undergone a renovation.
A NEW HUB OF CREATIVITY
A space in the lower level of the Spoelhof University Center has been transformed from a tucked away space to an imaginative center for art and creativity.
The Edgar G. Boevé Design Hub and the Ervina Boevé Costume Shop celebrate the enduring influence of two of Calvin University’s founding artists. With a combined 60 years as professors in art and theater respectively, the Boevés taught their students to value the power of story, aesthetics, and technique.
And that’s exactly what students will learn through experiences in this new design hub, said Brent Williams, director of exhibitions. The 6,000-square-foot space includes a common area, an open classroom, two conference rooms, four studio suites, a copy room, and costume shop. The space will serve as a home base for graphic design students, and engineering courses will also be taught in the classroom.
Designed to look like a professional setting with polished concrete floors and the latest technology, it’s been a welcome change.
“Student feedback has been really positive,” said Williams, who taught the first class in the space in January 2021. Because the space includes corkboards, whiteboards, and flexible seating, the space itself evolved as students got further into their projects. “It feels like a living space, and that gives students a lot of energy.”
A NEW PATHWAY FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
A $1.2 million Transition and Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities grant from the U.S. Department of Education puts Calvin on a path to be the first university in Michigan to offer a comprehensive transition and postsecondary program.
Up to this point, the university’s partnership with the Ready for Life Academy (RFLA) allowed students with disabilities to take classes on campus and participate in organized campus life activities, but they were not officially enrolled as Calvin students and were not living on campus. Now, this grant enables RFLA students to be enfolded more into the campus community, which organizers hope will lead to a greater sense of belonging.
Besides the mutual community benefit, the students will also now be able to earn a certificate not only from the RFLA, but also from Calvin University. In addition to the life skills courses they take through RFLA, they also are able to choose Calvin courses in an area of interest, such as ministry, creation care, or helping professions, to name a few.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS GET JUMP START ON CALVIN DEGREE
College Access Programs is expanding its offerings this summer. All of its programs, like Entrada, inspire interest in postsecondary education and promote readiness for college life.
A new opportunity called the Career Exploration Program is open to all high school students. The one-week program provides students with experience in a particular field of study.
The College Access Programs team saw a need to help students explore majors before college, developing a program that helps students see potential careers, and participate in hands-on learning experiences.
“Through this program, we hope to help students save time and money by making decisions ahead of time based on this valuable experience,” said Rosalba Ramîrez, director of College Access Programs.
Another new program is the International Summer Academy, aimed at international students. The academy has two tracks: a language track and an academic track. The language track is for students who need to improve their understanding of the English language before beginning college courses. The academic track is for students who are already at an advanced language level but who want a first college exposure. Both are residential programs. To learn more, visit calvin.edu/ offices-services/college-access-programs.
Calvin was the first university in west Michigan to receive approval to become a COVID-19 vaccination site.
CALVIN APPROVED AS VACCINATION SITE
In January, Calvin received approval from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Division of Immunization to become a COVID-19 vaccination site. Calvin was the first university in west Michigan to receive this designation.
Sarah Visser, vice president for student life and co-chair of the university’s COVID Response Team, notes the institution is set up well to handle this task, both in physical space and experience.
“It is a huge perk for Calvin to have a medical space on campus to facilitate this effort, and a staff of medical professionals under the direction of a medical doctor equipped to carry out this work,” said Visser. “Our health services clinic has historically been a vaccine site, and we have been planning and gearing up to be a mass vaccination clinic.”
Calvin’s Health Services team continues to lead the way for safe and healthy campuses around the country. For nine years running, The Princeton Review ranks this team among the top 20 higher education health services in the nation. The team of health professionals continues to work closely with local and state health officials, which has been instrumental in the university’s planning and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
STAY CONNECTED
Find more campus news at calvin.edu/news.
Calvin developed an online cohort for international students when some were unable to return to campus.
REMOVING BORDERS TO CALVIN UNIVERSITY
When embassies shut and travel bans were enacted this past spring and summer, Calvin had a choice to make: either accept that most of its international students would likely have to wait a semester or year to join its community or work to create a path for them. Calvin chose the latter.
“In this cloud of uncertainty, we were able to collaboratively pull together an option,” said Sara Vander Bie, English as a second language instructor and academic counselor at Calvin University.
The option was the international online cohort, a group of 65 students who were unable to attend in-person for the fall semester, but who chose to begin their time at Calvin online. In order to make this online cohort successful, it would take an army of professors, tutors, and student life workers to deliver a meaningful college experience online, one that not only delivered a quality educational experience to the first-year students, but placed equal importance on helping students feel a sense of belonging to the community.
The cohort proved successful: All 65 students who completed the fall semester are either continuing online or in-person this spring.
Calvin’s international student population is 13%, more than double the national average.
PROGRAM PROVIDES OPPORTUNITY FOR SPANISH IMMERSION STUDENTS
Calvin University launched a unique program for high school juniors and seniors who are in a Spanish immersion program at their high school. These students are already fluent in Spanish and are ready to deepen their understanding of the language, which they now can do by taking Calvin courses.
The inaugural cohort of 12 juniors is from Grandville Calvin Christian High School. The students can earn a minor in Spanish along with a semester’s worth of college credit before they even graduate from high school. They are taking a course each semester on Calvin’s campus.
“Learning Spanish in college as a high school junior is an amazing opportunity, a head start to be able to learn so much,” said Melissa Scholten.
“All the time we spent learning Spanish can have some benefit to our lives, and it can actually help us go somewhere in the future,” said Savoie Bryce, high school junior.
“I feel like this partnership gives opportunities to our students that we couldn’t have offered in our program,” said Katy Chadwik Rozemma ‘09, Grandville Calvin Christian’s Spanish Immersion director.
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