Tom Cameron, dean of Health Sciences at College of DuPage, reached into his pocket in search of the right key. He was about to unlock and open the door to the Glen Ellyn school’s relatively new surgical technology room. Behind him stood a small tour group of business and political leaders from the city of Wheaton. Behind them was a classroom full of students, waiting patiently until every visitor left.
“Before, this program, surgical (technology) was actually in West Chicago. We did the best we possibly could. They were off-campus, and they did a great job, but they never really felt part of COD,” Cameron said, as members of the tour marveled at the surgical equipment in the room.
The surgical room was just one stop as Cameron led the group through the school’s new Health and Science Center, which opened in time for the summer semester this year. As he highlighted the building’s design and stopped in classrooms to show off the school’s technology, Cameron answered questions about things such as enrollment, the costs of programs and what students are learning.
Cameron’s tour of the facility, the evening of Nov. 3, began COD’s first community night, an effort to reconnect the school with municipalities in DuPage County.
After the tour, Cameron and others from COD’s staff mingled with a roomful of Wheaton residents. A jazz band played and wine was served before everyone invited to the event was served dinner.
“We’re getting back in touch, so much, reaching out again,” said the school’s president, Dr. Robert Breuder before the dinner. “(The purpose is) to make sure that we’ve got quality lines of communication between the people who live in the (school’s) district, (the people) who represent the communities that sponsor us, and what’s going on here.”
Breuder emphasized that COD is a community college.
“We live and thrive because we were created by this extended community,” he said. “So if they created us, ought not we look back and (ask ourselves) from time to time, ‘How are we doing? What can we do for you? What can we do better?’”
Before dinner was served, Wheaton Mayor Michael Gresk told the room the tour overwhelmed him.
“You know, we thought this was a community college, a junior college. The training programs, the certification programs you have are most impressive,” he said. Gresk joked that he was old because he remembered the school’s humbler beginnings.
Wheaton resident Ted Utchen said he too was surprised by the school’s changes. The tour he took gave him his first chance to see the Health and Sciences Center.
“I had no idea it was here,” Utchen said. “And it’s an amazing facility for a community college. I had no idea.”
