Engage

Engage Volume 3, Number 1

A Message from the President

The past few months have been ones of unchartered territory. The current pandemic has changed our lives, including how we learn.

But College of DuPage has been up to the challenge. Our dedicated faculty and staff have gone above and beyond to make sure students continue to receive the highest level of education possible.

By sheer coincidence, we were well into production on this issue of Engage, which looks at our health care programs when the coronavirus (COVID-19) took over the headlines. It seems fitting that this issue is dedicated to professionals who play an even more important role during a major worldwide health crisis.

If you have been a patient at any time in one of the hospitals, clinics or other medical facilities in District 502, chances are you received care from a COD graduate. The College trains students to become nurses, X-ray technologists, anesthesia technologists, speech language pathology assistants and many other professionals through more than 30 health-related areas of study found in the Nursing and Health Sciences Division. Programs offered include Nuclear Medicine, Respiratory Care, Health Information Technology and many more too numerous to list here.

As a result of their education, our graduates often achieve a nearly 100 percent pass rate on applicable board certification exams. That should be reassuring to us as patients and for prospective students looking for top- level health career programs.

This semester has required creative approaches to educational goals. This issue of Engage shares the passion of our faculty and students as they make health care their top priority.

Budget-in-Brief

I understand the importance of financial accountability and transparency. The College’s funding comes from local taxes, tuition and state, and every year we diligently look at how best to optimize our spending to benefit students and the community.

The budget process at COD covers a six-month period and includes meetings across campus in every department to identify and prioritize needs, which then are analyzed and resourced. While the College’s budget is hundreds of pages in length, the Budget-in-Brief presents an overview of our financial plan in an easy-to-understand format.

I invite you to review the Budget-in-Brief as well as other financial reports at cod.edu/financials.

2020 U.S. Census

As a member of the Complete Count Committee in Aurora, I cannot stress enough the importance of being counted in this year’s census.

Federal funding will be determined by census data, which affects programs that impact our communities as well as College of DuPage. In addition, without a full count, Illinois will lose representation in Congress and our local communities will be under- represented in the state legislature.

College of DuPage is committed to ensuring all members of our college community are included in the 2020 Census count. The census happens only once a decade, so this is our opportunity to get it right. If you have not responded to the census, do so without delay.

Dr. Brian W. Caputo, President of College of DuPage.

Related Areas of interest

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