From www.taylor.edu - Taylor University, integrating faith and learning

Distinctive Programs and Initiatives

The distinctive programs and initiatives of the School of Natural Sciences reflect our multi-faceted approach to stewardship.  The most exciting initiative for the School is our new Science Learning Center, a major building project that should be completed over the next several years.  This facility will be connected to the existing Nussbaum Building by an inviting atrium space. 

When completed, this project will more than double the programming space available to the School of Natural Sciences for learning, research, and informal interactions between students and faculty.  Yet this building is no typical building project and it reflects much of what is distinctive about Taylor University and the School of Natural Sciences.  Stewardship of the mind and of time are reflected in the extensive faculty and student input that has gone into the programming and design of this building. 

Our attention to value engineering opportunities, that is, to more economical ways of achieving the same goal, reflect our stewardship of material resources.  Environmentally conscious, or "green," construction and sustainability approaches have been emphasized in the design process and reflect our stewardship of Creation.  And, of course, the new learning center will provide a facility which will greatly enhance faculty and student efforts to better understand God's Creation and the ways in which God reveals himself in Creation.

 

While the new Science Learning Center will allow us to take programs in the School of Natural Sciences to another level of excellence, the School of Natural Sciences is already involved in a range of distinctive programs.  While listing all of the activities going on in the School is not possible, a few examples can provide a sense of what our faculty and students are doing.  The School of Natural Sciences has a long-term commitment to collaborative, undergraduate, faculty/student research.  For example, during the Summer of 2008 over 40 students conducted research with faculty on campus, showing a commitment to the stewardship of the mind and of time.  Taylor students also display an excellence of the mind through strong finishes in various competitive events. 

Students from the Department of Computer and System Sciences have recently achieved first and third place finishes in regional computer programming competitions.  In March of 2008, the Taylor University Mathematics Team finished third out of 29 teams in the Indiana Collegiate Mathematics Competition.  Taylor's team finished higher than teams from Indiana University, Bloomington, Ball State University, Butler University, IUPUI, and Wabash College.  Finally, faculty and students from Taylor's School of Natural Sciences displayed all five of the facets of stewardship through a Lighthouse Mission Project in Cuenca, Ecuador, and through a January Term course in Guatemala. 

Primarily Biology/Pre-Med students were involved in the trip to Ecuador which focused on medical treatment for the poor and on ministry to children in social service institutions.  The January Term course allowed students to minister to those living in poverty in rural Guatemala by providing safe drinking water through a well drilling project, and by providing training in safe hygiene methods.  The list of activities and initiatives that are distinctly Taylor could go on, but all of the activities are focused on a commitment to excellence, to stewardship, and to ministering Christ's love to the world.