Willingness to change and adapting to new conditions are the characteristics of a successful organization, management gurus say, and on that basis alone, Calumet College of St. Joseph is a successful organization. Since its humble beginning as an extension campus, the college has been an educational innovator and leader in Northwest Indiana.

Founded in 1951 as a Lake County, Indiana, two-year urban extension of Saint Joseph's College of Rensselaer, Indiana, Calumet College of St. Joseph is today a private, Catholic, coeducational, commuter college which offers certificates, associate's degree, bachelor's degree and master's degree programs to students from the sprawling Calumet Region. This region includes southeast Cook County, Illinois, and the highly industrialized complex that is Northwest Indiana. Throughout its 51-year history, Calumet College of St. Joseph has remained true to its mission of serving the varied education needs of its commuter population.

The college has always enjoyed the support of local civic and religious organizations, among them the Knights of Columbus.

For nine years after its founding, CCSJ led a nomadic existence as it offered classes in rented facilities in Whiting, Hammond, and East Chicago, Indiana. Known then as the Calumet Center, the college conducted most of its courses in borrowed classrooms provided by Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond and St. John the Baptist Church in Whiting.

Nine years later, in 1960, the St. Joseph's College Board of Control authorized the expansion of this two-year extension into a full four-year, degree-granting college. The institution thus became the first college in the Calumet Region to offer baccalaureate degrees.

In 2001, a master's degree program in law enforcement administration was added.

A Move To East Chicago, Indiana

In the 1960s, St. Joseph's College Calumet campus moved into a new home, a former furniture store in East Chicago. For the next three years, this building housed the college's classes and administration offices. Later, the building served as the administration building for 15 years.

College officials toured the new campus shortly before it opened.

The East Chicago campus continued to grow throughout the 1960s. Buildings were donated or acquired on Indianapolis Boulevard and Olcott Avenue to provide classroom and office space, a library, laboratories, a theater, a communications center and student recreational facilities. In the summer of 1971, the college was renamed St. Joseph Calumet College.

CCSJ Becomes Independent

The success of the St. Joseph's "extension campus" in the number of students enrolling coupled with the unique mission and local student market being served, led to discussions of making the Calumet campus independent. That, along with the impending donation of the American Oil Company Research and Development Complex three miles north in Hammond, Indiana, resulted in the decision to sever legal ties to the Rensselaer campus.

When Articles of Incorporation were filed with the state of Indiana on November 15, 1973, the college was officially separated from St. Joseph's College. The North Central Association approved the transfer of accreditation to Calumet College, effective December 7, 1973.

Calumet College of St. Joseph moved to 2400 New York Avenue in Hammond, Indiana's Robertsdale section in January 1976. The college's mailing address is Whiting, Ind. The six-story building was donated to the college by the American Oil Company, now known as BP.

On December 31, 1973, the American Oil Company, now BP, deeded its research and development facilities and 256 acres of land in Hammond to Calumet College. As a result, the college relocated to Hammond into remodeled facilities in January 1976 and is now using the largest of the 23 buildings on the site.

Campus Improvements

Over the years ongoing improvement projects have been undertaken and resulted in an easily accessible chapel; student recreation area and lounge; remodeled bookstore and science laboratory; computer laboratories; writing lab; conference rooms for classes, public meetings and teleconferences; and ramps to aid the mobility of the handicapped.

Known as Calumet College from 1973 through 1986, the college was renamed Calumet College of St. Joseph in 1987 to re-identify its Catholic and academic heritage.

Over the years, the college had looked for more effective ways to be of service to its students. In 1991, for example, administrative restructuring resulted in the merger of the offices of admissions, financial aid, registrar, academic advising, chaplain, campus ministry, career services and the Lifelong Opportunity Center into the Division of Enrollment Management. This consolidation of all student services into one division provided closer planning and coordination of activities leading not only to the admissions of new students, but also the retention of current students as they progress to graduation.

Capital Campaign Raises More Than $5 Million

In the fall of 1997, the college launched a capital campaign with a goal of $5 million over five years. The campaign addressed the college's most pressing financial need: an endowment to fund scholarships for students, continuing professional education for faculty and staff, and improvements to the physical plant. By the spring of 2001, the campaign had generated gifts and pledges in excess of $5 million. More recently, the college fulfilled the conditions of a Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant and received an additional $200,000. This brought the final total of the capital campaign to $5,452,875.

Small class sizes at Calumet College of St. Joseph provide students with a personalized learning environment.

This campaign is the most successful in the college's history and significantly strengthens its ability to provide high quality educational programs for Northwest Indiana and Northeast Illinois.

Years before it was fashionable, CCSJ offered programs that were practical and diverse, including four-year baccalaureate degrees, two-year associate's degrees and one-year certificates. In addition to daytime offerings, the college offers a full evening program to accommodate the needs of its working student population.

As part of a pledge to serve the educational needs of the area's residents, the college endeavors to eliminate time and space barriers, which would limit the educational opportunity available to the area's citizens. Thus, it offers weekend classes, a credit for the Life Experience Program, course offerings at different sites in Northwest Indiana, and video-assisted instruction, or telecourses-the first program of its kind ever to be offered in Northwest Indiana.

Instructors at Calumet College of St. Joseph lead lively discussions to engage students.

Innovative Programs

Perhaps the most successful example of innovation is the Degree Completion Division, started in the late '80s, and now flourishing in communities throughout Northwest Indiana and Chicago. Adults with two years of college and who attend class one night a week for 18 months at a location near their home or work can earn a B.S. degree in organization management, healthcare management, or law enforcement management.

The curriculum continues to improve, and the college presently offers programs in some 20 fields of study, including the region's only degree program in paralegal studies and concentration in creative writing. A new emphasis has been placed on student academic support programs. CCSJ offers a three-credit Seminar Plus course designed to assist new students in adapting to the responsibilities and academic challenges facing traditional and non-traditional college students.

In 1998 CCSJ established the position of director of Academic Support Programs, ASP, to lead the college in developing support programs for all its students. The director created the Center for Academic Excellence, CAE, which serves as the college's tutoring center. Through the CAE, the director hires, trains and supervises the peer tutoring staff. In addition, the ASP director had developed academic support programs such as Supplemental Instruction, adjunct courses and promotion of faculty training in issues such as student-centered learning.

Calumet College of St. Joseph students often flock to the Specker Memorial Library on the first floor to prepare for classes.

The Most Diverse College In Indiana

Among colleges in Indiana, Calumet College of St. Joseph is unique for its diversity. The student population includes the largest percentage of minority students of any college in Indiana and is currently ranked as the most diverse liberal arts college in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report.

Currently, more than 50 percent of the students in baccalaureate and associate's degree programs are Hispanic or African American.

First-Ever Sports Program And Master's Degree

In the 2000-2001 academic year, the college joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and began its first intercollegiate athletic program. Fielding teams in both men's and women's basketball and women's softball, the college competed against more than 30 colleges. Men's baseball began in spring 2002.

In August 2001, the college received a 10-year accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, a member of the North Central Association, along with approval to initiate its first advanced degree program-a master's in law enforcement administration. The first class in this program began in January of 2002.

The curriculum was developed with input from several current and former area police officials. It includes classes in leadership training, human resources, management, public policy development, political and ethical concerns and fiscal planning and management. The classes are geared to law enforcement professionals who plan to go to leadership and command positions.

Calumet College of St. Joseph has a long-standing commitment to this program area. In 1969, the college launched an associate's degree in law enforcement. In 1976, a law enforcement certificate was added. In 1981, a degree in criminal justice was added. Since 1998, Calumet College of St. Joseph has offered an accelerated Law Enforcement Management Program. Numerous police personnel from Northwest Indiana and southeast Cook County, Illinois, have graduated from these programs.

Dr. Dennis C. Rittenmeyer has served as president of Calumet College of St. Joseph since 1987.

Celebrating 50 Years Of Quality Education

Nearly 350 people, including alumni, students, trustees and current and former faculty members, gathered at a Hammond, Indiana, restaurant on September 29, 2001 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Calumet College of St. Joseph.

The event featured recollections from Patricia Scholl, the one-and only-member of the college's first graduating class. Scholl, Class of 1961, joked that as the only graduate, she was the most likely to succeed and first in her class. Edward Lawhead, Class of 1973, also reminisced about his graduation ceremony.

The event also included comments from Father James McCabe and video greetings from the Rev. Ronald Schiml, the Rev. Louis Osterhage and the Rev. John Lefko, former CCSJ presidents.

CCSJ business management professor James Fattore served as the event's honorary chairman. Dr. Dennis Rittenmeyer, CCSJ president, served as the master of ceremonies. Thomas Katsahnias, CCSJ chairman of the board of trustees, offered up a toast to the crowd.

The event brought together old friends and created new relationships among hundreds of people associated with Calumet College of St. Joseph. That evening the crowd celebrated-and contemplated-the college's contribution to themselves, their families and their communities.

Poised To Begin A New Era

The college's 7,000 alumni -- most of whom continue to live, work and raise their families in the area -- are ample evidence of the importance of the college to the economic, social and spiritual life of our multi-ethnic and multi-racial urban community. Calumet College of St. Joseph, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2001, is now poised to begin a new era of growth and service to the Calumet Region.