#ottbuilding

IWU Struggles to Fill New Ott Cadaver Lab

Last year, Indiana Wesleyan University budgeted nearly $43 million for the new Ott Science Building. Included in the construction of the building was an eagerly anticipated cadaver lab for students. Administrators, however, were dismayed when they entered the newly constructed building to find the cadaver lab empty.

“When we paid the construction company for the building,” explained an exasperated administrator, “we thought it went without saying that the cadaver lab would be full when construction was finished. What makes something a cadaver lab? Cadavers!”

And cadavers are what’s missing. Now IWU is scrambling to fill the lab for next year. “The problem,” says the Vice President for Financial Affairs, “is that we literally spent everything we had on that building. The only reason we’re making it until summer registration is that we’ve been siphoning money out of our professors’ grants for years now.”

One solution on the table is a sort of tuition exchange. “We know paying for a private university education can be a difficult expense for large families,” says administrator Eric Larson. “If families elect, they may choose to offer one of their younger children as a tuition credit toward an older sibling's education.”

No families have yet responded to the offers of the university, so other plans have continued in discussion. “There is always the Marion community to turn to,” suggested one Outreach Coordinator. “This could even bring Marion families onto campus to visit their relatives in the lab.”

As the school continues to search for solutions, science professors have come together with their students to capture squirrels on campus to populate the lab. “We know it’s not exactly the same,” said Dr. Boldog, “but squirrel cadavers still offer good learning experiences.”