One of the goals the DeKalb County Nursing Home administrator set for himself when he took the position almost a year ago was to utilize the opportunities available in the “university community.”

“In an era of tighter and tighter public funding, we’re fortunate to have the university as a resource,” Richard Baer, nursing home administrator, said. “It’s a real win-win situation.”

e began by “trying to make (the nursing home) available to the university and also to utilize what it has to offer.” Since then a number of students from Northern Illinois University and several other schools have helped the county nursing home in a variety of ways during the time he has been there.

Nursing students from NIU and Kishwaukee Community College have put time in and have gotten some practical experience out of working as nursing assistants and in other areas of the nursing home, Baer said.

A program which has paired up 30 health communication students with 30 residents for weekly visits has brought learning and enjoyment to both sides, he said.

Some students have come to him with ideas he had not thought about or could not afford to think about, Baer said.

Currently, with the help of a student from NIU’s School of Engineering, he said a problem of space utilization is a little closer to being remedied.

Mary Burczyk, a senior industrial engineering major, came to Baer with a proposal to do a facility study as part of her senior design project. To Baer this was the ideal solution for a much needed project.

Because of the costs involved, Baer said the county hadn’t gotten to the point of committing any money to hire a professional who would study and develop a plan for better space utilization of the building, which houses the nursing home, the County Mental Health Board, the County Services Agency, the Regional Superintendent of Schools and the County Health Department.

“This is a real isssue for us,” Baer said. “The redesign and rennovation, when it happens, will be a big project for the county.

“It’s also a very big project in terms that it’s her senior project and in some cases students are given projects that maybe aren’t considered this important,” he said.

Baer said the recommendations made by Burcyzk’s study will be based on the needs described by all of the departments. “We want to know if that space is going to be adequate to fill the needs of all the departments. If not, we’re looking for suggestions where we can use the space to maximum efficiency.”

Burczyk said she is using questionnaires and talking to the different departments to study how the existing space is used and what the projected needs and growth are.

After studying the existing space, she plans to study the blue prints to plan where each department should be located to make the best use of the available space, allowing for certain standards and limitations for office space, she said.

The next step will be to contact contractors and get estimates for any electrical, heating or plumbing work that needs to be done, she said.

So far the most difficult part of her senior project was “finding someone willing to let you come in and poke your nose in their work,” Burczyk said.

Baer said once the study is completed and the recommendations have been made and approved by the county board, it will be at least a year to a year-and-a-half before any action is taken. The rennovations would be done all at once and would be paid for through the county’s capital funding plans, he said.