St. Thomas has introduced changes to the Bernardi campus in Rome that will allow for a more efficient use of the campus and provide more study-abroad options for students, according to Richard Plumb, executive vice president and provost.

“What we have tried to do is look at how we could use the Bernardi campus a little more efficiently and offer more opportunities for a greater number of our students to go abroad,” Plumb said.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Terence Langan and his faculty designed a fall-semester program that will satisfy some core curriculum requirements, offering courses including art history, economics, history and theology. The program, beginning in fall 2016, will be the first new faculty-led semester program in a decade and will allow for more students to study in Rome, according to Plumb.

St. Thomas freshman Josef Chalachula is taking full advantage of the inaugural semester in Rome this coming fall.

“I wish I could go today,” Chalachula said. “It was almost non-negotiable. Even before I came to college I knew I wanted to study in Rome, so when I found out about this opportunity here I was just like, ‘Well yeah, I’ve got to do it.’”

Purchased in 1999, the Bernardi campus has since been used exclusively by the Catholic Studies department, which allowed St. Thomas to develop a strong chaplaincy and community in Rome.

However, Bernardi ran roughly on the schedule of the Pontifical University of Thomas Aquinas, also called the Angelicum, from October to mid-January and February to May. This schedule meant the campus sat unused for several weeks between semesters, motivating St. Thomas to find more efficient ways to use Bernardi to bring more students abroad.

“Any time we can enrich that experience, we are fulfilling our mission,” Plumb said. “It really helps (students) examine and question more about themselves and about the society in which they live.”

Bernardi will now run on the St. Thomas schedule during fall semester and January Term and offer programs that satisfy core curriculum requirements. During the spring, the Catholic Studies department will maintain its program while running on the Angelicum schedule.

Catholic Studies and theology professor John Boyle believes the changes may seem to be a disappointment on the Catholic side, but that these changes will give the department the opportunity to expand and improve in other ways.

“I don’t think it will be particularly detrimental … for the program that remains in Bernardi in the spring,” Boyle said. “I think it will still be very positive.” He said the department is also considering adding Catholic Studies programs elsewhere in the world.

Students who are interested in the new core curriculum program in Rome are urged to apply before the March 15 deadline.

Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.