SIU-Carbondale offers the state’s only mortuary science and funeral service bachelor’s degree program, and the program recently added the only university-housed crematory in the country.
The genesis of the SIU crematory started a decade ago when Anthony Fleege, mortuary science and funeral service program director and associate professor, attended a conference. There, a colleague from another school who attended a crematory operator’s course commented that mortuary schools should teach it on campus. Fleege agreed, noting the nationwide shift toward cremation.
Fleege pitched the idea of adding a crematory – and the option for a crematory operator’s license – to Scott Collins, SIU director of the School of Health Sciences, who helped carry the plan forward. Thanks largely to gifts from private donors – including the SIU School of Medicine, the dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, the School of Health Sciences and generous support from the SIU Foundation – the retort from Crematory Systems of South Holland, Illinois, is now in place.
Henceforth, every graduate of SIU’s mortuary science and funeral service program will not only get hands-on training operating a crematory but will also complete the program as a certified crematory operator, as recognized by the Illinois Comptroller’s Office.
According to Fleege, “The primary goal for the crematory is to give students practical experience on campus with cremation of the cadavers used for medical education purposes. Our students will leave college with the necessary tools… to get licensed in any state and be able to immediately make an impact as a funeral director, embalmer or crematory operator… [This] will also ensure that the remains never leave the university’s possession.”
In addition, as a public service for local coroners who occasionally must find a resolution for abandoned bodies, SIU will provide the crematory service for a nominal maintenance fee. The crematory will not offer services to the public or funeral homes.
Accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education, SIU’s program graduates are eligible to become licensed in Illinois, with reciprocal practice rights in all other states that offer a bachelor’s degree in the program. They can also obtain a license from the Department of Professional Regulation to become a funeral director and embalmer.
Currently, 110 students are enrolled – with nearly 100 on campus and the rest learning online – in SIU’s bachelor’s degree completion program, which includes both science coursework and classes focusing on the “arts” involved, including business and psychology, according to Fleege. Students learn about every component involved in the business – from embalming in the on-campus embalming facility and cadaver refrigeration unit to merchandising and making arrangements in SIU’s model selection room, featuring caskets and urns, and a room in which practice funerals are held.
The new crematory, licensed by the Illinois Comptroller’s Office and led by trained and certified crematory operator faculty, rounds out the comprehensive SIU educational experience. sah.siu.edu/mortuary-science