Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - Grace College recently received a $997,791 grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. in its initiative to Recruit and Retain Intellectual Capital for Indiana Higher Education Institutions. In this latest initiative, the Endowment invited participating Indiana colleges and universities to propose ideas to help them expand their institution's "intellectual capital."
"Continuous academic improvement is a must for higher education institutions, and in Indiana investment, in academic programming is essential for growing intellectual capital that will help propel the state forward," said Dr. Ron Manahan, president of Grace College. "The grant to Grace College from Lilly Endowment, Inc. for increasing the state's intellectual capital is welcomed. Because of this generous grant, Grace will invest in one existing program and launch two new ones. The purpose of these initiatives is to draw additional intellectual resources to Indiana through faculty and students."
Grace College will use the grant dollars to pursue the following three-part strategy, which will build upon and greatly extend its recent success in deepening its intellectual resources by attracting outstanding faculty and students.
• Establish a Criminal Justice Administration program that will be held by a widely experienced faculty and that will complement Grace College's existing Criminal Justice program.
• Refocus and upgrade the Communication and English programs by increasing the intellectual capacity among faculty and placing greater emphasis on organizational communication, business communication and communication arts.
• Establish an honors academy (Millennial Scholars Academy) to attract additional gifted students to Grace College.
"Lilly Endowment has given Grace College the opportunity to upgrade and add programs," said Dr. David Plaster, vice president for academic affairs at Grace. "These changes will make Grace much stronger academically and, in the end, be directly beneficial to students. With scholarship assistance included, I believe we will be able to attract more students over the next few years."
Grace is one of 37 colleges and universities in Indiana that received grants from the Endowment in its Initiative to Recruit and Retain Intellectual Capital for Indiana Higher Education Institutions. A total of $100 million was distributed in 2004 for this latest initiative.
For more information, contact John Boal, Chief Advancement Officer at 372-5100, Ext. 6121, or 866-448-3472 or by e-mail boaljr@grace.edu
