Retired Manchester President Jo Young Switzer Awarded Sagamore Of The Wabash
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Staff Report-
NORTH MANCHESTER – Jo Young Switzer was awarded the highest distinction in Indiana, a Sagamore of the Wabash, in a special presentation during a celebration of the highly successful Students First! campaign at Manchester University. “We are deeply grateful to President Switzer for her leadership,” said MU President Dave McFadden, who presented the award Thursday on behalf of Indiana State Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City. Banks has been deployed to Afghanistan for the 2015 session of the Indiana legislature. Switzer became the first female president and 14th chief executive of Manchester University Dec. 1, 2004. Before her retirement in June, Switzer led a campaign to raise $100 million for the university. It blew by that goal, raising $108.7 million, a full 18 months ahead of schedule, according to a press release from the university. The university’s enrollment increased about 30 percent during Switzer’s tenure, from 1,074 in 2004 to 1,400 during the 2013-14 school year, the release states. In the past several years, Manchester also launched a master’s degree program in athletic training and has implemented two key initiatives – the three-year bachelor’s degree Fast Forward program and the Triple Guarantee. Switzer earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Manchester in 1969 and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication from the University of Kansas. She returned to Manchester in the 1980s and taught communication studies. She also taught at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne before serving as Manchester’s vice president and dean for academic affairs for 11 years. Switzer is “truly deserving” of the award, Banks is quoted as saying in the press release, not just because of her successes at Manchester but for her work to make northeast Indiana a “better place to live, work and raise our families.” Switzer has been a statewide and national leader in higher education. She is past president of the board of directors of Independent Colleges of Indiana, a past board member of the Council of Independent Colleges, and has served on the Commission on College Completion for the Indiana Commission on Higher Education. She has been a leader in northeast Indiana, including service on the Regional Economic Development Executive Board and Vision 2020, a group dedicated to stimulating entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development in northeast Indiana. For five straight years under Switzer, The Chronicle of Higher Education recognized Manchester University as a “Best College to Work For” based on employee surveys. Switzer is the co-author of “Interviewing: Art and Skill” (Allyn & Bacon, 1995), two instructors’ manuals and numerous published articles and book chapters on communication. She has made more than 50 academic presentations related to teaching, applied communication, gender and higher education, and scores of presentations about higher education to more general audiences. She has received several teaching awards, including the Outstanding New Teacher Award from the Central States Communication Association and the FACET Award from Indiana University. Her most cherished award, however, is from an organization for students with disabilities at IPFW, according to the release. Switzer and her husband Dave, who also retired this year, have studied Tuscan cooking in Italy, where they like to vacation. The Switzers have three grown children, all graduates of liberal arts colleges.
