Nursing lab at Fort Wayne Campus

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Giving Boldly: New Initiatives

Watch a video about the New Initiatives Fund and give boldly.
New Initiatives $6.5 Million

Manchester is no stranger to innovation. Committed to resolving conflict through nonviolence, we launched the world's first undergraduate peace studies program after World War II. A pioneering environmental studies program born in the early 1970s explored the growing concerns of human impact on the planet. More recently, in 2016, we blazed a trail in the frontier of personalized medicine – pharmacogenomics – with a first-of-its-kind master's degree. 

Now we see new opportunities on the horizon. We can seize them with the New Initiatives Fund. At Manchester, we continually ask the “What if?” questions that help us respond to workforce needs and prepare our students for rewarding careers. We answered recently with new undergraduate majors in digital media, health communication, and global health. 

Perhaps our most ambitious move yet, a health science initiative building on the Pharmacy program and our rich history in the sciences prepares graduates to meet the health care needs of an aging and increasingly diverse population. These new programs will attract students to both campuses, with some students starting their studies in North Manchester and completing their degrees with courses and clinical experiences in Fort Wayne.

A nursing program will focus on rural and urban health and provide our graduates with liberal arts skills such as problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution and leadership. 

Physical Therapy and Nutrigenomics are the newest additions to Manchester's graduate program offerings. Simultaneously, we're continuing to explore fields such as occupational therapy and a physician assistant program, in which we see opportunities to serve both our students and the people they in turn will serve.

Manchester Bold seeks $6.5 million for a New Initiatives Fund that will help Manchester grow and empower our graduates to improve the human condition. 


The Difference You Will Make
  • Grounded in the liberal arts, Manchester's health science programs will stand out from the crowd and appeal to our graduates' prospective employers.
  • Manchester will advance its mission with more graduates who lead principled, productive and compassionate lives.

  • Manchester will elevate its profile by becoming the region's leading health science educator.

  • Graduates of health science programs can help meet market needs immediately in careers that are rewarding spiritually and financially.

  • MU graduates will strengthen their communities and promote economic development when they strengthen the health care systems where they live.

  • Health care will be stronger for an aging and increasingly diverse population.

  • Manchester can expand opportunities for non-traditional students and develop more distance-learning programs that offer flexible schedules and hold down costs.

  • Manchester can forge more partnerships with regional industries such as health care and orthopedics.

  • New academic programs will enable Manchester to attract more students and diversify its revenue streams.

  • With the Pharmacy Program, Manchester proved once more that we can develop academic programs that benefit society and improve our quality of life. The New Initiatives Fund will allow Manchester to anticipate needs, rather than just react to them. A dedicated fund enables Manchester to be nimble and stay ahead of the competition while better serving our students.