Merger Creates New School

On January 1, 2009, the new year will bring with it a new school at Malone University, the School of Graduate and Professional Studies – a combination of the School of Continuing Studies and Office of Graduate Student Services.

Majorie Carlson Hurst, D.B.A., will serve as deal of The School of Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS).

The purpose for the change, explains Dr. Carlson Hurst, is to better provide services and faith-based programs for the nontraditional life learner.  Both the School of Continuing Studies and the Office of Graduate Student Services deal with the student who is older than the traditional undergraduate student.  The demographic for the students who attend graduate programs in Business, Christian Ministries, Nursing, Counseling, Education, or undergraduate degree-completion programs is very similar.  The average age is about 38 years old.  This student usually has a family, is working full time, and spends time on campus after 5 p.m. weeknights or on Saturdays.

One of the first enhancements that the GPS staff developed was eveing chapel for graduate, nursing degree-completion, and continuing studies students.  Karen Dean Fry,  vice president for constituent relations, and Tim Pitzer, director of constituent programs, volunteered to facilitate a first-ever Thanksgiving chapel for nontraditional students from 5:30 p.m to 6 p.m. in the Fred F. Silk Auditorium of Mitchell Hall on November 17-20, 2008.  Students were invited to worship and give thanks for how God has blessed Malone Unversity and their lives.  The theme was "Be the One."  Christmas Chapel was also held from December 8-11, 2008.  The long-range plan is to have regular chapel time monthly for GPS students.

As the two groups merge, there will be a number of economies of scale that will benefit the University.  In the past, both schools did recruiting, marketing, counseling, and registration for the student entering either the Malone Management Program or one of the graduate programs.  That meant that there were usually tow people doing the same thing in two departments.  The merge will allow for combining some of these responsibilities under one person.

Carlson Hurst explained that the leadership of this new school will include four key positions.  Brock Reiman, Ph.D., director of the graduate program in counselor education, will be joining GPS as the associate dean of graduate programs; Cindy Wilson, currently the academic director of MMP, will take on an expanded role as senior director of degree completion.  John Koshmider will remain in the position of director of distributed learning and will serve in an expanded role, providing instructional design help for new oline iniatives.  Dan Depasquale, senior director of operations, will assume the responsibility for the daily operations of the new school.  Dan will oversee recruiting, enrollment, and the administrative support staff.

The group has been charged with looking for ways to improve student services for current students while developing new programs to appeal to new students.  One example of the new initiatives includes taking the Malone Management Program to Hong Kong.  Carlson Hurst visited Hong Kong in July 2008 with direction from Malone University President Gary Streit to test the feasibility of offering Hong Kong residents the same faith-based management program that the University currently offers in Canton, Mahoning Valley, Ashland, Brecksville, New Philadelphia, and online.  An agreement was struck and the relationship between Malone University and the Faith Based Institute of Continuing Education is will underway.  Malone is currently seeking approvals from Higher Learning Commission and Ohio Board of Regents.

The goal of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies is to be a campus leader in modeling cooperation and collaboration–both on and off campus.  Malone's other five schools will be encouraged to partner with GPS to explore additional academic program opportunities.  There merger allows Malone University's mission to tkae on a broader meaning for the School of Graduate and Professional Studies and its place in Christ's Kingdom.