Mercer: Henry County RAC Registration Extended Because of Weather

Because of inclement weather, hours for the on-site registration/orientation for the Henry County Regional Academic Center have been extended to Friday, Jan. 8, and Monday, Jan. 11, from 1 p.m. until the start of the classes that evening.

The original hours set for the registration were from 3-7 p.m. on Jan.. 7.

For more information, contact Stephen Jenkins or Crystal Frazier at (678) 547-6100 or kaseric_ss@mercer.edu.

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Georgia Baptist College of Nursing to Introduce Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree in 2010

Mercer University’s Georgia Baptist College of Nursing will add a Doctor of Nursing Practice to its graduate degree offerings in 2010. The College, based on Mercer’s Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta, began offering a Ph.D. in Nursing Education this fall.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program will support advanced practice nurses in the areas of informatics, organizational analysis, and practice-focused research. The DNP degree acknowledges the importance of clinical expertise at the doctoral level. Students will design clinical projects that improve both the delivery of patient care as well as patient outcomes.

The Georgia Baptist College of Nursing’s DNP program offers a post-master’s, five-semester, online course of study that includes 43 semester hours and over 500 clinical hours. The College utilizes both in-person and online learning techniques to effectively and dynamically transform the online classroom into a platform that reaches the highest possible level for learning.

“Graduates of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program will be prepared to meet the changing demands of this nation's complex healthcare environment, which requires the highest level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise to assure quality patient outcomes,” said Dr. Linda A. Streit, interim dean of the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing.

For more information on the DNP program, call (678) 547-6700 or visit www.mercer.edu/nursing.


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Agnes Scott, Mercer Partner to Produce More Doctors for Rural Georgia

While the health care industry as a whole is suffering from a shortage of family practice and primary care doctors, rural communities face an even greater challenge in attracting qualified doctors. Only about 10 percent of doctors practice in rural America although around 25 percent of the nation’s population lives in a rural area, according to the federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

Now, Agnes Scott College and Mercer University are partnering to combat this trend.

In an effort to increase the number of prospective medical students pursuing careers in rural medicine, Agnes Scott and Mercer University School of Medicine have agreed to link Agnes Scott’s Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Program with the medical school program. Students admitted to the Post-Bac Pre-Med Program who meet the requirements of the linkage agreement will be assured early acceptance into Mercer University School of Medicine.

To qualify for the Mercer linkage program, students must enter Agnes Scott’s Post-Bac Pre-Med program in June, be residents of the State of Georgia and be willing to practice primary care in rural or underserved Georgia.

“There’s a clear need for qualified physicians in rural communities,” said Dr. Maurice Clifton, associate dean of admissions and student affairs at the Mercer University School of Medicine. “Our partnership with Agnes Scott helps identify outstanding students with a non-traditional background who, after rigorous science preparation, will be ready for the medical school curriculum and who will go on to practice in rural and underserved communities of Georgia.”

The program’s main advantage for Agnes Scott Post-Bac Pre-Med students is that it allows them to enroll in medical school immediately after successfully completing the program, said Nancy Devino, director of Agnes Scott’s Science Center for Women and director of the Post-Bac Pre-Med Program. The traditional medical school application process can take up to a year, she added.

Agnes Scott’s Post-Bac Pre-Med Program is designed to help students with non-science backgrounds prepare for medical school by providing them with the prerequisite laboratory science courses. The one-year certificate program is the only one offered by a liberal arts college in Georgia.

“This partnership enhances the credibility of our program and provides outside validation of the quality of students who complete the program,” Devino said.

Once Agnes Scott Post-Bac Pre-Med students have been selected to join the linkage program, they must maintain an overall grade point average of 3.5 or greater in the program, complete all prerequisite science courses required by Mercer, complete all Agnes Scott Post-Bac Pre-Med Program requirements and earn an acceptable score on the MCAT. Students must also continue to demonstrate the personal, ethical and professional qualities necessary to become members of the student body of Mercer’s School of Medicine and fulfill their roles as future physicians.

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NEH Awards Grant to Mercer for Intensive Course on Southern History for Teachers

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Mercer University $215,000 for an institute for high school teachers in summer 2010. The institute will be a five-week course on Southern history, titled “Cotton Culture in the South from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement,” and will be open to 22 high school teachers from across the country.

The institute begins in July 2010 and will be directed by Dr. Sarah E. Gardner, associate professor and chair of history and director of Mercer’s Southern Studies Program. Dr. Douglas Thompson, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies and Southern studies, and Dr. David A. Davis, assistant professor of English, will serve as the institute’s faculty. The institute will also include a number of guest faculty who are experts in Southern history and culture.

“The institute will create an engaged learning community of high school teachers, Mercer faculty and visiting experts who will share ideas about an extremely complex and often poorly understood aspect of Southern history and culture,” Dr. Davis said.

The NEH announced the grant last week as part of its Institutes for School Teachers program. The project was also selected for recognition as part of the NEH’s “We the People” Initiative, which funds programs “designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study and understanding of American history, culture and democratic principles.”

“It was extremely rewarding to earn this grant with our first submission. Dr. Davis and Dr. Thompson did a wonderful job to create a curriculum that not only met the institute standards, but also earned recognition as a ‘We the People’ project,” Dr. Gardner said. “The NEH sees its ‘We the People’ initiative as a leader in ‘bringing about a renaissance in knowledge about American history and principles among all our citizens,’ so its recognition of our summer institute as playing a vital role in that mission is quite an honor.”

Dr. Thompson said that Mercer has long been a leading program for Southern studies at the undergraduate level, and bringing high school teachers to campus to experience the rigors of the program will be an excellent showcase for the program.

“This NEH grant will provide us a way to reach out to teachers to provide quality continuing education in the areas of history and literature and to highlight what Southern studies at Mercer has to offer their high school students,” Dr. Thompson said.

The institute is a natural for Mercer because of its history with Southern studies and because of Macon’s history, said Dr. Davis.

“The teachers participating in the institute will study the South’s history and culture during the crucial hundred years between the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement through the lens of cotton, and they will see the connections between history, economics, labor, literature, religion and art,” Dr. Davis said. “We hope the institute will enhance the way high school teachers understand and explain Southern history and culture to their students, who will then better understand the complicated legacy of the cotton economy.”

The NEH grant is part of its Landmarks of American History and Culture: Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers, which supports national faculty development programs in the humanities for school teachers. The seminars and institutes range from two to six weeks each and focus on significant humanities topics, texts and issues.

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First Ph.D. in Nursing Students Coming to Mercer’s Atlanta Campus

The first six candidates in the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing’s new Ph.D. in nursing program will come to campus for the first time as a group on Thursday and Friday, Aug. 13-14, for a computer training and orientation. The dynamic new program at Mercer University will feature a distance-learning delivery method for much of the coursework, allowing the students to continue in their positions as nurses and nursing educators. The program is only the fourth Ph.D. in nursing to be offered in Georgia, which is facing a critical shortage of nurse educators.

The students in the program will meet at the campus several times per semester and will also work remotely in virtual classrooms and via specialized Internet-based educational software. The inaugural class for the Doctor of Philosophy in nursing program brings together nurses from out of state, as well as those from more rural areas of the state.

“We had to design the program around the needs of working educators and nurses, because the nursing and nurse educator shortages in this area are so great our program had to be flexible enough to allow the students to remain at their jobs,” said Dr. Linda A. Streit, interim dean and associate dean for graduate programs at Georgia Baptist. “The students will have two days on campus for orientation and training to prepare for the coming semester.”

The program is designed to be done in a hybrid format and completed in 24 months, depending on the length of time taken on dissertation research. The program will create high-performing nursing educators and researchers to address the urgent need for nursing educators and leaders.

The program will prepare its graduates to:
• address the pressing need for advanced expertise in the application of theories and conceptual models to nursing education, practice and research;
• conduct research that advances nursing knowledge;
• evaluate the influences of ethical, social, political, demographic and economic issues on health care and nursing;
• assume leadership roles in education, practice and research to improve health care.

Dr. Streit also worked to secure grant funding to support students in the program through the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, a federal program designed to increase the number of nursing students pursuing careers as full-time faculty in schools of nursing. Funds from the program are administered by the Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Service Administration.

The loan program offers significant loan forgiveness to students in master’s and doctoral nursing programs who train for, and become, full-time as faculty in nursing programs upon graduation. The new Ph.D. in nursing program was tailored to meet the needs of students pursuing this program, Dr. Streit said.

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Mercer Reformulates Criminal Justice into Public Safety Degree

Mercer University’s College of Continuing and Professional Studies will launch a reformulated undergraduate major in public safety this fall. The program expands upon the College’s successful major in criminal justice in order to better serve current and future public safety officials. The new public safety program will launch this fall at four of the College’s locations: Atlanta, Macon, Henry County and Douglas County.

The changes to the degree mirror the changing landscape of public safety, which has shifted from distinctive emergency services such as law enforcement, fire and emergency response into a more cohesive and professionalized framework. With new threats demanding an integrated response, this new degree will help train a new breed of cross-trained professionals. Included in the new coursework for this program are courses in homeland security, cyber security, forensics, emergency management, terrorism, leadership and multi-cultural issues.

The degree is designed with public safety officials in mind, with courses online and in the evenings providing maximum flexibility. Students can choose to take most courses in person, online or in a hybrid format.

“In order to best prepare our graduates for new public safety challenges, we revised our current foundation courses to provide a much broader base of knowledge,” said Dr. V. Lynn Tankersley, assistant professor of public safety and one of the degree’s designers. “The response from public safety agencies and professionals has already been tremendous.”

Recognizing the need for continued education in this complex field, the Technical College System of Georgia partnered with Mercer to allow graduates from its associate degree programs in criminal justice to complete a “Plus 2” program at Mercer. Under the new articulation agreement, qualified applicants can earn a Bachelor of Science in Social Science, majoring in public safety, in two years.

Like the criminal justice major it replaces, the public safety major will lead to a Bachelor of Science in Social Science. The degree builds on the College’s expertise in the public safety field. The College offers the Public Safety Leadership Institute, a leadership development program for public safety officials, and the Master of Science in Public Safety Leadership, a degree program for public safety officials looking to advance into leadership positions.

For more information on admission to the program, contact:
Atlanta and Macon - Amanda Bentley, (678) 547-6554 or bentley_ad@mercer.edu
Henry County - Stephen Jenkins, (678) 547-6436 or jenkins_sd@mercer.edu
Douglas County - Tammy Collins, (678) 547-6493 or collins_tj@mercer.edu

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New Engineering Master’s Degrees Aimed at Emerging Environmental Challenges

Mercer University’s School of Engineering is launching two new degree programs this fall to help meet the nation’s mounting environmental challenges. In August, the School will welcome its first classes for the Master of Science in Engineering in environmental engineering – for students with engineering degrees – and the Master of Science in environmental systems – aimed at practicing professionals with degrees in other science disciplines.

The degrees are timely, according to their designers, because the curricula not only provide training in sustainability, green engineering and ecology, but also address the nation’s most pressing environmental challenges: emerging contaminants and aging environmental infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers, in its most recent report card, gave an overall grade of D for the infrastructure in the United States, and the country’s drinking water, wastewater, energy and hazardous waste systems all received either a D or D minus.

“These new environmental graduate programs will train environmental engineers and scientists to replace the aging infrastructure with sustainable designs and develop innovative approaches to treat emerging contaminants associated with personal care products, endocrine-disrupting compounds and pharmaceutical drugs, as well as conventional pollutants,” said Dr. Richard O. Mines, professor of environmental engineering and director of the School of Engineering’s graduate programs.

Both programs are designed for working professionals, with most courses offered once a week in the evenings. The programs have four major areas of study, where students will study the most advanced techniques and models in biotechnology and remediation, water quality, solid and hazardous waste and air quality issues. A number of the courses include an emphasis on green engineering and sustainable design. The programs also emphasize management, adding skills in leadership and project management while also upgrading each student’s scientific and engineering skills.

The Master of Science in Engineering in environmental engineering is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in any area of engineering. Earning an environmental engineering degree will allow the graduate to be eligible for registration as a professional engineer after passing the fundamentals of engineering examination. In addition, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying has approved new rules that will eventually require applicants for the professional engineer certification to obtain a master’s degree or equivalent to be eligible for the exam

The Master of Science in environmental systems offers practicing professionals with backgrounds in biology, chemistry and environmental science the opportunity to take advanced courses related to environmental engineering and science, which will extend their knowledge and enable them to effectively work on multidisciplinary teams to solve challenging environmental problems. The degree is available to students with an undergraduate degree in any area of science. Earning the Master of Science in environmental systems also makes the graduate eligible for registration on the National Registry of Environmental Professionals.

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Mercer Trustees Approve Record Operating Budget, New Degree Programs

Mercer University’s Board of Trustees recently approved a $181.3 million operating budget for next year, a $9.4 million, or 5.5 percent, increase over the current budget. Tuition for Mercer’s undergraduate programs will increase by 2.9 percent, the smallest tuition increase at Mercer in at least 15 years. Last year’s increase for Macon undergraduate programs was 6.5 percent, compared with 6.8 percent in 2007 and 7 percent in 2006. Some graduate and professional programs will not see any increase in tuition next year, while others will go up 2.9 to 6.9 percent.

“In preparing next year’s budget, we sought to hold our tuition increases to a minimum in recognition of the current economic climate, while also ensuring that the University maintains progress toward meeting the goals in the 10-year plan that was approved by the Board of Trustees in 2008,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “We have been fortunate in that we continue to experience record-setting enrollments – particularly in our graduate and professional programs – and the University is enjoying very strong momentum in the midst of a challenging environment.”

The board also approved several new undergraduate and graduate degrees programs. The College of Continuing and Professional Studies will add an undergraduate major in human resources administration and development for students in Mercer’s Regional Academic Centers. The School of Engineering is adding two new master’s programs – a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Science in Environmental Systems. A new Master of Arts in Christian Ministry will be offered by the James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology.

New certificate programs that were approved include career development in the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, and minority health and health disparities, and rural health, both in the School of Medicine.

The board adopted a resolution commending a Walter F. George School of Law mock trial team that took top honors at this month’s American Bar Association National Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy Competition. The Mercer Law School team defeated Harvard and the University of Houston law schools in the semi-final and final rounds, respectively. The elite invitation-only competition included 20 law schools from across the nation.

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McAfee School of Theology Adds Global Christianity Concentration

Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology has added a new concentration in global Christianity to its Master of Divinity program. The concentration will help students explore and address the critical aspects of Christianity’s “shift southward” in the 21st Century and to train new ministers to work in this dynamic environment.

The global Christianity concentration is designed to expand the view of Christianity, that it must be understood as a multi-cultural and global movement, an enduring theological tradition that finds new life in the realities of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Students will also explore how the dramatic growth of world Christianity changes the missionary dimension in all churches, from initiators to receptors, of mission outreach. The concentration will also explore ways to help growing churches in need of theologically trained leaders, ranging from seminary professors to grassroots leaders of indigenous churches. Finally, the concentration will help those who are being educated to lead religious communities to help them incorporate the understanding of these realities into their ministry and outreach.

“This concentration is designed to help our students form partnerships with Christians around the world and to recognize the multi-varied expressions of the Christian faith as it is expressed – especially in the Southern hemisphere,” said Dr. Ronald W. Johnson, professor of mission and evangelism and coordinator of the Global Christianity concentration. “Our students will learn how Christians in other cultures live out their sense of God’s mission in the world and how they express their faith, often in challenging situations. This will help students learn to pray for, cooperate with and support the growth of Christians and the Christian faith around the world. It will give our students an opportunity to share their insights into their faith and to learn from other cultures. The program will also help our students tell the story of faith around the world.”

Students in the Master of Divinity program are eligible to apply to the concentration after one year in the program, and several have already done so. In addition to the core Master of Divinity requirements, students in the global Christianity concentration must complete 12 hours of study in global mission and cultural studies. Students are also encouraged to take their nine free elective hours in cross-cultural or anthropological studies through the Atlanta Theological Association consortium. Students in the concentration will be required to take their Mentoring II course in a cross-cultural, and preferably overseas, placement. In addition, students will be asked to focus on their cross-cultural experience for their capstone paper.

“The concentration in global Christianity has the potential to become a signature program that vastly enlarges our students’ horizons and creates opportunities for them to become global Christian leaders,” said Dean R. Alan Culpepper.

For more information about the Master of Divinity program or the global Christianity concentration, contact the McAfee Admissions Office at (678) 547-6474 or (888) 471-9922 or theoadmiss@mercer.edu.

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Mercer University Sets Spring Enrollment Record

Mercer University has set a spring enrollment record, surpassing last year’s total by 547 students. Based on official 15th class day numbers, Mercer has enrolled 7,591 students this spring, 7.8 percent more than the comparable period last year.

The record comes on the heels of the largest fall enrollment in the university’s 176-year history. The most significant gains in spring enrollment were recorded in Mercer’s Tift College of Education, which saw an increase of 327 students, or 21.5 percent over last year’s figures. The College of Continuing and Professional Studies was up 125 students, or 16.2 percent over last year.

Fall to spring freshman retention on the Macon campus also showed a healthy increase over the past two years, improving to 94.8 percent versus 93.6 percent for the fall 2007 and fall 2006 entering classes.

“A number of our degree programs are proving to be particularly popular in this economic environment,” said President William D. Underwood. “There is growing demand for several of Mercer’s graduate programs, particularly at the Ph.D. level. The strong retention figures for our freshman class are also very encouraging.”

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Business School To Offer Accelerated Day MBA in Atlanta

Mercer University is offering a new twist to its Master of Business Administration degree: day classes. Mercer’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics has long offered its Flexible MBA in the evenings on the University’s Atlanta campus; now it will offer an accelerated MBA program during the day. This accelerated program will afford qualified individuals the opportunity to earn an MBA from an internationally accredited business school in just one year.

The MBA is a professional degree for qualified students interested in the management of human, material and financial resources in business, government and nonprofit organizations. The day program is tailored to meet the needs of individuals re-tooling their careers or returning to the work place, including retired military personnel, international students, traditional graduates desiring to stay on a day schedule and shift workers in such fields as health care or public safety.

The Stetson School of Business and Economics holds the highest level of accreditation available for business schools from AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Only 25 percent of business schools in the world have earned this accreditation. The School was named one of the “Top 296 Business Schools” and also ranked No. 3 in the nation by the Princeton Review for “Greatest Opportunity for Women.”

About the Accelerated MBA Program:
For students who need foundation courses in business, the program will begin with evening courses in May. Then, in July, the entire cohort will begin with two new 1.5 credit classes, Business Communication and Team Dynamics, which are offered in a four-week session, with two classes per week per class, either in morning or afternoon blocks.

All students continue, cohort-style, with two eight-week fall sessions and two eight-week spring sessions. Students will take three classes per session on four-day schedules – no classes will meet on Fridays. As with the summer session, students may choose morning or afternoon blocks to accommodate their individual and family needs. The program will conclude in May.

Applicants must have a four-year bachelor’s degree with an acceptable level of scholarship from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning. The degree may be in any discipline. Applicants are also required to take the Graduate Management Admission Test. The admission decision is based upon assessment of the applicant’s ability for successful graduate study. This assessment will be based upon aptitude, measured by the GMAT, previous academic record and, in some instances, successful managerial experience.

For more information on this program, visit business.mercer.edu or contact the Stetson School of Business and Economics Admissions Office at (678) 547-6417 or atlbusadm@mercer.edu.

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Atlanta Campus Partners with Harvard To Explore Ethical Implications of Climate Change

What are the ethical implications of climate change? What can people do to confront and solve this mounting challenge? How can we better care for God’s Creation? More than 250 students, faculty and staff from Mercer University will be looking for answers to those questions when they gather at a conference, titled “Caring for Creation: Ethical Responses to Climate Change,” on Feb. 27 and 28 on the University’s Atlanta campus.

Mercer, in partnership with Harvard Medical School’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, will hold the multidisciplinary conference in the Atlanta Administration and Conference Center. The event is organized by the Atlanta Campus Quality Enhancement Plan Team as part of a campuswide effort to examine ethical issues.

“Caring for Creation is a moral obligation incumbent on every human being. It should be especially important to Christians and other people of faith who recognize that Creation belongs to God and that we are called to be good stewards of it,” said Dr. David Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and conference organizer. “Climate change is recognized by scientific authorities around the world as one of the leading long-term threats to the well-being of Creation — especially to human beings, our health and our civilizations. This conference will bring together some of the world’s leading experts on climate and on Creation care to explore these critically important issues.”

The conference will be highlighted by presentations from several prominent climate change scientists, including Dr. Paul Epstein, a professor at Harvard Medical School who has written extensively on the impact of climate change on human health; Dr. Judith Curry, a professor at Georgia Tech and an expert on climate modeling and climate change; and Dr. Howard Frumkin, director of the National Center for Environmental Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Friday, Feb. 27, the program will begin at 7:30 p.m. following a dinner, with a welcome from Dr. Gushee and Dr. Epstein. Three plenary addresses will follow, moderated by Michael Battle of the Interdenominational Theological Center. The addresses include: “The Science of Climate Change,” by Dr. Curry; “The Health Effects of Climate Change,” by Dr. Frumkin; and “Religious and Ethical Reflections on Climate Change,” by Cheryl Bridges Johns of the Church of God Theological Seminary. The evening will conclude with a discussion.

On Saturday, Feb. 28, two groups of breakout sessions will be held from 9 to 10:15 a.m. and from 10:45 a.m. and noon. Breakout sessions will include: “Basic Climate Science,” with Dr. Curry; “Local Environmental Policy” with Michael Battle; “Climate Change and Human Health” with Dr. Frumkin; “National and International Climate Policy” with Dr. Epstein; “Greening the Campus/Lifestyle Changes,” with Richard Bohannon and Corrine Williams; “Religious and Ethical Issues,” with Bridges Johns and Dr. Gushee; and “Sustainable Agriculture” with Daron Joffe, or “Farmer D.” The conference will conclude with a lunch discussion beginning at noon.

Attendees are reading Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson’s book, The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth, prior to attending the conference.

The QEP Atlanta mission is to enhance interdisciplinary reflection on ethical issues at Mercer through seminars and other events. Previous QEP seminars have focused on dimensions of moral decision making. This year’s conference marks a departure from past events, with its sustained attention to one issue: the environment, and, in particular, climate change.

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Mercer Announces Four-Year Graduation Guarantee

With a goal of reducing the cost of a college education for students and their families, Mercer University today announced an initiative called the “Four-Year Pledge” to help more undergraduate students earn their degrees on time.

Trends over the past decade indicate that college students are increasingly failing to graduate within four years. Nationally, the average time from matriculation to graduation now exceeds five years, with only 37 percent of students graduating in four years. This trend is making a college education significantly more expensive by inflating the direct costs of college — tuition, fees, room and board — as well as the indirect costs associated with delaying entry into the employment market.

“At a growing number of colleges and universities, a four-year undergraduate degree is going the way of the dinosaur,” said Brian Dalton, Mercer’s vice president for enrollment management. “The Mercer Four-Year Pledge reflects the commitment of our faculty and staff to the success of our students. It is designed to encourage students to be intentional and responsible in successfully pursuing an undergraduate degree within four years of matriculation. And it encourages the University to be a responsible partner in working with students to achieve this desired outcome,” Dalton said.

In keeping with the institution’s 176-year tradition of excellence, leadership and innovation in higher education, Mercer pledges to provide an educational environment that enables and encourages students to graduate within eight semesters of matriculation. Beginning with the freshman class of 2009, students who do their work, pass their classes, and follow the advice of faculty advisers will graduate within four years. Under the program, if a student does not graduate within this time frame, the cost of whatever additional courses are required to graduate will be absorbed by the University.

One of only a handful of universities in the country to offer such a guarantee, the University is backing up the pledge with major investments in technology upgrades to allow even better tracking, monitoring and advising as students and their academic advisers navigate progress toward a four-year degree. Mercer will provide written audits to students at the end of each academic year, documenting progress toward their goal of graduating in four years. The institution will also continue investing millions of dollars in institutionally funded scholarships to ensure that the University offers the affordable value that national publications have recognized. The Princeton Review has designated Mercer as a “Best Value” for its excellent academics and “relatively low costs of attendance,” while U.S. News & World Report includes Mercer on its list of “Great Schools, Great Prices.”

“With this pledge, we seek to ensure that our students enter the next phase of their lives much faster than the national average – avoiding the additional financial burden that results from prolonging an undergraduate education and accelerating their journey to becoming productive and successful citizens,” Dalton said.

The Mercer Four-Year Pledge states: “If the student adheres to all pledge stipulations and is not able to graduate within four years of matriculating, Mercer will provide the student a waiver of tuition and fees for all additional courses required for graduation. If the student has lived in campus housing all four years, then the University will provide a waiver of on-campus housing costs. If the student has utilized campus meal plans for all four years, then the University will provide an equivalent meal plan at no cost for the additional required time of enrollment.”

“A college education represents one of the most precious opportunities in our society,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “Mercer University is committed to helping reduce the cost of higher education, thus lightening the financial burdens on our students and their families.”

For more information on the Four-Year Pledge, go to www.mercer.edu/pledge or call (800) 840-8577 or (478) 301-2120.

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Mercer Earns Highest Federal Designation for Community Service

Mercer University has earned the highest federal recognition for community engagement, the Corporation for National and Community Service announced today. For the University’s exemplary service efforts and service to the community, the Corporation named Mercer to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2008.

“This award confirms Mercer’s deep commitment to community engagement. It was difficult to select only a few projects for our President’s Honor Roll application because Mercer faculty and students are so involved in community outreach,” said Dr. Mary Alice Morgan, Mercer’s senior vice provost for service-learning. “From individual students working on a Habitat for Humanity house to Mercer’s international outreach through Mercer On Mission, the university models what it means to be a good citizen.”

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Mercer was named to the Honor Roll in 2006 for its commitment to community engagement. Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

Mercer’s commitment to community engagement is deeply embedded in all aspects and all campuses of the University, including service-learning, volunteering and University-community partnerships, such as the College Hill Corridor, which began as a student-led effort and has led to the creation of a potential reinvention of the area between downtown Macon and the campus.

Mercer students across the University amassed more than 103,000 hours of community service in 2008 – an average of 14 hours per student – and more than 4,900 students engaged in some type of service work. Community engagement spans across the University’s campuses and colleges: from School of Medicine students’ work with victims of the Imperial Sugar Co. plant explosion outside Savannah; to the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing students’ and faculty’s work with medically fragile children at Camp Kudzu outside Atlanta; to the millions of dollars invested by the University to redevelop the areas around the Macon campus. The University’s efforts reach around the globe as well through Mercer On Mission, a summer service-learning program in which groups of students travel to the developing world to work on projects that reduce human suffering.

In addition to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, Mercer has received a number of awards and recognitions recently for its commitment to community engagement. In October, PreLaw Magazine ranked Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law at No. 6 in the nation among Public Interest Law Schools. In December, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized Mercer for its Community Engagement Classification. Mercer is one of only 195 universities in the nation – and one just three in Georgia – to receive that designation.

“In this time of economic distress, we need volunteers more than ever. College students represent an enormous pool of idealism and energy to help tackle some of our toughest challenges,” said Stephen Goldsmith, vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the Honor Roll. “We salute Mercer University for making community service a campus priority, and thank the millions of college students who are helping to renew America through service to others.”

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations. For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.

Overall, the Corporation honored six schools with Presidential Awards. In addition, 83 were named as Honor Roll With Distinction members and 546 schools as Honor Roll members. The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation, in collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. In total, 635 schools were recognized. A full list is available at www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

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Carnegie Foundation Selects Mercer for its National Community Engagement Designation

Mercer University has earned national recognition from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its commitment to community engagement, the foundation announced today.

Mercer is the only college in Georgia, and one of just 119 in the United States, to be selected by the foundation for its 2008 Community Engagement Classification. Mercer joins 76 other institutions identified in the 2006 selection process, including Emory University and Spelman College, the only other Georgia institutions to achieve the classification to date.

“Strong community engagement has long been a Mercer University hallmark,” said President William D. Underwood. “Robust service-learning programs, a culture of volunteerism and major institutional investments in the neighborhoods surrounding our campuses have all contributed to this designation by the Carnegie Foundation. This kind of national recognition is further validation of the institution’s commitment to community engagement.”

The foundation invited colleges and universities with an institutional focus on community engagement to apply for the classification, previously developed and offered in 2006 as part of an extensive restructuring of The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Unlike the Foundation’s other classifications that rely only on national data, this is an “elective” classification – institutions elected to participate by submitting extensive documentation describing the nature and scope of their engagement with the community. This approach enabled the foundation to address elements of institutional mission and distinctiveness that are not represented in the national data on colleges and universities.

This year, 147 institutions applied to document community engagement. Applications were reviewed by an expert advisory team and 119 were successfully classified as community engaged institutions. Mercer was one of only 51 private colleges and universities in the United States to achieve the designation.

“I have long known and taken pride in the commitment to service and community outreach exhibited by Mercer faculty and staff, but even I was surprised by the depth and broad scale of service-learning and community engagement revealed through the process of preparing our Carnegie application,” said Dr. Mary Alice Morgan, co-chair of the application committee and senior vice provost for service-learning. “This designation truly testifies to the ethics of community engagement that are a distinctive part of the Mercer mission and ethos.”

"Mercer has a long tradition of community engagement and learning based on that engagement and is proud to join the ranks of other fine institutions in this new classification, including Duke University, Tulane University and Emory,” said Dr. Peter Brown, chair of the application committee and senior vice provost. “With this national recognition, we will be able to more closely measure our progress and impact, as we pursue our goals of increased community engagement under the University’s 10-year strategic plan.”

In addition to its decades-long commitment to service-learning, which engages students in community service as part of their coursework, Mercer has a long history of partnering with organizations throughout the communities it serves to leverage University resources to advance those communities. Mercer’s partnerships with dozens of agencies and organizations bring in millions of dollars in grant funding to help the community, engage students in service-learning and aid in community-focused faculty research.

Because of those commitments, the foundation selected Mercer for the highest category, “Curricular Engagement and Outreach and Partnerships,” a combination of the two other categories within the classification. In Georgia, only Emory University shares this designation. According to the foundation, to be categorized in curricular engagement, schools must engage in teaching, learning and scholarship that addresses community needs, deepens students’ learning, enhances community well-being and enriches the scholarship of the institution. The outreach and partnerships category describes two different but related approaches to community engagement. The first focuses on the application and provision of institutional resources for community use with benefits to both campus and community. The latter focuses on collaborative interactions with community and related scholarship for the mutually beneficial exchange, exploration and application of knowledge, information and resources. Twenty-one schools were selected in only one category, including Spelman College, which is in the curricular engagement category.

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Trustees Approve Two Ph.D. Programs, Elect New Board Members And Officers

Mercer trustees at their annual meeting on December4th approved new Ph.D. programs in nursing and curriculum and instruction, welcomed 10 new board members, elected officers for 2009, and recognized an outgoing board member as a Life Trustee.

The new doctoral programs – Mercer’s third and fourth – fulfill objectives in the University’s recently-adopted 10-year strategic plan to expand Ph.D. offerings.

The Ph.D. in nursing is designed to address a critical shortage of nurse educators in Georgia, which is contributing to a shortage of nurses. According to a recent report issued by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, faculty shortages at nursing schools across the country are limiting student enrollment at a time when the demand for nurses is at its highest level. The program is expected to enroll its first students in Fall 2009 at the University’s Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in Atlanta.

The curriculum and instruction doctoral program joins an existing Ph.D. program in educational leadership (P-12 school leadership and higher education leadership tracks) — offered through Mercer’s Tift College of Education — that currently enrolls more than 100 students.

Communities across the nation are experiencing dramatic shortages of highly qualified educators who have a commitment to lifelong teaching and learning. The Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction will help address this vital need by promoting the exchange of new ideas and possibilities across university, P-12, political and community settings. The first students in the program, which will be offered on both the Macon and Atlanta campuses, are expected to enroll in Fall 2009.

Mercer’s first Ph.D. program – in pharmaceutical sciences – was launched in 1995.

New trustees elected to serve five-year terms include James A. Bishop, Sea Island; G. Marshall Butler, Forsyth; Dwight J. Davis, Atlanta; Judge Walter Homer Drake Jr., Newnan; William A. Fickling Jr., Macon; David E. Hudson, Augusta; J. Reg Murphy, Sea Island; Rev. Julie Pennington-Russell, Decatur; and Judge W. Louis Sands, Albany. A.V. Elliott of Macon was elected to serve the unexpired term of Milton Ferrell, who died earlier this month and was memorialized at today’s meeting.

Judge Drake was unanimously elected to serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees for 2009. Atlanta attorney Diane Owens was elected chair of the board’s Executive Committee. Other committee chairs for 2009 include: Miriam M. (Mimi) Holland, Educational Policy Committee; Roddy J.H. Clark, University Honors Committee; Cathy Callaway Adams, Audit Committee; L. Richard Plunkett, Finance, Investment and Property Committee; Richard A. (Doc) Schneider, Development Committee; and W. Anthony (Tony) Moye, Athletics Committee.

Atlanta attorney Robert L. Steed, whose term on the board expires this month, was unanimously elected a Life Trustee, a designation only conveyed to seven individuals in the University’s 175-year history. Steed, a former chairman of the Board of Trustees, has served several terms on Mercer’s governing board. He holds undergraduate and law degrees from Mercer and was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree by the University in 1979.

Other trustees rotating off the board this month include Malcolm S. Burgess Jr., Macon; Mary Jane Cardwell, Waycross; the Rev. James C. Elder Jr., Columbus; James H. Hall III, Virginia Beach, Va.; Robert F. Hatcher, Macon; David E. Linch, Atlanta; Howell L. Watkins II, Miami, Fla.; and H. Al Williams, Macon. Hatcher was recognized at the conclusion of the trustees meeting for his service over the past year as chairman of the board.

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Mercer Law School Graduates Pass State Bar Exam in Record Margin

More than 95 percent of Mercer University School of Law graduates who took the Georgia Bar Examination for the first time in July passed, according to the annual report released Nov. 3 by the Georgia Office of Bar Admissions.

The first-time pass rate of 95.8 percent for Mercer Law School graduates is the highest first-time pass rate at the law school this decade. Since 2001, Mercer’s first-time pass rate has been as high as 94.2 percent. The score this year is a testament to the dedicated faculty and extraordinary law school students who are trained at Mercer, said Dean Daisy Hurst Floyd.

“I am enormously proud of how our graduates performed this year on the state bar examination,” Dean Floyd said. “I am equally proud of our faculty, administration and staff who work tirelessly each day to help our students become exemplary lawyers who will join the legal profession with excellent skills, integrity, and a commitment to service. The fact that our graduates performed so well on the state bar exam is yet another confirmation of the quality of legal education provided at Mercer University School of Law.”

Mercer Law School is ranked among the Top 100 law schools in the United States, and its legal writing program is the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 ranking of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” The law school’s public interest law program was recently ranked No. 6 in the nation by preLaw Magazine.

“We are delighted for all our graduates who passed the bar,” said Mary S. Donovan, assistant dean for student affairs at Mercer Law School. “We look forward to seeing all their good work in practice.”

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Mercer to Offer Free GMAT Course For Applicants to Two of Its Programs

Mercer University’s Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics will offer free GMAT prep courses for up to 40 qualified applicants to two of its most popular programs - the Master of Business Administration and its new Master of Accountancy program.

The course will run from 2 to 6 p.m. for four Saturdays, Sept. 6, 13, 20, and 27, in the Business and Education Building on Mercer’s Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta. The course will be held for applicants in time for second session of the fall semester, as well those seeking admission to the spring semester. The apply to the programs, contact Tracey M. Wofford, associate director of admissions, at (678) 547-6422 or wofford_tm@mercer.edu. For information about the GMAT prep course, or to register once application has been made to the graduate programs, contact Kaitlin David in the School of Business at david_kr@mercer.edu or (678) 547-6161.

Prospective students can visit the School’s Web site, www.mercer.edu/business and click the prep course link for registration information and to check future prep courses and dates.

The Stetson School of Business and Economics holds the highest level of accreditation available for business schools from AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. Long a leader in business education in Atlanta with its evening MBA program, the School of Business launched this fall the Master of Accountancy. Both the MBA and MAcc are evening programs targeted toward the growing group of professionals in the Atlanta area in need of career-focused programs to help them succeed.

The Master of Accountancy degree will be offered over one calendar year. The degree is a 30-semester program comprised of 10 courses. The degree is intended to provide students with the knowledge and skills consistent with a professional graduate degree. The program is designed to prepare students for careers in public or private accounting and enable them to achieve career advancement in the accounting profession. While providing an in-depth study in basic areas of accounting, through its electives, it permits specialization in one of two emphases: public accounting (including tax and financial accounting) and international accounting (relevant to public and private accounting).

The Flexible MBA is a self-paced program that provides adults with the flexibility to attain an advanced business degree without interrupting their careers. Classes are held one evening per week in eight-week sessions, allowing students to complete their degrees along a timeline they design.

The course and materials will be available free of charge to the first 40 qualified individuals who register with the Atlanta Office of Admissions. To qualify, individuals must make application to the University’s Atlanta MBA or MAcc program and provide transcripts showing that they have previously earned a four-year degree from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum 2.5 GPA. International applicants must also have achieved the minimum required TOEFL score for admission and provide an evaluation of any international transcripts showing equivalency to a U.S. four year degree.

For more information, visit the degree programs section of the Stetson School of Business Web page at www.mercer.edu/business. Additionally, online applications for all degree programs are available on the Web site through the “Application” link within each degree program's information page. To contact the Atlanta Office of Admissions for the School of Business, call Tracey M. Wofford, associate director of admissions, at (678) 547-6422 or e-mail wofford_tm@mercer.edu.

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Tift College of Education Programs Expand Throughout State

Tift College of Education is expanding several programs, including the graduate program. The College’s Master of Education degree with a concentration in early childhood education, which is currently offered on the Atlanta campus, also will be available at the Douglas County and Henry County Regional Academic Centers beginning this fall.

The M.Ed. program for teachers consists of 10 classes designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of certified teachers while also providing teachers with the opportunity to upgrade their teaching certificate to a master’s level (T-5). Classes are arranged in cohort groups that will start each fall.

As a twist, the master’s level early childhood education program in Douglas and Henry Counties will be a hybrid program, with learning occurring in the classroom and in an online environment. Each program will have the same objectives and offer the same courses, though the Atlanta program will continue to meet all classes face to face.

The College also offers M.Ed. degrees in middle grades education, reading, secondary education and educational leadership, as well as a Collaborative Educator program.

In addition to the Master of Education degree program, other Tift College of Education programs are expanding their borders. The College introduced the Early Care and Education program at the Henry County Regional Academic Center in McDonough in fall 2006 with an inaugural class of 21 students. Although only a year and a half old, the program—which currently enrolls 85 students — is opening its doors to new communities. In addition to the Henry County Center, students interested in the program can now enroll at the Douglas County Regional Academic Center in Lithia Springs and at the Atlanta campus.

This Bachelor of Science in Education degree, with a major in early care and education, is designed for individuals who wish to be certified to teach children from birth to five years of age. Graduates of the early care and education program are qualified for administrative, certified teaching, or social service positions with child care centers, Head Start programs, pre-kindergarten programs, social services agencies, and other facilities designed for the care and development of young children.

Plans are also underway to expand the educational leadership program to the Savannah campus beginning fall 2008, making Tift College of Education the third of Mercer’s schools and colleges to offer programs in Savannah. The program will join the four-year doctor of medicine program offered by the School of Medicine and the Professional Master of Business Administration degree offered by the Stetson School of Business and Economics.

Information about all Tift College of Education programs can be found at http://www.mercer.edu/education.