MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (Feb. 3, 2022) – Mount Vernon Nazarene University has received a nearly $48,000 Program Development Grant award from NetVUE to fund the expansion of vocational exploration in the student experience at MVNU. The grant will be used May 1 through April 30, 2024.

“Our university motto, ‘To Seek to Learn is to Seek to Serve,’ reflects an ethos of learning and service that we hope will define our students’ lives,” said Dr. Brett Wiley, Director of General Education and Director of the Honors Program. “This grant will support efforts to unify the campus around these ideals and to organize the varied programs committed to encouraging our students in their exploration of calling.”

MVNU’s application outlined the need for vocational explorational activities and initiatives on campus, as well as their action plans for enacting change in undergraduate education. To implement vocational exploration into the General Education program and the campus culture, MVNU will utilize the grant funds from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education, which is made possible through the generous financial support to the Council of Independent Colleges by Lily Endowment Inc.

“Mount Vernon Nazarene University was selected based on the strength of the proposal and other materials that were submitted,” said Majorie Hass, President of the Council of Independent Colleges. “The high level of interest in this competitive grant program reflects the deep commitment of NetVUE member colleges and universities to enrich vocational exploration and discernment among undergraduate students.”

Wiley co-wrote the grant proposal with Dr. Brenita Nicholas-Edwards, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Dr. Dorothea Hawthorne, Associate Professor of English and Chair of the English and History Department. Dr. Nicholas-Edwards and Dr. Wiley will serve as co-directors of the grant and oversee its projects.

MVNU is a member of NetVUE and previously received a Professional Development Grant in the summer of 2019. The efforts accomplished through that first grant have helped lay the groundwork for the movement toward vocational exploration by this new grant.

MVNU President Dr. Henry W. Spaulding II is enthusiastic about the university’s continued work toward vocational exploration, made possible through the NetVUE grant.

“I am absolutely convinced that the work with NetVUE has opened new appreciation for the call toward Christian Higher Education on our campus. … This is good work, and we are happy to be involved,” said Spaulding.

###