GVSU to offer master's in philanthropy

Grand Valley State University will offer a Master in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) degree beginning fall 2014. The new degree was approved by the Board of Trustees at its April 30 meeting in Allendale.

The MPNL will be housed in the School of Public, Nonprofit and Health Administration. In creating the new master’s degree, the experience and expertise of Grand Valley’s Johnson Center for Philanthropy was tapped. The degree will prepare graduate students for leadership positions in the nonprofit sector.

The board also approved a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry. Grand Valley currently offers five emphasis areas in the chemistry major: professional, technical, environmental, education and biochemistry and biotechnology. Of these, biochemistry is the largest with 45 percent of the majors who have declared an emphasis.

At the Academic and Student Affairs Committee meeting, members heard recommendations from the Internationalization Task Force. Mark Schaub, co-chair of the task force, said the No. 1 recommendation is that global learning be taught to students in every major. Another recommendation was to include global learning in more co-curricular student activities.

Members of the task force held town hall meetings last fall and compiled results from a survey of the campus community regarding global learning. 

Other academic year highlights from the Padnos International Center included a record number of international students (378), Grand Valley ranked fifth in its class for study abroad participation, and the university tied for first for masters-granting institution for number of faculty Fulbright recipients with three.