Widening the Circle of Learners
Growing the circle of learners Taylor serves is a missional imperative and essential for institutional vitality. This includes increasing the diversity of our student body, expanding graduate offerings, and investing in academic programming in the health sciences, innovation and entrepreneurship, data and computing sciences, and leadership.
Through our residential campus and various digital learning opportunities, we aspire to serve a significantly larger number of future servant-leaders for the global church.
- Grow Taylor’s student body by 25% by boosting undergraduate enrollment.
- Equip students preparing for careers in nursing and the health sciences.
- Offer graduate degrees through a combination of accelerated 4+1 or 4+2 offerings.
$34.4M
As of April 2024
$70M Goal
Health Sciences
Developing Future Healthcare Practitioners
In 2022, Taylor announced a renewed commitment to the Health Sciences. After a thorough strategic planning process that considered our areas of expertise and the evolving market demands, we identified new academic programs in the Health Sciences. These programs, including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies, and a Master of Science in Medical Science, represent strong interest areas among prospective students and are a tremendous match for Taylor’s mission.
The School of Nursing will be housed in the renovated Nussbaum Science Center, and Physician Assistant Studies will be in the Randall Environmental Center.
Innovative Partnership with Parkview Health
In February 2023, an industry-leading partnership with Parkview Health of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was announced. This partnership will help launch the School of Nursing and bring unique opportunities for our students, including access to Parkview Health's extensive network of clinical sites and a student loan payback program.
Faculty Appointments
- Dr. Karen Elsea was appointed as the Dean of Nursing. She has 35 years of nursing experience, including 14 years at the University of Indianapolis School of Nursing.
- Lori Fauquher, MS, PA-C, was named Director of the Physician Assistant Program. She comes to Taylor with nearly 20 years of experience as a physician assistant in emergency medicine, orthopedics, and family medicine.
School of Business
Endowing the School of Business, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership
Endowing a School of Business is an investment in an academic area where Taylor is already succeeding and will amplify the business department’s impact. It aspires to be the leading business program among the more than 185 Christian institutions in the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
- Attract and retain world-class faculty by funding endowed chairs and making strategic hires.
- Enhance global internships through real-world experiences.
- Create seed funding for new student entrepreneurial ventures.
- Implement a degree option of 3+1 or 4+1 BA/MBA.
- Develop a MA in Global Leadership
- Extend the Innovation and Entrepreneurship minor and certificate, regardless of major.
- Increase internships, both national and international.
The Sciences
Engineering, Data Science, Applied and Computational Mathematics
$2 Million Grant for Mechanical Engineering
In September 2023, Taylor announced plans to expand its growing ABET-accredited engineering program to include a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship. Starting in spring 2024, a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MEIE) will be offered. A nearly $2 million grant from the Don Wood Foundation of Fort Wayne makes this expansion possible.
Additional academic investments include market research to identify and launch pre-collegiate and professional certificate offerings and the launch of a data science academic program that can complement any academic major on campus.
Related Initiatives
Graduate Programs in Education and Leadership
Conduct market research to identify and launch graduate and certificate programs.
Sponsored Research for Academic Divisions
Increase sponsored research, grants, and foundation dollars for institutional thriving.
Expanded Sacred Roots Ministry
Provide research relationships and resources to equip and empower leaders serving in challenging ministry contexts.
Renovation of Zondervan Library
Balance scholarship, studying, and collaboration needs for the digital learning age.
Renovate Reade, Euler, Rupp, and Ayres
Investments in Taylor’s strong liberal-arts educational buildings to enhance the learning experience of on-campus students.
Grants for Academic Innovation
Provide seed funding for academic departments to gauge market interest for new curricular offerings.
Summer Camps for High School Students
Launch summer camps in business and health sciences.
Freedom Ride Tours
Expand intercultural and historical educational engagements with civil rights trips and experiential learning.
Expand Digital Learning Capabilities
Initiatives to launch and expand academic programs to serve nontraditional students.
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