Grace College raises money to "Bring Them Back" amid growing enrollment

A press release from Grace College states that they were able to provide direct financial assistance to dozens of incoming freshman and 57 returning students. "This past spring, the Grace advancement team was preparing for our annual Day of Giving when COVID-19 wreaked havoc on higher education and our world," said Dr. Drew Flamm, Grace College vice president of advancement and marketing. "Our team quickly shifted gears, realizing that many of our students and their parents would face economic challenges that could prohibit them from coming back to Grace in the fall," he said.

Multiple students acknowledged that the aid programs were instrumental in allowing them to return to campus while coping with job losses attributable to COVID-19. Additional efforts include revamping classrooms and creating improvised learning and community spaces to promote social distancing, and a contact tracing initiative. "Diligence by all is key," explained Grace College President Dr. Bill Katip. "We had every student, faculty, and staff member sign our Grace Campus Commitment which outlines attitudes and actions we are committed to as a campus. I'm so thankful for the campus' humility, unity and compliance so far," he said. Adaptability is the key to welcoming record numbers of students to campus. According to Katip, "Our campus preparedness implementation team worked tirelessly this summer to ensure that we had every facet of campus accounted for in reopening," said Katip. "But even with months of preparation and scenario planning, we have had to be extremely adaptive, asking ourselves, 'What new policies do we need to implement, and what existing practices do we need to cut in order to improve the safety on campus?'"

Increased enrollment has impacts beyond COVID-19. Grace College also established a partnership with Purdue University to provide additional academic opportunities for students. This arrangement will allow students of Grace College to earn masters-level credits through Purdue. Undergraduate programs have been invested in as well. Equipment purchases will benefit students in the Exercise Science and Engineering departments. Grace College intends to guide students through what could be a turbulent year. To this end, Grace College's 2020-21 campus theme is "Journey" which Katip also says is the focus of the institution as a whole, as faculty, staff, and students navigate a pandemic and an economic recession. "We see it necessary to continue to invest in and diversify our accelerated master's degree offerings. In light of the economic challenges, we are giving our graduates every advantage in the marketplace that we can. We want to develop service-oriented leaders with a high level of competence regardless of the field they pursue, from business to education, ministry to the arts and sciences," said Katip.