We are U
“Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Advertisements and recruiting materials sport a new design now that Manchester is a University. The messaging, like in the ad here, tells the Manchester story for both the undergraduate and graduate programs. (Click on photo for enlargement) Related links: A more-complex institution; not just a name change Manchester University name change news release July 2012 How Manchester puts Students First! More pictures from this article:

IMAGINE you are Manchester University.

What kind of car would you drive?

• Ford
• Volkswagen
• BMW
• Subaru
• Smart Car

What kind of restaurant would you choose?

• someplace new
• an old favorite
• takeout
• where service is best
• an exotic cuisine

Responses to these questions, and scores of others, help Manchester’s marketing team tell the University’s story. The car of choice was a Smart Car: We’re green and people notice that.

The restaurant was a tie between new and exotic: We like to try new things and value global experiences.

The Big Takeaway from this survey of alumni, students and employees: Manchester University is conscientious, and environmentally and globally
aware. And MU students have opportunities to learn those values.

But which Manchester? That one on the new Fort Wayne campus or the 124-year-old liberal arts school 45 minutes away? The College of memory or the more complex University of today? All of the above.

“We’re bigger but the same,” say MU administrators, and that’s true on many levels. Classes at the College of Pharmacy are small, just as they have been at Manchester for generations. Smallness in size means faculty and staff interact with the students, know their strengths and celebrate their achievments long after they graduate.

And service, of course – the Manchester legacy of its Church of the Brethren roots – stretches throughout both campuses. Service is a requirement of much of the coursework as MU demonstrates the wealth of ways individuals and teamwork can make a difference in the lives of others.

Manchester’s nationally acclaimed Center for Service Opportunities has identified more than 100 new sites for the Fort Wayne area, available for all students, faculty and staff. The latest Manchester volunteer guide that now serves both campuses has more than tripled in size, to 70 pages from 20.

Just like the Smart Car, “green” also is defining Manchester University. The transformed Holl-Kintner Science Hall that is now the Academic Center is more energy-efficient. As a result, other North Manchester
campus buildings are greener, too.

Using the tunnel system under the mall, Manchester tied HVAC service not only to the Academic Center, but also to Cordier Auditorium, the Union and Science Center – all in one underground loop. A new “super
high-efficiency boiler” and a heat recovery chiller installed in the Science Center augment three old-tech boilers. “The most energy-efficient source will always be the first to carry the heating and cooling loads,” explains Gary Heckman ’02, MU heat systems supervisor.

The Fort Wayne campus was designed “green,” right down to its 15 parking spaces restricted to energy-efficient vehicles.

The pharmacy program and Fort Wayne campus are so technologically advanced, MU is the envy of other Pharm.D. programs. Pharmacy students take their tests online, follow along with faculty lectures online
and do all of their papers online. The Information Technology Service (ITS) team serves both campuses, ready to bring lessons and technology they have learned in Fort Wayne back to North Manchester.

It’s a sure thing that Manchester University will continue to become more complex, say its leaders. The non-residential Fort Wayne campus is designed especially for the more mature doctoral pharmacy student, and also for expansion. MU leaders are considering professional certifications, other graduate degrees and online programs that draw on the strengths of the Manchester curriculum, faculty and reputation.

“We made changes this year that affected many people – the name change, addition of a new campus, start of the Pharmacy program, implementation of a tobacco-free campus policy, addition of two new
buildings, redesign of our parking, and much more,” President Jo Young ’69 Switzer told the Board of Trustees at its fall meeting.

“Challenges are not new at Manchester University, and our strengths are similar to the ones that helped Manchester at the turn into the 20th century. We still have a strong faculty, motivated students, and a
sufficient, but not extravagant, campus,” President Switzer said.

“Sometimes, the more things change, the more they
stay the same.”

A more-complex institution; not just
a name change

IT’S BEEN A BUSY summer and fall as Manchester adapts to its new complexity as a University with two campuses and a new professional doctoral program:

• Changed our name to University.
  
  
• Moved into a new $20 million Fort Wayne campus designed especially for pharmacy study and research, and for connecting with the northeast Indiana community.
  
  
• Embarked on a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) professional degree program with a first class of 64 students.
  
  
• Welcomed Manchester’s largest student enrollment since the Vietnam Era (1,345).
  
  
• Moved 59 faculty offices across campus into a new $9.2 million Academic Center, and moved dozens of other offices into many of the newly vacated spaces.
  
  
• Increased the total raised for the Students First! campaign to $80,368,086.
  
  
• Dedicated two new buildings.
  
  
• Welcomed one of the largest crowds in recent history to Homecoming 2012.