MU | N e w s
Junior sold on MU’s new academic program
experience built his confidence and helped
him focus more clearly on a career goal.
Marketing, Quinton says, is a broad field that
“can take you in a lot of different directions.
And that’s great.” Now that he’s discovered
his inner salesman, though, Quinton hopes
the new curriculum will help him hone his
natural gift for selling.
Quinton will be “ecstatic” if he can achieve
the new sales major. Fulfilling all the
When Quinton Flora ’15 learned that
Manchester was launching a program in sales
education, he felt “like a kid in a candy shop.”
Now, if the marketing major from
Huntington, Ind., can squeeze in all of the
new courses his senior year, he may become
the first MU graduate with a major in sales.
A $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.
is providing startup funding for the new sales
interdisciplinary program, which will offer
a major and a minor. It’s all part of a $62.7
million investment the Endowment is making
in 39 Indiana colleges and universities to help
graduates find meaningful employment in the
state.
For Quinton, the funding comes in the nick
of time. The MU junior discovered a talent
for sales last summer when he worked in the
lawn and garden department at Menards. The
6|
Manchester’s $1
million grant
from Lilly
Endowment
Inc. will
strengthen
student learning
and deepen the University’s role in
northeast Indiana economic development.
In addition to a new academic sales
program through the Accounting and
Business Department, MU’s proposal,
Liberal Arts Plus, calls for:
• Adding at least five new certificate
programs that align with work
force needs of Indiana employers
over the next five years.
• Engaging 60 Manchester students
in internships that put them in
the fulcrum of northeast Indiana
economic development efforts.
• Collaborating with work force
agencies, other northeast Indiana
requirements for it will call for a few summer
courses and a full academic load during his
senior year. Even if he can’t earn the sales
major, he’ll still graduate with a marketing
degree, plus the sales courses in his skills
arsenal to help him stand out in the job
market.
He’s hoping to enter that job market as a
sales representative for a sports company. A
member of the Spartan golf team, Quinton
has a knack for golf, too.
universities and the Northeast
Indiana Regional Partnership to
strengthen MU’s relationships with
employers.
• Developing a smartphone software
application that will help guide all
MU students in their career readiness
through college.
Liberal Arts Plus is designed to help close
the skills gap between the needs of Indiana
employers and the academic preparation
of Manchester students. The grant-funded
programs “will embed the University more
deeply in the state’s economic future,”
says MU President Jo Young Switzer. “In
turn, our students will become catalysts for
change and realize their personal stake in
Indiana’s vitality.”
The grants support the Endowment’s
Initiative to Promote Opportunities
Through Educational Collaborations.