NNU Awarded $300,000 Murdock Grant

Northwest Nazarene University has received a $300,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to assist 10 private K-12 Christian schools during the next three years in Idaho, Ore., Wash. and Mont. in the areas of capacity building and sustainability. Funds will help schools by developing a business/fundraising plan, providing professional development courses for staff and helping with school accreditation processes.

“Along with our commitment to help others succeed, NNU believes in cultivating long-term relationships. For professionals and organizations, this is accomplished by providing superior employee education and training,” said Dr. Larry McMillin, dean of Extended University Services.

The NNU School of Business will mentor participating schools to develop and implement a sustainable business plan. Additionally, schools will receive training in financial management and fund development. Faculty from NNU’s education department will provide training in school improvement planning and enable schools to conduct thorough needs assessments and prioritization in the areas of teaching, classroom management, curriculum and assessment.

“NNU’s Center for Professional Development teams with organizations to identify and coordinate training to meet specific needs. Long-known for its responsiveness to the needs of educators, its agile delivery systems are particularly helpful to teachers and administrators as they continue to integrate ever-changing testing standards, teaching methods and assessments into their learning models,” McMillin continued.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Sam Dunn said, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with several private schools in the Northwest as those schools continue to improve their business practices, accreditation standing, and professional development of personnel. NNU will also benefit significantly from this partnership as the University is involved with and learns from these schools and their leaders. We are thankful for the financial support provided by the Murdock Charitable Trust and for their commitment to improve education in the Northwest.”