Office of Public Relations
Missouri Baptist University
One College Park Drive
Saint Louis, Missouri 63141-8698
314.392.2307 / fax 314.392.2265
www.mobap.edu / pr@mobap.edu
For Immediate Release
RE: MBU to offer YMCA Professional Studies Program
MBU to offer YMCA Professional Studies Program
March 7, 2007
Missouri Baptist University, the YMCA of Greater St. Louis and the YMCA of the USA have entered into a collaboration aimed at creating leaders for America’s largest not-for-profit community service organization.
Beginning next fall, MBU is set to offer courses toward the YMCA Professional Studies Program, an academic discipline designed to qualify undergraduate students for leadership certification through YMCA of the USA. MBU is only the seventh institution nationwide to offer the innovative program.
“We are excited about this new partnership with the YMCA of Greater Saint Louis and the YMCA or the USA” said Dr. Greg Comfort, chairman and professor of MBU’s Health and Sport Sciences division. “This agreement will provide an opportunity for us to better prepare currently enrolled MBU students for leadership success while reaching out to YMCA employees who wish to further their professional development in the field.”
Curriculum for the YMCA Professional Studies Program certificate will be embedded throughout both MBU’s undergraduate Sport Management program and the Master of Science in Education in Sport Management. MBU’s Sport Management program is designed to assist students in developing skills to organize, administer, and facilitate sport programs at the corporate, agency, professional, and amateur levels. The blending of the programs will allow students to complete either a bachelor’s degree or graduate degree while simultaneously receiving certification for the Professional Studies Program.
Both traditional MBU students and YMCA employees who are on the management track are eligible to complete the Professional Studies program.
“We are so pleased to collaborate with the YMCA of the USA and Missouri Baptist University to help students prepare for a future in the important field of community service,” said Gary Schlansker, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis. “This is an opportunity for Missouri Baptist University students to experience real-life preparation for a personally enriching career while completing the requirements for their education. It's our hope that the students who graduate from this program will be ready to contribute to their communities in immediate and amazing ways."
The YMCA of the USA forecasts growth patterns that will nationwide require 34,000 salaried professionals over the next decade. Specifically, it has launched a new national initiative to promote recruitment and retention of individuals who want to serve as leaders as well as do well in the field of human service.
Together, the nation's 2,617 YMCAs are the largest not-for-profit community service organization in America, working to meet the health and human service needs of 20.2 million men, women and children in 10,000 communities in the United States. YMCAs are at the heart of community life across the country: 42 million families and 72 million households are located within three miles of a YMCA.
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Missouri Baptist University is a premier Christian university in Saint Louis, offering graduate and undergraduate studies in over thirty specialized fields and nine degrees. MBU's education and fine arts programs are nationally known in addition to business, religion, administration of justice, and more. MBU is one of the fastest growing higher education institutions in Missouri with an enrollment of over 4,500 students at five locations in the bi-state region — West County, Lincoln County, Jefferson County, Franklin County and the new Illinois extension at Lewis and Clark Community College.
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