IUP will receive $13,859 through the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Foundation's Highmark Healthcare Academic Program Development for the master's program in Health Services Administration.

The funding proposal was submitted by Dr. Jennie Bullard, from the Department of Employment and Labor Relations. Funds will be used to help recruit additional students in the Pittsburgh region and to increase the number and variety of practicum sites in that area.

The Master of Science in Health Services Administration degree is a collaborative 36-credit program offered jointly by the departments of Employment and Labor Relations and Nursing and Allied Health Professions. It prepares students for a wide variety of leadership positions within health services organizations in the not-for-profit, for-profit, and government settings.

The program was approved by the Board of Governors in 2007. The program will complete its first cohort on the Indiana campus this month.

With the assistance of this grant funding, program organizers plan to offer the next program cohort at IUP at Monroeville, beginning in the Spring 2010 semester.