Louis Kohrs | Legacy Staff Reporter

Lindenwood University gained a new grants manager, Vicki Schrader, this year with a funding program that started over six years ago.

Schrader, who has over ten years of experience in marketing, communications and organizational development, plans to bring about new opportunities. However, she wants the program’s goal to remain the same as they acquire grants that directly benefit the students.
Collaborating with many departments, applying to companies grant programs and building relationships has been essential to creating this successful grant platform. Connecting Lindenwood to the surrounding business community has also played a huge part in their success.

Vice-President for Institutional Advancement, Susan Mangels, spoke of a recent grant directed toward “smart classrooms” that is located at the business school in Belleville, Illinois.

“The students are equipped with technology that allows them to learn without the teacher being present,” Mangels said.

Teachers broadcast their lectures through streaming video and can be seen in several locations throughout Lindenwood’s widespread population. This allows classes of smaller size, where a teacher is not justifiable, to remain active. The program also seeks to impact students and their upcoming careers.

Schrader spoke of a recent Missouri mandate involving the technological involvement in elementary education.

“Elementary students are now being quizzed on computers and other digital devices more so than ever,” Schrader said. “Teachers are required to understand and apply these changes with technology in their classrooms.”

Lindenwood is looking into the future and equipping early child education majors with the tools they will need to succeed because of this mandate.

Putting her focus on the students themselves, Schrader is continually seeking out more endowed scholarships through creating ways to keep the alumni community connected to Lindenwood, and how they can affect students by their donations is also a huge part of her work.

Acquiring the needed grants revolves around a relationship that allows businesses to trust and understand how the university will use their grants. Companies like Monsanto, Commerce Bank and Supply Chain Management have impacted Lindenwood’s student body throughout the years with their grants.

Lindenwood’s grant program helps improve many areas on and off campus. Nevertheless, the most targeted zone continues to include the students.

With 18 million dollars donated throughout the 2008-2012 school years, the program is constantly looking to better message the opportunities for their students that are present in the world today.