Mercer University’s Board of Trustees approved new graduate programs in business and nursing and elected 10 new trustees during its annual Homecoming meeting.

The new Master of Science in Integrative Business will be offered beginning next fall through the Stetson-Hatcher School of Business and provide students with the option of attending in-person classes on the Atlanta campus or pursing the degree entirely online. The customizable program is oriented toward students from a diverse set of backgrounds in business, math, science, law or technical areas such as engineering that allows them to create a personalized graduate portfolio suitable to their career plans. It incorporates core areas of business combined with topical areas of business specializations, such as fintech, analytics in business, women in leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion, and entrepreneurship and innovation. The program will also allow non-degree certificate options.

Mercer’s Georgia Baptist College of Nursing on the Atlanta campus will begin offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to Ph.D. option next fall to help mitigate the shortage of nursing faculty across the nation. Currently, the College only accepts Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)-prepared students to the Ph.D. program. The new program will require all courses in the traditional post-master’s Ph.D. program, plus two additional BSN-Ph.D. intensives, one BSN-Ph.D. nursing education practicum, one MSN course and two additional doctoral courses for a total of 73 credit hours.

In other action, the board elected 10 new trustees, whose terms began at the conclusion of the meeting. They include William H. (Billy) Anderson, Macon; Tom Bishop, Acworth; Liza Chapman, Atlanta; Dwight Davis, Atlanta; A. Rabun Matthews, St. Simons; J. Thomas McAfee, Juliette; Eli Morgan, Forsyth; Cynthia (Cindy) Morris, Dalton; Barbara Brown Taylor, Demorest; and Claude M. (Mick) Kicklighter, McLean, Virginia. Anderson, Bishop, Chapman, Davis, Matthews, McAfee, Morgan, Morris and Kicklighter are Mercer graduates. Kicklighter will serve out the unexpired term of Pete Robinson, who died earlier this year.

Trustees who rotated off the board and were recognized for their service include Cathy Adams, Fernandina Beach, Florida, who also has served as board chair the last two years; Carolyn McAfee Bruner, Macon; Malcolm Burgess, Macon; Milton Cruz, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Nancy Grace, Atlanta; Doc Hollingsworth, Atlanta; Genelle Jennings, Hawkinsville; Carl Reynolds, Macon; and Joe Sam Robinson, Macon.

Bruner was elected as a Life Trustee. She joins Jimmy Carter, the Hon. W. Homer Drake Jr., Dr. Spencer B. King III and Robert F. Hatcher as a Life Trustee.

William A. (Tony) Moye of McDonough was elected as board chair for 2022.