Franklin Pierce University’s College of Graduate & Professional Studies on the Move
Mar 28, 2013
Franklin Pierce University’s College of Graduate & Professional Studies (CGPS) is moving to a larger, newly designed space in Manchester to accommodate its growing portfolio of graduate programs, as well as to support the expansion of its online degree offerings which have been administered from Manchester since 2000. CGPS offers online bachelor degrees, advanced degrees, and certificates in education, business administration, and health care across New Hampshire with centers in Lebanon, Manchester, and Portsmouth. Franklin Pierce President James Birge says, “The move positions the University to serve students better and to expand upon our successful academic programs. The new location allows us to be more agile with space while being more responsive to the needs of students and our communities.”
The new space in Manchester will be customized to provide Franklin Pierce’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program with state-of-the-art laboratory facilities as well as new classroom, office, break-out, and study space. The move will allow for consolidation of the classroom and office space currently located in Concord. Dr. Kim Mooney, provost of Franklin Pierce, states, “Creating the larger, more strategically designed space in Manchester – and using this to also house the programs currently operating in Concord – allows for greater synergy between academic programs. The Manchester location also gives students more options for eating and socializing than was available in Concord, because students will be part of a higher education community comprised of several institutions clustered there.” Richard Marshall, Franklin Pierce’s vice president of finance and administration, adds, “The new space will not only better serve our students, but will be fiscally prudent because the space is being designed to best suit our office needs as well as our academic programming – with minimal to no underutilized or less functional square footage.”
While the thrust of the move is to accommodate Franklin Pierce’s flagship Doctor of Physical Therapy program, the new facility will have easily movable dividers which will allow the institution to host large professional groups. “Moving to the new space means we can now engage the community to a greater extent,” says Lynne Rosansky, dean of CGPS. “We can do things like host physical therapy seminars and programs, as well as forums and community discussions on energy and sustainability in conjunction with our M.B.A. in Energy Sustainability Studies program.”
The University expects that they will begin to operate out of the new facility in Manchester, located in the beautifully restored, historic landmark Jefferson Mill building at 670 North Commercial Street, during the month of June.
