King University in Tennessee has received $50,000 from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) program to fund their Meaningful Lives program.

"We, at King University, are thrilled to be recipients of the grant by the Council of Independent Colleges NetVUE program," King University Interim President Dr. Richard A. Ray said in a statement. "The Meaningful Lives program will help to serve as a reaffirmation of King's 147-year tradition as a Christian institution of higher learning. This heritage is key to future success of this University."

The Meaningful Lives program will provide educational programs in vocation for members of staff and faculty so they can disseminate this information and passion to fellow colleagues and to their students.

The NetVUE Program Development Grant will be utilized to bring a depth of understanding about vocation to students and faculty alike, and with this, the ability to articulate the role of discernment within a Christian worldview.

The university's historic mission is to "build meaningful lives of achievement and cultural transformation in Christ." The programming will help shape the King community's appreciation and understanding of Christian higher education and better equip all students, faculty, and staff with tools for discerning their own vocation and to help prepare students to understand their callings.

The NetVUE grant comes at a propitious moment for King," Dr. Shannon Harris, coordinator for the Buechner Institute and chair of the Department of History and Political Science at King University, said in a statement. "I am delighted to be part of the endeavor; the grant will allow King to strengthen its roots as an institution of Christian higher education. The Meaningful Lives program is about vocation from the Latin word 'vocare,' to call, and means the work a person is called to do. In Frederick Buechner's words, 'Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.' At King we are dedicated to helping our students find that place, and to enhancing our faculty's ability to do that."

The Meaningful Lives program will include two summer institutes that will educate and nourish 25 faculty and staff each time on vocation, King's mission, and the integration of faith and learning inside and out of the classroom as part of educators' vocations. Meaningful Lives will include sessions on vocation at each fall and spring faculty workshops. Directly impacted will be students' understanding and concept of vocation through King 1000, 2000, and 4000 classes, which are required for all students at King. It will also be integrated into King's Snider Honors program.

Established in 2009, NetVUE is a nationwide network of colleges and universities formed to enrich the intellectual and theological exploration of vocation among undergraduate students.