From the Dean

Welcome

Welcome to Oxford College - one of two colleges that provide distinctive educational programs for the first two years leading to an Emory bachelor's degree.

Oxford's programs are liberal arts intensive. This means that whether students are studying the sciences, social sciences, humanities or the arts, we give special emphasis to developing our students' fundamental intellectual skills, their breadth of knowledge, and the ability to integrate knowledge and skills from diverse fields to solve real world problems. This is a deep and durable kind of learning that continues to serve our graduates throughout their lives. After completing two years on the Oxford campus, students may elect to continue their educations on the Atlanta campus in Emory College, or they may apply to Emory's Woodruff School of Nursing or Emory's Goizueta School of Business to complete their degrees.

For many students, Oxford's liberal arts intensive programs are the best possible preparation for the more specialized junior and senior years. What students learn at Oxford gives them a solid foundation, resourcefulness in finding answers to difficult questions, and standards for academic work that they take seriously. This adds up to an academic maturity that serves them well as they complete their bachelor's degrees, and afterwards as they move on to graduate education and the working world. Recognizing that career paths are evolving more rapidly each year, the strengths of an Oxford education help our graduates to seize new opportunities as they emerge. Ultimately, this is the most practical education a student can have.

Many students choose Oxford for its sense of community. The town of Oxford is picturesque and welcoming. Classes are small (average = 18) and students get to know each other as friends working together to achieve course goals. This same spirit is found in the residence halls, and as students participate in social, club, athletic, and service activities. What emerges is a supportive community that guides character development and the development of important life skills.

Oxford's academic emphasis and values are established and cultivated by its faculty. The faculty are scholars who chose Oxford because they are committed foremost to their students' success and the ideals of liberal arts education. Oxford's student life professionals, the persons who provide students with a wide range of co-curricular activities, extend our liberal arts ethos to all parts of the student experience. Together with our dedicated staff who make the College run efficiently, we are a coherent community dedicated to our students' success.

And, there is ample proof that our programs at Oxford do make a difference. Oxford students thrive when they continue on the Atlanta campus. The winner of the Todd Whitman Award for 2005 recognizing the most accomplished graduate from Emory's Business School was an Oxford graduate. Many undergraduate students in key leadership positions including a recent President of the Emory student government are Oxford graduates. Other indicators of quality include the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) which places Oxford in its highest rank (top 10%) among colleges across the nation in each of its five categories of evaluation (http://www.emory.edu/OXFORD/NSSE/).

I hope you will take the time to get to know Oxford - the town, the College, and the community. It is an ideal place for the first two years of a baccalaureate degree.

- Dean Stephen Bowen