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[ at Ohio Wesleyan University Online - Delaware, Ohio ]

Overview | History | Mission | Academic Program | Faculty Profile
 
Student Profile | Student Activities | Alumni/Fundraising | Campus/Facilities
 
 
Overview
 
Ohio Wesleyan University -- or OWU (pronounced "oh-WOO") -- is a strong liberal arts college that is nationally known for its blend of scholarship and teaching, service learning, and student engagement. Chartered in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan is a highly selective, coeducational, residential, privately supported liberal arts college located 20 minutes north of Columbus in Delaware, Ohio, a vibrant community of 26,000 and seat of one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
 
With a campus of more than 200 acres adjoining the downtown, the Ohio Wesleyan community includes 135 full-time faculty members and some 1,850 students from 44 states and 45 countries. Consistently ranked by U.S. News and World Report among the nation's top 100 liberal arts colleges, Ohio Wesleyan is distinguished by an outstanding faculty dedicated to preparing a diverse student body for a lifetime of learning, service and leadership.
 
One of the nation's leading small liberal arts colleges, OWU has grown increasingly strong particularly during the past decade. Increases in the quality of the student body have contributed to a rising academic reputation. A collegial and participatory planning and governance process has united the University community around shared goals and challenges. Initiatives in volunteerism and public service have strengthened the historic link between liberal arts learning and the civic arts of citizenship. An aggressive strategy for recruiting and educating honors students has provided a boost in the academic atmosphere.
 
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History
 
Founded by Methodists in 1842, OWU maintains an active affiliation with The United Methodist Church and is recognized nationally for welcoming students of all religious faiths. The University provides support for all denominations and coordinates an active program of social action and community service. Known early in its history as the "West Point of Missions" because of the number of graduates who served abroad as missionaries, Ohio Wesleyan later was recognized for the number of alumni who served as Peace Corps volunteers. Today, that same commitment to serving society manifests itself in the activities of OWU's students, an extraordinary percentage of whom participate in volunteer initiatives. A genuine sense of service permeates the campus.
 
Ohio Wesleyan has a distinguished history. In 1906, it stood first among all colleges in the number of alumni doing graduate work at Harvard. According to a study by the National Research Council in the 1970s, updated in 1980, Ohio Wesleyan ranked 17th among America's 867 four-year, private, primarily undergraduate institutions on the number of alumni in all fields who earned PhDs in the years since 1920. A similar study in 1982 by Standard and Poor's Corporation ranked the same 867 institutions on producing U.S. business leaders from among their undergraduates. In that survey, Ohio Wesleyan ranked 15th. A 1986 study, titled "Educating America's Scientists: The Role of the Research Universitys," identified Ohio Wesleyan as one of 48 highly selective "science-active" liberal arts institutions in the nation. F. Sherwood Rowland '48 is the 1995 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
 
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Mission
 
Ohio Wesleyan's charter provides that "the University is forever to be conducted on the most liberal principles, accessible to all religious denominations, and designed for the benefit of our citizens in general." In the spirit of its heritage, the University defines itself as a community of teachers and students devoted to the free pursuit of truth. It develops, in its students, qualities of intellect and character that will be useful no matter what they choose to do in later life.
 
OWU judges itself successful when it has accomplished three objectives in its work with students:
 
1) To impart knowledge. Ohio Wesleyan offers students the chance to participate in an ongoing dialogue about society's cultural past, in the belief that a liberal education communicates what great minds have thought, great artists have created, and great leaders have done. Also included in this aim is new knowledge creation; a liberal education communicates what is being acquired on the frontiers of contemporary inquiry and current advances of the human spirit. The objective of imparting knowledge begins with the conviction that it is intrinsically worthwhile to possess the knowledge and insight transmitted through the humanities, arts, and sciences.
 
2) To develop and enhance certain important capabilities of students. As they progress through the curriculum of the University, students make secure the foundation skills of reading, writing, and quantitative analysis. They build on these skills the capacity to think critically and logically, to employ the methods of the different fields of inquiry, and to understand the symbolic languages used to codify and communicate knowledge in today's society. They may develop aesthetic sensibilities or creative talents in several fields. Many students learn to integrate theory with practice by preparing for careers within various disciplines and through pre-professional and professional programs.
 
3) To place education in the context of values. Liberal education seeks to develop in students understanding of themselves, appreciation of others, and willingness to meet the responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. It recognizes that trained sensitivity to private and public value issues, grounded in a sound grasp of various cultural heritages, is important for maturation and for living a good life. It accords high honor to intellectual honesty. Consistent with the University's Methodist tradition, Ohio Wesleyan encourages concern for all religious and ethical issues and stimulates its students to examine their own views in light of these issues.
 
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Academic Program
 
OWU provides an undergraduate curriculum that is rigorous, balanced, and contemporary. It confers the Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), and Bachelor of Music (BM) and offers combined-degree (3-2) programs in medical technology, optometry, physical therapy, and engineering with outside institutions, such as Caltech and Rensselaer. Degrees are offered through 24 academic departments and several interdisciplinary programs. Distinctive features of the academic program include the Arneson Institute for Practical Politics; the Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship; the Sagan National Colloquium; a four-year Honors Program; and extensive opportunities for independent research, internships, and off-campus study.
 
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Faculty Profile
 
The core strength of Ohio Wesleyan is the quality of its faculty. Again and again, student surveys show that the high level of teaching is one of the most positive aspects of the undergraduate experience. The faculty is known for its commitment to teaching and to close interaction with students inside and outside the classroom or laboratory. It is a place where faculty members regularly get together with students in informal settings and engage their students in one-on-one conversations.
 
OWU's faculty numbers 135 with an additional seven equivalent full-time positions occupied with part-time faculty that include emeriti faculty and others from the community and nearby Columbus. One hundred percent of the full-time faculty holds a Ph.D. or highest degree attainable in their field. The faculty is 37% female and 63% male with 10% from underrepresented groups. The student-faculty ratio is 13 to 1, and the average class size is 19.
 
Each year, many faculty members receive research grants and fellowships, make presentations at professional meetings and publish in or serve on editorial boards of prestigious journals, in addition to serving as officers in their professional organizations. Examples of national awards won by the Ohio Wesleyan faculty include National Science Foundation fellowships, National Institutes of Health fellowships, National Endowment of the Humanities fellowships, National Endowment of the Arts fellowships, John Simon Guggenheim fellowships, and Fulbright fellowships.
 
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Student Profile
 
Ohio Wesleyan's overall enrollment has grown to approximately 1,850, representing 44 states and 45 countries. The student body is 54% female, 46% male. About 53% of the students are from Ohio. The University is strongly committed to racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. The multi-cultural enrollment total of 19% includes U.S. students of color (8 %) and international students (11%). The current freshman class presented an average SAT score of 1210; the average ACT score was 27; the average GPA: 3.4; 55% of the class ranked in the top 25% of their high school class; and 33% ranked in the top 10% of their class. The faculty describe the student body as a talented, motivated group appreciative of the opportunity Ohio Wesleyan provides.
 
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Student Activities
 
OWU actively recruits students who are engaged in their own education, community, and the world around them. With over 85 clubs and student organizations, there are countless opportunities for students to become involved in the leadership of an organization. The University also brings in a number of speakers and stages plays and other performances on the campus.
 
Students are encouraged to start new clubs and organizations and are supported by the administration, faculty and peers in doing so. The Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs, the student legislature and policy organization, is composed of students, faculty members, and administrators. Ohio Wesleyan students actively contribute to their own education and routinely take on significant leadership roles.
 
The OWU fraternity and sorority system was founded in 1853. Approximately 32% of the current student body belongs to one of 19 fraternity and sorority organizations. A number of fraternities have houses on the residential end of the campus. There are no residential sororities. Greek life at OWU is inclusive; all non-Greeks are welcomed to participate in Greek-sponsored activities, and many do. In addition to sponsoring social events, the Greek community is also involved in a wide range of service initiatives.
 
The Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops compete in the North Coast Athletic Conference, one of the premier leagues of Division III athletics. Men compete in basketball, tennis, baseball, football, lacrosse, soccer, golf, cross-country running, sailing, track and field, swimming, as well as diving. Women's sports include basketball, tennis, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, cross-country running, sailing, track andfield, softball, swimming, as well as diving. The most successful sports team has been the women's soccer team, which recently won consecutive NCAA Division III titles. Men's soccer has also performed well, recently winning five straight NCAC titles and a national NCAA Division III title. Between 60 and 75 percent of the student body participate in intercollegiate and/or intramural athletics at some point during the school year.
 
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Alumni/Fundraising
 
Ohio Wesleyan has a base of more than 25,000 alumni worldwide. OWU's graduates include Branch Rickey '04, named ESPN's Most Influential Sports Figure of the 20th Century; F. Sherwood Rowland '48, the 1995 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Norman Vincent Peale '20, self-help author of The Power of Positive Thinking; Charles Warren Fairbanks 1872, Vice President under Theodore Roosevelt; Pulitzer Prize winners Robert E. Lee '39 (Auntie Mame and Inherit the Wind) and Susan Headden '77; Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Wettig '74; best-selling novelist Richard North Patterson '68; Oscar-winning film producer Fred Baron '76 (Moulin Rouge); George Conrades '61, Chairman and CEO of Akamai Technologies; and Tony Award-winning actor Ron Leibman '58.
 
Ohio Wesleyan has a tremendous track record of preparing students to succeed at the next level. More than half of graduating students pursue further study within five years of graduation. Graduate placement rates for pre-med students average 89%, and law school acceptance rates top 95%.
 
Here are some of the better programs that recent graduates have joined after completion of the bachelor's degree at Ohio Wesleyan:
 
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) » biochemistry
Carnegie Mellon University » computer engineering
Case Western Reserve University » electrical engineering, physics
Columbia University » international relations, molecular biology
Cornell University » mathematics, plant pathology, computer science
Johns Hopkins University » international studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) » controls and robotics
Northwestern University » journalism
Purdue University » molecular genetics
Stanford University » economics
University of Chicago » sociology
University of Michigan » political science
University of Notre Dame » fine arts
University of Pennsylvania » physics
University of Virginia » chemistry
The College of William and Mary » marine science
 
Approximately 35 percent of alumni currently contribute, although 60 percent of the total alumni have given over the years. The most recent capital campaign ("The Campaign") exceeded the goal of $100 million at $105 million, with $91 million of that having been secured in cash before the official end of the Campaign. Of the money raised for The Campaign, the top priorities were: the endowment ($51.7 million); contributions to the annual fund ($16 million); the Conrades•Wetherell Science Center ($13.5 million); the Streetscape Project, including the R.W. Corns Building, Edgar Hall, and Haycock Hall ($9.4 million); the Raise the Roof of University Hall project ($1 million); and Roy Rike Field renovations ($865,000).
 
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Campus/Facilities
 
The OWU campus facilities range from the original mid-19th-century collegiate buildings to the state-of-the-art Conrades•Wetherell Science Center. A number of buildings on campus have national landmark status. The campus is extensive and attractive and also borders on the downtown area. There are some 1.7 million square feet of campus space as well as attractive campus quadrangles and outdoor facilities. Student housing is concentrated in one section of the campus with the academic and athletic facilities in other areas. One building is currently unoccupied and slated for renovation using receipts from the upcoming capital campaign. A street through a portion of the campus was closed in order to create the JAYwalk, a beautifully landscaped pedestrian walkway. The Hamilton-Williams Campus Center and central dining facility is a welcoming campus meeting place. A president's residence (Pritchard House) with space for entertaining was built in 1959.
 
Major progress has been achieved with the renovation of several facilities made possible by the last campaign. More than 90% of the student body lives in University housing. The housing options include six large residence halls with incorporated dining facilities and some special-interest corridors. There are also nine Small Living Units -- or SLUs (pronounced "slews") -- which are theme houses for 10 to 15 students each, such as the Creative Arts House, the Woman's House, and the House of Thought, as well as 10 residential fraternity houses.
 
The centrally located Beeghly Library houses 503,000 volumes, one of the largest collections in the country for a college of Ohio Wesleyan's size. The library's federal document depository is among the nation's oldest and largest with an additional 200,000 reference documents. The collection is further enhanced by memberships in OhioLINK and CONSORT. The new science buildings house a wide variety of state of the art equipment including a scanning electron microscope and scanning and transmission electron microscopes co-owned by USDA labs. The science center also includes its own green house. Two university wilderness preserves cover a total of 100 acres. OWU also has two observatories -- one, the historically significant Perkins Observatory, containing a 32-inch reflecting telescope.
 
Gray Chapel in University Hall houses the impressive 4,500-pipe Rexford Keller Memorial Organ, the largest of only six Klais concert organs that exist in the United States. The new R.W. Corns Building houses the Woltemade Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship; the Economics Department; the Sagan Academic Resource Center; and Information Systems. The recently renovated Edgar Hall provides top-notch design workspaces for the Fine Arts Department, while -- across Sandusky Street -- the equally new Richard M. Ross Art Museum has quickly become a well-known regional gallery. Ohio Wesleyan also has a state-of-the-art Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computer laboratory. OWU takes justifiable pride in the beauty and quality of its campus.
 
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