Oxford chosen for prestigious national study

If the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education measured the awesomeness of campus buildings, there is no question that Oxford's Seney Hall would finish first.

Oxford College has been selected as one of only 49 institutions nationwide to participate in the highly respected, nationally prominent Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (WNS).
           
The purpose of the WNS is to gauge the effectiveness of liberal arts education in a wide range of institutions. This March, Oxford is again administering a battery of tests to its freshmen, the second round of the study at Oxford. Students are assessed three to four times—first as they enter college as freshmen, then at the end of their first year, at the end of their second year (upon graduating from Oxford), and, finally, upon earning their undergraduate degree.
           
For Oxford, participation in the WNS promises valuable information about the effects of its educational program, as well as positive publicity at the national level; for students, the study has the potential to increase the value of their degree, help them reflect on their education, and improve the experience and level of learning while at Emory. The WNS is the most comprehensive study of student learning ever conducted at Oxford College.
           
We are honored to have been selected to take part in this very important research effort,” said Oxford Dean Stephen Bowen. “The results of the WNS will not only help us understand Oxford students and improve our own approach to liberal arts education, but also will advance the instruction and study of liberal arts nationwide.”
           
The study focuses on specific outcomes associated with undergraduate liberal arts education and the institutional conditions and experiences that cultivate those outcomes. They include critical thinking, moral reasoning, intercultural effectiveness, leadership skills, psychological well-being, integration of learning, inclination to inquire, and lifelong learning. The institutional conditions analyzed include good teaching and high-quality interactions with faculty, academic challenge and high expectations, and diversity experiences.
           
The WNS, an initiative of the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, Indiana, began in 2006 with a group of 19 institutions that included liberal arts colleges, regional universities, research universities and community colleges. Selection is competitive.
           
Because the first tests were administered last fall, Oxford already has gleaned information about its freshman class in relationship to freshmen at other participating institutions. Findings reveal that Oxford’s freshmen are particularly interested in post-graduate degrees—more than half want a Ph.D., Ed.D, or M.D. degree. Half want to major in either the natural sciences or business (25 percent each). Oxford freshmen averaged 644 on their SAT math scores, compared to an average of 623 at other participating colleges. They ranked sixth among the 49 institutions in their desire to promote racial understanding and third in their goal of owning a business.—Cathy Wooten