ECnetnews for week of 9-1-97 to 9-7-97
Erskine: The Latest Good News...
OUR MISSION
Erskine reaffirmed the following mission statement in October 1996:
Erskine exists to prepare persons for responsible living, service, and
ministry, in both Church and society. As a community devoted to
Christian commitment and excellence in learning, Erskine accomplishes
its mission through undergraduate liberal arts and graduate theological
education.
OUR PURPOSE
Erskine College exists to provide opportunities for liberal arts
education in an environment created from and expressive of Christian
commitment. Striving for excellence and respecting individuality, the
College seeks to enable each student to integrate knowledge and moral
values in preparation for a life of service to God and society. Erskine,
as part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian tradition since 1839,
attempts to unite faith and reason to produce an atmosphere in which
Christianity undergirds the freedom of inquiry and inspires dedication
to the search for truth and understanding.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
Erskine belongs to AmericaÕs oldest tradition in higher
education, the
church-related college. South CarolinaÕs first four-year denominational
college, Erskine has, since its founding, attempted to merge knowledge
and ethical values, affirming the college motto ÒChristian Commitment
and Excellence in Learning.Ó ErskineÕs select undergraduate student body
of 546 is evenly divided among men and women. Almost half of ErskineÕs
students continue their education in graduate or professional schools.
The faculty of 40 full-time and 10 part-time members is dedicated to
teaching and holds doctorates from distinguished American and foreign
universities. The 1:13 faculty-student ratio encourages individual
attention and an atmosphere of learning and maturity. Erskine prizes its
relationship with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. From the
beginning, Erskine has been encouraged by the church to welcome students
from all denominational backgrounds as well as students of different
faiths and ethnic and racial backgrounds. Erskine offers Bachelor of
Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 29 fields and also joins with
several universities in dual degree programs in a variety of allied
health and engineering fields. ErskineÕs 4-1-4 Academic Calendar
includes an interim term for concentrated study in a single field Ð
externships, independent studies, and foreign study. Erskine is located
on an 85-acre campus in Due West in Abbeville County, S.C. The area is
rich in Colonial, Revolutionary and Civil War history. Both the town of
Due West and Erskine College are on the National Register of Historic
Places. Erskine has been accredited by the Southern Association of
Colleges since 1925.
QUALITY STUDENTS
Erskine students continue to be recognized as among the best in the
country. For the past two years, Erskine students have been named the
South Carolina Private School Student of the Year. Sara Hoffman, the
1995 winner, is currently in law school at Duke University. Brandon
Davis, the 1996 recipient, is currently attending medical school in
Charleston. Erskine has had four students selected for the Barry
Goldwater Scholarship during the programÕs eight-year existence. It is
the premier national undergraduate scholarship in science, mathematics
and engineering. Cooper McDonald, a 1996 graduate, chemistry major and
Goldwater Scholar, is currently attending Harvard Graduate School on a
prestigious predoctoral fellowship. Currently, Erskine has placed
students in eight of the nationÕs top 10 graduate schools in chemistry,
as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.
QUALITY FACULTY
Perhaps ErskineÕs most vital strength is its oustanding faculty,
including physics professor Dr. William F. Junkin, who South Carolina
Governor David Beasley calls Òone of the most innovative educators in
the state.Ó Junkin has developed a mentoring style of teaching in a
computer-networked classroom that is being hailed by all disclipines on
campus. The new teaching style and classroom led Erskine to be selected
by the National Science Foundation as one of 24 host sites nationwide
for a program designed to merge research on teaching and learning with
the latest computer technology. It also led to JunkinÕs selection as the
1995 South Carolina GovernorÕs Professor of the Year. Erskine faculty
members carry their sense of values beyond the classroom, often forming
friendships with students that extend off the campus. They also serve as
officers in their churches, and as emergency medical technicians and
firemen.
NEW MAJORS
Erskine added new majors and minors to its academic program beginning
in the fall term of 1996. The majors include Sports Medicine, Music
Management, Art Management and American Studies. New minors include
Family Studies, Christian Education, Non-Western Studies and Theater.
ErskineÕs Spanish major has been redesigned and now includes a
requirement that students spend time in a Spanish-speaking country.
CAMPUS SAFETY
Located in the academic village of Due West, South Carolina, in an
atmosphere focusing on moral values, Erskine College has for more than
155 years been a safe refuge for students seeking a preserved
environment to develop spiritually, academically and socially. Erskine
College is fortunate that serious crime occurs very seldom on the
college campus. Erskine strives to prevent any crime on campus, and has
a Department of Safety and Security with fully licensed police officers
on duty.
TECHNOLOGY
Erskine is one of the first rural colleges in the nation to
install a
fiber optic network, giving the college community access to the world
through the internet. ErskineÕs Campus Master Plan includes more than 52
miles of fiber optic cable underground, connecting every building on
campus, including dormitories. Every dormitory room also has an internet
connection and email access. ErskineÕs McCain Library is on-line, and
the college home page on the World Wide Web can be located at
http://www.erskine.edu. Erskine has over 150 pages linked to its site on
the World Wide Web including extensive and up-to-the-minute coverage of
Erskine sports, the latest news and information about Erskine as well as
admissions information. Erskine has been awarded a grant from the
National Science Foundation to be used in establishing and maintaining
its presence on the World Wide Web. Covering the T-1 wire that Erskine
uses to connect to the internet, the grant is one of only 32 awarded to
private colleges nationwide.
AMONG THE BEST
Erskine College was ranked the 20th-best Academic Religious
School in
the nation by Money MagazineÕs ÒBest College BuysÓ 1996 edition.
NEW WEIGHT ROOM
Erskine has recently completed a new weight room in the Galloway
Physical Activities Center, nearly tripling the size of the previous
room. Additionally, there are new machines and free weights making the
state-of-the-art weight room the final touch on what Athletic Director
Chip Sherer calls the finest athletic facilities of any college in NCAA
Division II. The weight room is open to all Erskine students, and along
with the recently completed training room in Galloway, provides
outstanding learning environments for Erskine students majoring in
Sports Medicine and Physical Education.
TOTAL LIBERAL ARTS EXPERIENCE
The Bowie Arts Center at Erskine College, opened in 1995, is a
two-story art gallery and museum with classrooms that offers Erskine
students the total liberal arts experience. The facility has drawn
national attention in its first year of existence with displays of
traveling exhibits, antique furnishings and mechanical music boxes. The
New York City-based fX Network made its way to ErskineÕs Bowie Arts
Center in January 1996 to shoot a live segment for their daily
television show, Personal fX, The Collectibles Show. The show featured
the extensive collection of antique music boxes contributed to the
school by Dr. Wofford Baldwin. The network reaches 23 million homes in
all 50 states, according to the latest figures. Also, Southern Living
magazine featured a full-page story with two photographs about the Bowie
Arts Center and Erskine College in its October 1996 issue. The facility
was constructed with gifts from Erskine trustee Dr. Marie T. Bowie of
Iva, S.C., in memory of her late husband Parker and his parents.
A SCIENCE LEADER
Erskine College was listed in PetersonÕs Guides, 1996 edition, for
having one of the most outstanding undergraduate programs in the
Biological, Chemical, Geological, Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
SCIENCE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION UNDER WAY
On June 29, 1997, Erskine College broke ground on a $6.9 million
Center
for Science & Values. CAMPAIGN FOR ERSKINE Chairman Robert Moultrie
secured the help of James Ashburn, Class of 1964, and Dr. James Pressly,
Class of 1963, to serve as Co-Chairs for a science building campaign, as
the important last step of the CAMPAIGN FOR ERSKINE, which has gifts in
excess of $33 million. As of mid-August, 1997, the Science Building
Campaign has secured more than $6.2 million, and just over $654,000 is
needed before construction is complete. One of the central features of
the CAMPAIGN FOR ERSKINE has always been to provide a science facility
to replace Reid Science Hall, built in the 1920s, and the biology
facilities housed in the Erskine Building. Ashburn and Pressly are
working with Erskine President Dr. Jim Strobel and the steering
committee to oversee the success of the campaign. Erskine Science
Building Campaign Director Lee W. Logan said the advanced phase of the
campaign in almost complete, and the general phase, soliciting the help
of all Erskine alumni and friends, will begin this fall. The facility is
scheduled to be located at the site of the old Long house, on Bonner
Street adjacent to Bowie Arts Center and Watkins Student Center. The
47,000 square-foot, two-story facility will have an exterior of brick
and glass highlighted by such features as columns, to tie in with other
buildings in that location. Construction of the new science facility is
scheduled to be completed in the fall of 1998.
VALUE
Money Magazine's 1998 College Guide listed Erskine College as one of
the nation's top 150 elite values in college education today, in its
September 1997 issue. The magazine lists the top 100 schools according
to their rankings, and lists the 50 runners-up alphabetically because
"these schools rank within a scant hundredth of a point of one another."
Erskine, one of only three South Carolina private colleges to make the
top 150, was ranked the 24th-best value in the Southeast by Money, just
ahead of No. 25 Furman University. Wofford College was ranked No. 20. In
a survey of more than 1,115 schools, Money said its purpose in the
College Guide issue is to "identify the 150 best college buys - the
schools that deliver the highest quality education for the tuition they
charge." The analysis is based mostly on data compiled with the help of
a publisher of college directories. Money analyzed 16 measures of
educational quality, then compared them to each college's sticker-price
tuition and fees to arrive at a value rating. The 16 factors include
entrance examination results, class rank, high school grade point
average, faculty resources, faculty quality, faculty deployment, library
resources, instructional budget, student services budget, freshman
retention rate, four-year graduation rates, five- and six-year
graduation rates, advanced study, default ratio on student loans,
graduates who earn doctorates, and business success. Erskine's tuition
annually is $13,902 and room and board totals $4,760. The magazine said
that 98 percent of Erskine's student body receives financial aid, and
the average gift aid per student is $6,110.
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