Foundations, Higher-Education Leaders Explore Models to Increase Access

Focus on educational equity with excellence

OXFORD, Ga., July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On this historic campus that is
the original nineteenth-century home of Emory University, twenty invitees
representing some of higher education's most respected institutions have come
together to discuss an issue with important implications for U.S. education in
the twenty-first century: how to make higher education available more broadly
and equitably to current underrepresented groups while also maintaining
academic excellence and addressing financial and policy concerns. The
conference, "Transformative Models in Higher Education," was organized by the
University of Michigan's Center for Advancing Research & Solutions for Society
(CARSS), hosted by Emory University and funded by the Ford Foundation.

Groups participating in the conference, held June 18-19, were education
researchers, higher-education administrators and foundations with a strong
focus on education. Researchers came from the University of Michigan's CARSS,
School of Education, Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary
Education and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching; the University
of Virginia's Curry School of Education; Indiana University's National Survey
of Student Engagement; and Wabash College's Center of Inquiry in the Liberal
Arts. MDRC, a nonprofit education and social-policy research organization,
was also represented. Higher-education administrators and foundations
represented included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Educational
Testing Service, Lumina Foundation, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and the
National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good. Also participating in
the conference was Derek Bok, president emeritus of Harvard University, who
gave the keynote address.

The focus of consideration was organizational and programmatic models that
have fostered high levels of participation and academic success for students
from underrepresented minority populations with the goal of identifying
"active ingredients" in the programs' success. These were being examined in
part because, following the 2003 Supreme Court decision in a case involving
the University of Michigan, criteria used to promote minority participation in
the past will not be as applicable in the future. The models presented
included Lone Star College-CyFair Campus (Texas), the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill's C-STEP Program, the Posse Foundation and Oxford
College.

Special attention was given to Emory'sOxford College. Located 38 miles east
of Emory University'sAtlanta campus, Oxford is one of Emory's nine academic
divisions. One-fifth of the students in each Emory freshman class choose to
begin their baccalaureate studies with Oxford's liberal-arts-intensive
program, which spans their freshman and sophomore years. As juniors, they
continue their studies on Emory'sAtlanta campus. At Oxford, students have a
smaller student body (approximately 750 students total), lower average class
sizes (approximately 19) and faculty who, in the absence of academic majors
and graduate programs, have the luxury of focusing primarily on classroom
teaching. Forty-seven percent of students at Oxford come from minority
populations, and many are the first in their family to attend college. These
students enjoy high levels of academic success and degree completion at Emory.
Oxford places great importance on teaching methods that produce active,
engaged learning and, as a two-year course of study, offers unusual leadership
opportunities for freshmen and sophomores.

"We were honored to assemble such a stellar group," said Earl Lewis, Emory
University provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, who
convened the conference. "Their discussion of the Oxford College program gave
us invaluable feedback and analysis, and their enthusiasm helps fuel our
efforts to make this now-unique model better known."

Conferees concluded that the Oxford model could be applied or adapted at a
large number of research institutions. Organizers from CARSS are distilling
the conclusions from the conference with the intention of identifying the
possibilities for applying existing models and developing new ones.

About Oxford College
Oxford College is located on Emory University's original 1836 campus in
Oxford, GA. One fifth of the students in each Emory freshman class choose to
begin their baccalaureate studies with Oxford's liberal-arts-intensive
program. As juniors, they continue their studies on Emory'sAtlanta campus.
Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding
undergraduate experience, highly ranked professional schools and
state-of-the-art research facilities. Perennially ranked as one of the
country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report, Emory
encompasses nine academic divisions as well as the Carlos Museum, The Carter
Center, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare,
Georgia's largest and most comprehensive health care system. For more
information on Oxford College, visit www.oxford.emory.edu.

SOURCE Oxford College

Cathy Wooten of Oxford College, +1-770-784-8331, cathy.wooten@emory.edu