Academics
The university offers 40 majors and 36 minors divided between the Brown College of Arts and Sciences and the Sarofim School of Fine Arts. In addition to traditional academic majors, Southwestern offers interdisciplinary, independent, and paired majors as well as pre-professional programs in Engineering, Law, Medicine, and Theology.
As of 2007, 1,310 undergraduate students were enrolled with 125 faculty. The class of 2011 is 63% female and 37% male, with SAT scores averaging at 1220. The class comes from 17 different states, but a majority come from the state of Texas. Fifty percent of first-year students were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class and 82 percent were in the top 25 percent of their high school class. Twenty-two percent of first-year students are minority students. Southwestern University accepts about a third of its applicants.
99 percent of the faculty have earned doctoral or similar terminal degrees in their respective fields. The student to faculty ratio is 10:1, with an average class size of 14 students. This low ratio allows for students and faculty to engage in a less formal interaction as well as maintain a working relationship in the classroom. Collaborative research and publication with students is common.
In 1998, Southwestern faculty, students, alumni, staff and trustees identified the university’s core purpose and core values. The core purpose was identified as "Fostering a liberal arts community whose values and actions encourage contributions toward the well-being of humanity." The core values were "Promoting lifelong learning and a passion for intellectual and personal growth; fostering diverse perspectives; being true to one's self and others; respecting the worth and dignity of persons; and encouraging activism in the pursuit of justice and the common good." A sixth core value, cultivating academic excellence, was added in 2008.
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Famous quotes containing the word academics:
“Our first line of defense in raising children with values is modeling good behavior ourselves. This is critical. How will our kids learn tolerance for others if our hearts are filled with hate? Learn compassion if we are indifferent? Perceive academics as important if soccer practice is a higher priority than homework?”
—Fred G. Gosman (20th century)
“Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with a vested interest in stressing only some of the implications and falsifying others. The idea that academics should remain “above the fray” only gives ideologues license to misuse our work.”
—Stephanie Coontz (b. 1944)