Academics
Westminster has long been recognized for a commitment to teaching and learning. The Westminster Plan curriculum puts the liberal arts into action. The college has been honored as one of “The Best 361 Colleges” by the Princeton Review and recognized by the Templeton Guide as a “Character-Building College.”
In 1896, scientific classrooms were well appointed and boasted of the latest styles and approaches to teaching. Courses such as botany and biology were conducted and the college was among the first to offer fully equipped classrooms. After the Old Main fire in 1927, a former laboratory was converted to a library. The Hoyt Science Resources Center opened in 1974 which offered large and small laboratories for intensive study and collaboration between students and faculty. Unlike other research universities, Westminster made high-end and sophisticated laboratory equipment readily available to students. Such was the case with the installation of a transmission electronic microscope which was first demonstrated in the 1980s by Dr. Clarence Harms and Dr. Monica Becker.
A major capital investment in technology and wiring provided students and faculty with “smart classrooms” where computer technology and a full range of audio-visual equipment enhanced learning. Westminster became one of the first to “go online” and was named one of America’s Most Wired Colleges by Yahoo! Internet Life in 2002. Education in modern languages received a boost with the 1961 opening of the Arts and Sciences building and the rollout of the language laboratory.
Read more about this topic: Westminster College (Pennsylvania)
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)