GRADUATE EDUCATION AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1831, Wesleyan is an independent university of the liberal arts and sciences in which graduate programs constitute an essential element of the special character of the institution.  In the 2007-2008 school year, there was a graduate enrollment of approximately 192, an undergraduate body of 2,790, and a faculty of more than 365.

At the 176th commencement on May 25, 2008, the degree of PhD was awarded to 12 candidates and the MA to 28 candidates.  As of 2008, graduate students came from approximately 20 states, and 71 international students came from approximately 22 nations.

RESOURCES AND FACILITIES

Wesleyan is privately endowed and supported in good part by gifts from alumni and friends.  The resources of the University that reach beyond the immediate uses of advanced study and research have made the campus an unusually lively center of intellectual activity.  In addition to the departmental units, the University has established a number of experimental ventures in learning.  These centers, colleges, and programs are interdisciplinary in nature and innovative with regard to methods.  The College of Letters is a program that combines studies in Western literature, history, and philosophy.  The College of Social Studies is an integrated program in government, economics, and history.  The Center for the Humanities, inaugurated in 1969-70, brings together distinguished visitors and local faculty and students concentrating on a single thematic problem within the broad area of humanistic studies.  The Center for African American Studies was established in 1969.

Exley Science Center

The spacious multi-unit Exley Science Center houses all of the departments of natural sciences and mathematics except astronomy.  The Hall-Atwater Laboratories, connected to Shanklin Laboratory, provide approximately 110,000 square feet of floor space for chemistry and biology.  The seven-story Science Tower provides 250,000 square feet of floor space for earth and environmental sciences, mathematics, physics, the computing center, and extensive machine shops and other science service facilities.  Connecting Hall-Atwater and the tower building is a three-story science library wing with a collection of almost 279,000 volumes and a section containing a 300-seat auditorium and a 70-seat lecture hall equipped with modern audiovisual and other devices for science instruction.

Center for the Arts

Defining the northern boundary of the campus is a modern complex of 11 buildings, housing the departments of art, dance, music, and theater.  Designed by Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo and Associates, the architecture allows the individual identity of each of the arts to be maintained while encouraging the creative interaction that characterizes the arts at Wesleyan.  In addition to satisfying the academic needs of the art, dance, music, and theater departments, the center provides a theater, a cinema, a gallery, a concert hall, and a smaller recital hall for the world music programs.  Situated within the arts complex is the Davison Art Center, a distinguished classical revival house built by the Alsop family in 1838.  The house is used as a center for art history, the art library, and the Davison Art Center Collection and gallery.

Center for the Film Studies and Cinema Archives

The Center for Film Studies opened in fall 2004 as home to the nationally recognized Film Studies Department.  The building houses the state-of-the-art Goldsmith Family Cinema, faculty and administrative offices, teaching spaces and production facilities, and a small gallery.  The center connects to the Ogden and Mary Louise Reid Cinema Archives, which contains the papers of Ingrid Bergman and Clint Eastwood, directors Frank Capra, Federico Fellini, Elia Kazan, Martin Scorcese, John Waters, and Jonathan Demme; an extensive collection of film posters; and a variety of additional film documentation and memorabilia.

Library Facilities

The Wesleyan University Library, recognized as one of the finest small university libraries in the country, contains 1.2 million volumes and receives more than 6,800 periodicals.  Students have complete access to the stacks.  The University Library includes Olin Memorial Library, the Science Library, and the departmental libraries or art and psychology.

Olin Memorial Library, the central library, was rededicated in 1986 after a $10-million renovation and expansion that added space for 200,000 volumes and created new reference, periodical, study and reading areas.

The Science Library collection has about 279,000 volumes with extensive mathematics and computer science holdings.  More than 900 subscriptions to mathematics and computer science journals, and approximately 100 new mathematics or computer science books arrive each month.

Athletic Facilities

The Freeman Athletic Center contains a natatorium with a 50-meter pool and diving areas; the eight-lane, all-weather Anderson outdoor track; and the Bacon Field House, all adjacent to the Spurrier-Snyder Rink for varsity hockey games and skating activities.

The addition to the center, which opened in 2005, has the 1,200 seat Division III Silloway Gymnasium, the 7,500-square-foot Anderson Fitness Center with nearly 100 machines and a full array of free weights, and the Rosenbaum Squash Center with eight international courts.

The University also has 16 outdoor tennis courts and a variety of playing fields for intercollegiate and intramural competition.

Usdan University Center and Fayerweather

The Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center, which opened in fall 2007, overlooks Andrus Field, College Row, and Olin Library and fosters intellectual exchange between students, faculty, staff, and alumni.  The center houses campus dining; Wesleyan Station, the university post office; the University Box Office; meeting rooms; offices for the Wesleyan Student Assembly, University Events and Scheduling, and Student Activities and Leadership Development; and retail space for the Cardinal Technology Center.

Adjacent to the Usdan University Center is the renovated Fayerweather building with its distinctive Romanesque towers, originally built in 1894 as the university gymnasium.  Fayerweather houses theatrical and dance rehearsal spaces and Beckham Hall on the second floor, which can accommodate large dinners, dances, and lectures.  The hall is named for the late Edgar Beckham who was dean of the college from 1973-1990.

DEGREE PROGRAMS

The University offers work leading to the doctor of philosophy in biology, chemistry, ethnomusicology, mathematics, molecular biology and biochemistry, and physics, and to the master of arts degree in astronomy, computer science, earth and environmental sciences, mathematics, music, and psychology.  Theses and dissertations are required for these degrees.  An interdepartmental program leading to the PhD degree is offered jointly by the chemistry and physics departments.  An interdepartmental program in molecular biophysics leading to the PhD is offered by the departments of molecular biology and biochemistry and chemistry.  All graduate instruction is scheduled within the academic calendar of two semesters from September to June.  Summer work consists of independent study and research.  No evening courses or summer school courses are available.

Generally, a minimum of two years of study beyond the baccalaureate degree is required for the masters' degree and a minimum of four years of study beyond the baccalaureate degree is required for the doctorate.  Most graduate students receiving financial assistance render service on a half-time basis, so that normally two years of study, including one full year of advanced research, are required for the master's and four to five for the doctorate.

Most full-time graduate students are paid through assistantships or fellowships.  Additional stipends are usually awarded for the summer months.  Tuition remission and health services fees are also part of the candidates' financial package.  A limited number of dependency allowances are awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need.  The duties of graduate students vary by department but generally involve assistance in some phase of instruction and/or research.

Selection of courses is flexible and depends on departmental advisors' recommendations.  Graduate programs are small enough to permit close attention to the needs and interests of the student.  The faculty-student ratio for graduate studies is about one to two, and a class size for most graduate courses is from three to eight.  There is considerable variation among programs in format, requirements, and methods of work.  The programs are innovative with respect to the needs and opportunities of the particular fields of knowledge with which they deal.

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