The Academic Program

On this site over 200 years ago, the aim of Elijah Craig’s Royal Springs Academy centered on preparation for life in the world of that day, stressing science, Greek, and Latin. In 1841, the College’s fifth president, Howard Malcom, introduced a curriculum designed to develop "capacious views, solid judgment, self-command, right aims, conciliatory manners, genuine benevolence, and pure morality." Today, the academic program of Georgetown College builds on those traditions and provides a preparation for life in the twenty-first century. It serves as the foundation for intellectual growth, personal development, and life-long learning. The academic resources, special learning opportunities, and curricular offerings of the College are the primary means through which academic experiences are structured. Each student is encouraged to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by the College in pursuit of individual goals and objectives recognizing that the benefits derived are greatly dependent upon the energies invested.

Contacts

Dr. Rosemary Allen, Provost/Dean of the College
Dr. Gretchen Lohman, Associate Dean for Academic Enhancement
Dr. Ben Oldham, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
Winnie Bratcher, Registrar
Mary Margaret Lowe, Director of Library Services
Glen Taul, Director of International Programs
Natalie Rupard, Assistant Director for Academic Enhancement & International Student Support
JoAnna Fryman, Administrative Assistant
Sally Weisenberger, Administrative Assistant

 

Academic Resources

Faculty

Georgetown College is an institution stressing the primacy of teaching and learning with its principal academic resource being the faculty. The College seeks to attract and retain outstanding Christian scholars. Georgetown faculty have achieved regional and national recognition for their involvement in and contribution to their respective disciplines. Recent examples of such recognition include Fulbright awards, national and state professional organization teaching honors, leadership positions in professional societies, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the United States Department of Education, and numerous publications. Over ninety percent of the full-time faculty hold the terminal degree in their field. Faculty are actively engaged in a variety of scholarly pursuits that have favorable direct impact on their classroom instruction. Also, many faculty have incorporated the latest technology in order to enhance the course experience.

The Advising Program

Selected faculty serve as advisors to first-year students, with assignments made prior to enrollment. Students are encouraged to select an advisor in their major field during their second year. This advising relationship continues throughout the student’s enrollment, emphasizing curriculum planning and progress toward individual goals. Though the advisor may change due to the needs of the student or department, the College takes pride in the efforts of faculty in providing guidance to students. A high percentage of graduates continue their education in graduate or professional schools.

Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center

The Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center (LRC) contains 167,547 print volumes, 189,541 microform units, and 6,773 audiovisual titles and receives 33,677 periodical titles in paper and electronic formats. The LRC, which is open approximately 100 hours each week during the academic year, provides programs and resources for student research and study. A reference librarian is available for consultation during most operating hours.

Library collections are searchable through our online catalog. Students may also search online bibliographic databases containing millions of citations and full-text journal articles for each field of study in the College curriculum. Patrons may also search online the 52,639 full-text academic press ebooks through netLibrary. The OCLC network provides access to over 60 million monograph and periodical titles worldwide, with information for borrowing books and journal articles from other libraries. These databases are available anywhere on campus.

The Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center is an impressive 55,000-square-foot building that contains over 300 seats at tables, individual study carrels, small group study rooms, and casual furniture. In addition to the library collections, the LRC houses the College Archives, a gourmet coffee shop, several classrooms, and a replica of the Yale Law Library study room, with a 14-foot high fireplace. There are over 100 computer workstations providing internet access, word processing, and other computer applications.

The LRC was the first building on campus to offer wireless computer capabilities. From medieval manuscripts to a wireless environment, the LRC is truly the academic heart of the campus.

Academic Computing

The College is committed to sustaining a technological environment that will serve as a model for information technology systems in liberal arts colleges. Information technology services are provided through state-of-the-art networks for voice, video, and data to every residence hall room, classroom, and office on campus. Academic computing services on campus are anchored by approximately 25 servers supporting student access to standard e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications from residence hall rooms or any of the academic computing labs on campus. Access to the Internet is provided from every port via DS-3 connection. Students may register for classes on-line and use their college ID card for a variety of services on and off campus.

ITS has implemented a Secure Computing Policy that requires all student computers connected to the campus network be running an up-to-date version of the College provided anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Georgetown College provides free anti-virus software to all students. ITS also offers an optional Computer Maintenance Agreement for limited hardware and software support. For a fee each semester, ITS will provide workbench support for problems with student owned computers that cannot be corrected over the telephone.

The Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center (LRC) contains 70 publicly accessible computers and peripheral equipment such as printers and scanners. Additionally, there are two computer classrooms in the lower floor of the LRC with 25 computers each. The Asher Science Center and Anderson Hall also have computer labs. All classrooms on campus have access to voice, video, and data services. Many classrooms are equipped with data projectors and computers. The Art Department and Music Department have highly specialized digital computing lab specific to their curriculums.

Georgetown College is a Microsoft Campus Agreement participant. This program enables the college, faculty, and students to have access to the latest versions of Microsoft’s most popular applications.

The ethics policy and recommended computer configurations are available on the Internet (http://www.georgetowncollege.edu/, click on "For New Student"), in the Student Handbook, or by contacting Information Technology Services.

 

Additional Resources

Academic Tutoring Services Program

Academic Tutoring Services are administered by the Office of Academic Programs, and peer tutors are provided free of charge to students requesting assistance with their classes. Tutoring sessions may be one-on-one or in small groups.

Writing Center

Located in the Anna Ashcraft Ensor Learning Resource Center, the Writing Center serves students with writing needs related to any course at the College. Students may establish a regular schedule of visits or drop in as the need arises. Services such as tutorials, writing exercises, and assistance with outlines, bibliographies, paraphrasing, and documentation are provided; computers for word processing and both print and electronic materials are available.

 

Special Learning Opportunities

Honors Program

The Georgetown College Academic Honors Program strives to encourage the intellectual growth of the College community by giving highly motivated students at all levels the opportunity to pursue challenging and stimulating academic experiences.

Students wishing to enter the Honors Program must submit an application to the Honors Program Committee and be accepted. Students generally enter as freshmen, but they may apply as late as the second semester of their sophomore year.

To graduate with an Honors Program degree, a student must complete 21 Honors credits, including:

  • 15 hours (five three-credit classes) of Honors, Honors Increment, or Honors Contract courses
  • an Honors Seminar
  • an Honors Thesis

Honors courses may also count toward major, minor, or general education hours, depending on the courses selected. In some circumstances the Honors Seminar may also count. Up to eight hours of Honors credit may be earned through tutorial classes at Regent’s Park College, Oxford.

Students must maintain a 3.3 GPA to stay in the Honors Program; if a student goes two consecutive semesters without making progress toward an Honors Degree, the student may be dropped from the program. In fulfilling its mission, the Georgetown College Academic Honors Program strives to help motivated students reach their fullest academic potential by challenging them throughout their college careers, promoting a high level of intellectual discourse, helping them broaden their cultural experience, and fostering academic research.

International Programs

The College recognizes that the knowledge and experience gained from study outside the United States offer rewards unparalleled by traditional opportunities. Students at Georgetown may study with faculty through mini-term courses abroad or pursue international study within a variety of settings; further information on the following programs, the Fogle Travel Scholarship, the Roberts Travel Scholarship, Monson Scholarship or other opportunities may be obtained from the International Programs Director.

Georgetown College - Regent’s Park College in the University of Oxford. This program provides students from Georgetown several options: (1) up to one year of study in Regent’s Park College, Oxford, (2) a six-year ministerial education leading to a B.A. from Georgetown and a B.Th. from Regent’s Park College, Oxford, (3) a six-year ministerial education leading to a B.A. from Georgetown and an M.Th. (Applied Theology) from Regent’s Park College, Oxford, or (4) a five-year education leading to liberal arts degrees from Georgetown College and Regent’s Park College, Oxford.

Georgetown College - Cemenahuac Educational Community Program. Students wishing to study Latin American culture and Spanish at beginning or more advanced levels may do so for variable lengths of time (from one week to a semester), while also living with a Mexican family, at Cemenahuac, in Cuernavaca, fifty miles south of Mexico City.

Georgetown College - Hong Kong Baptist University. The College has reserved two spaces in a residence building for Georgetown College students interested in studying one or two semesters. A number of other colleges and universities in the United States, many with historical Baptist affiliations, have entered into a similar partnership.

Georgetown College - Colegio Bautista de Temuco, Chile. Students desiring exposure to Chilean cultural heritage, mission work in teaching English as a second language, or earning credit in advanced Spanish may do so in cooperation with one of the leading Baptist Academies in Chile.

Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA): The College’s membership with CCSA allows it to offer programs in English-speaking countries including Australia, Barbados, England, Ireland, Ghana, Belize, New Zealand, Scotland, India, Canada, Jamaica, and Hong Kong.

College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS): CCIS is one of several consortiums that Georgetown College belongs. It is composed of two- and four-year colleges and universities, small and large, public and private. It specializes in semester-long programs, but it has summer programs as well. Students can study in any continent, except Antarctica. Most Georgetown students study in Australia, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Mexico, and Spain. They have the opportunity to stay with host families as well as live in dormitory arrangements. CCIS programs provide excellent opportunities to be completely immersed in another culture.

Kentucky Institute for International Studies. Georgetown College participates in the consortium with others in the Commonwealth. Opportunities for study abroad currently include Austria, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and other countries.

Central College Abroad. Georgetown College maintains an affiliation with Central College (Iowa) which administers study programs in Austria, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Netherlands, and other countries.

Consortium for Global Education (CGE). Georgetown participates in CGE which is a consortium of 47 private U.S. Baptist Colleges and Universities united by a commitment to international education, service, and sharing. CGE encourages geographic diversity in its outreach and includes programs in China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Tibet, Thailand, and Vietnam as well as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Latvia, and Belarus.

Equine Scholars Program: The Equine Scholar Distinction

Students who apply to become Equine Scholars have expressed their interest in pursing professions and/or extracurricular activities related to the equine industry. The program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to pursue those interests both inside and outside the classroom. At the core of the program is the expectation that all Equine Scholars will pursue a balanced, liberal arts education. A student who enters Georgetown College with an Equine Scholars scholarship will also be expected to participate in the Equine Scholars Distinction Program. This program, which combines experiences inside and outside the classroom, will encourage the student to approach their liberal arts education in a way that develops their interest in equine studies. More information is available on the Equine Scholars web site (http://equinescholars.georgetowncollege.edu/), which is also accessible through the Georgetown College web site

Program Elements

Equine Scholars are expected to participate in a variety of planned activities that serve to educate them about the many careers, disciplines and opportunities in or related to the horse industry and introduce them to key leaders in each field. Participation will be based on a points system.

All Equine Scholars are expected to do the following:

  • Attend designated Equine Scholars events, which could include lectures, field trips, and other activities specifically designed to explore issues of interest to those involved with the equine industry.
  • Perform volunteer activities designated as give-back to the Program. Each scholar will individually agree on activities with the Equine Scholars Program leadership team. Activities could include representing the program at college or equine partner events, creating publicity material or presentations, and performing other activities related to an individual’s interest.
  • Complete at least one equine internship, either for academic credit (through a department that offers internships) or not for credit. These internships will meet the College’s general requirements for internships and be approved by the Equine Scholars Program leadership and the College’s Internship Director.
  • Maintain at least a 2.75 overall GPA.
  • Complete an Equine Option project in at least three classes of their choice that reflect on their interest in the equine industry. These projects require approval by faculty and Equine Scholars leadership.

The Equine Option projects can take a variety of forms. For instance, a student could complete a paper assignment on a topic with an equine emphasis, create a work of art that is inspired by the horse, make a presentation in a speech class that focuses on some aspect of horses or horsemanship, complete a business class project on the horse business, etc. Students undertaking these projects must complete the Equine Option Approval Form. Note that faculty members are not asked to make any adjustments to their assignments in order to accommodate the Equine Option; this option should be something that fits within the normal structure of the class assignment. Taking a course with an Equine Option does not change its status for fulfilling major, minor or General Education requirements.

Upon completion of all elements of the program, Equine Scholars will receive the Equine Scholars Distinction, which will be noted on their transcripts. Note that no specific major or minor is required, due to the diverse interests of Equine Scholars.

Area Majors and Minors

When a student’s educational objectives can best be met outside of existing departmental programs, an area major or minor may be proposed. Area majors and minors are intended to bridge gaps between disciplines and can only be approved in those areas in which the College has a full-time faculty member with a terminal degree. Initiated by the student after consultation with the advisor, a program of study is proposed to the chairs of the departments in which coursework will be pursued. Final approval rests with the Academic Policy Committee. A student must have attained a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.8, and must complete the approval process by the beginning of the second term of the junior year. Guidelines for the area major include the following: (1) statement of rationale for proposed curriculum; (2) program of study of 50-60 semester hours; (3) two or more disciplines represented; (4) a concentration of at least 24 hours in one discipline; and (5) a minimum of 50% of the proposed coursework at or above the 300-level. (No minor is required.) A form for this purpose is supplied by the Registrar’s Office and, after approval by the Academic Policy Committee, is filed in the Registrar’s Office. Guidelines for the area minor include the following: (1) statement of rationale for proposed curriculum; (2) program of study of 21-27 hours; (3) usually two disciplines represented; (4) a concentration of at least 12 hours in one discipline; and (5) a minimum of at least six hours at or above the 300-level.

Pre-Professional/Dual Degree Curricula

The College offers the liberal arts foundation for careers in law, medicine, dentistry, ministry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and other professions. In addition, Georgetown College has dual degree programs with the University of Kentucky in Engineering Arts and Nursing Arts. The College also has several joint degree programs: B. A. and Master of Theology with Regent’s Park, Oxford; B. A. and Master of Public Administration with the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky; and B. A. and Master of Arts in Diplomacy and International Commerce with the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky. Interested students should refer to the Curricular Offerings section of this catalog and the appropriate program coordinator for more information.

Independent Study/Course by Arrangement

Most departments have a course numbered 440 designating independent study. These courses allow for specialized study under the guidance of faculty members and are designed to individualize the academic program through significant learning experiences. Research or exploration of topics not currently addressed in catalog courses provides the basis for such study. Students should consult with their advisor for further information about these opportunities. Students intending to register for an independent study or course by arrangement must complete a form, available from the Registrar’s Office or the Provost’s Office, and also available on-line at http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/AcadPgms/studyform.doc. The form must be returned to the Provost’s Office before the course can be confirmed, and (except under extenuating circumstances) no later than the first day of classes. Students may earn 1 to 9 credit hours of internship toward graduation.

Mini-Terms

Though the College operates on the semester calendar, mini-term courses may be offered between the fall and spring semesters, after the spring semester, during fall and spring breaks, and during the summer. Such courses are typically intensive, experiential, and innovative. They often involve travel; study trips to Russia, Israel, Germany, Spain, England, and Mexico, as well as New York City and Washington, D.C., have been recent features. These courses are generally not a part of the listings in this catalog.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

Internships. Internship experiences provide valuable opportunities to integrate classroom learning with on-site application. Since the nature of these experiences is best defined in light of individual student interests, needs, and professional goals, departments have established specific guidelines for such experiences. Credit may not be applied to past experiences or for anticipated future experiences. Students should verify their eligibility to pursue an internship with their advisor in the semester prior to registering for the experience. Specific internship guidelines can be found on-line at http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/AcadPgms/InternshipGuidelines1-18-05.doc. Students intending to register for an internship must complete a form, available from the Associate Director of the Graves Center for Calling and Career. The form must be returned to the Associate Director of the Graves Center for Calling and Career before the student can register for the course, and (except under extenuating circumstances) no later than the first day of classes.

Cooperative experiences. On occasion, opportunities to engage in significant practical experiences become available which necessitate a planned break in enrollment. Along with one’s advisor and department chair, each student should plan these in the semester prior to the actual cooperative experience in order to assure timely attention to matters related to campus housing, financial aid, etc.

Student teaching. For a number of years, Georgetown College has been recognized for its programs in teacher education. Each student, upon completion of a teacher education program, participates in a semester of supervised teaching, applying knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom. Placement in an area school system under the direction of a cooperating teacher, while supervised by a College faculty member, provides a culminating pre-service experience.

Curriculum

The Georgetown College Curriculum has four components. At the center of a Georgetown education is a common academic experience called the General Education Curriculum. This is embedded in the historical tradition of the College and provides the foundation in the liberal arts and sciences for all bachelors’ degrees awarded. A second component of the Georgetown College Curriculum is the major. The purpose of the major is to acquire detailed knowledge of the content and methods of a specialized field of study, ultimately achieving both depth and integration. A major provides the opportunity to explore links between a distinct academic discipline and the liberal arts. The third component of the Georgetown College Curriculum is the minor, which may complement the major or provide for broad exposure to another area of interest. The fourth component of the Georgetown College Curriculum, the electives, enables the student to explore further interests, investigate new areas of learning, or pursue an additional major or minor.