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m m \ HBH BH jyjARY WASHINGTON TOLLEGg MM MHii ACADEMIC CATALOGUE 2003-2005 in Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/marywashingtoncoOOuniv ]y[ARY WASHINGTON (]OLLEG£ ACADEMIC CATALOGUE 2003-2005 1 CONTENTS The College 5 Admission and Enrollment 1 Fees and Financial Aid 21 Student Life 29 Academic Resources 35 Academic Programs 45 Courses ofStudy 63 Directory 157 College Calendar 183 Index 187 TheAcademic CatalogueofMaryWashington College includes the official announce- ments ofacademic programs and majorpolicies. Detailed policies ofadmission, financial aid, student life, and academic affairs are published annuallyin separate documents, which maybe obtained from the administrative offices responsible for those areas. All students are responsible forknowing the policies ofthe College. Although the listingofcourses in this Catalogueindicates the content and scope of the curriculum, changes do occur, and the actual offerings in anyterm maydifferfrom those indicated in preliminaryannouncements. Because programs and policies change from time to time accordingto procedures established bythe facultyand administra- tion ofthe College, statements in the Cataloguedo notconstitute an actual or implied contractbetween the student and the College. MaryWashington College is accredited bythe Commission on Colleges ofthe SouthernAssociation ofColleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; telephone number404/679-4501) to award the degrees ofBachelorof Arts, BachelorofScience, BachelorofLiberal Studies, BachelorofProfessional Studies, MasterofScience in ElementaryEducation, MasterofBusinessAdministration, and MasterofArts in Liberal Studies. THE COLLEGE Mary Washington College is a state-assisted, coeducational, predominantly undergraduate residential college ofthe liberal arts and sciences. Founded in 1908, it has evolved from a teacher's college, to a branch ofthe University ofVirginia, to what it is today: one ofAmericas outstanding institutions ofliberal learning. Throughout these changes in the College's mission, one characteristic has been constant: the commitment to academic excellence. Now more than ever, its high academic standard is widely acknowledged. Indeed, MaryWashington continues to be recognized as one ofthe nation's best small colleges by such authoritative publications as U.S. NewsandWorldReport, Barron'sProfiles of American Colleges, TheFiske Guide to Colleges, and ThePrinceton Review. Several factors contribute to the institution's excellence. Foremost among these are the expertise and commitment ofthe faculty. Members ofthe faculty are energetically engaged in productive research and scholarship, which lead to the advancement oftheir particular disciplines. At the same time, however, it is teaching that is their primary goal and purpose. Teaching effectiveness is enhanced by the small size ofmost classes, which encourages personal interaction between faculty and students. Moreover, faculty devote much attention to students' concerns beyond the classroom, working closelywith them on matters ofacademic, career, and personal development. Every institution ofhigher learning accredited by the SouthernAssociation of Colleges and Schools possesses a brief, formal statement ofinstitutional purpose. This statement defines the mission and role ofthe institution. It also provides a clear sense ofoverarching direction and a benchmark againstwhich institutional effectiveness may be gauged. The official mission statement ofMaryWashington College, adopted by its governing Rector and Board ofVisitors and approved by the State Council ofHigher Education forVirginia, is as follows: STATEMENT OF MISSION Historyand Development ofthe Institution The College was founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School forWomen in Fredericksburg. Itwas renamed MaryWashington College in 1938, after having a transformation from a teacher's college toVirginia's public liberal arts college forwomen. Then in 1944, MaryWashington College became affiliatedwith the University ofVirginia as its women's undergraduate arts and sciences division. In 1970 the entire University became coeducational and in 1972, by action ofthe GeneralAssembly ofVirginia, the College became an independent, state-supported institution forwomen and men, with its own governing board. The College is primarily an undergraduate institution with the large majority ofits students living on campus. Through an emphasis on quality, MaryWash- ington College attracts students from all areas ofVirginia, particularly the urban areas ofNorthern Virginia, Richmond, andTidewater. Approximately twenty- five percent ofits on-campus resident students are from other states and foreign countries, with the largest population coming from Southern, MiddleAtlantic, and New England states. Located in the middle ofa rapidlygrowingWash- ington-Richmond "urban corridor," MaryWashington serves the educational needs ofboth full-time and part-time commuting clientele, in part through the utilization ofits resources in the evenings and on weekends. The limited graduate offering is designed in particular for part-time, commuting students, as is the Bachelor ofLiberal Studies adult degree program. To meet the diverse academic goals sought bystudents in today's society, MaryWashington College is organized into academic departments ofone or more disciplines and offers more than thirty undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences. The College awards five degrees at the Fredericksburg campus: Bachelor ofArts, Bachelor ofScience, Bachelor ofLiberal Studies, Master ofArts in Liberal Studies, and Master ofScience in Elementary Educa- tion. Through theJames Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies, located on a separate campus in Stafford County, the College offers avarietyof professional certificates as well as three degree programs: Bachelor ofProfessional Studies, Master ofBusinessAdministration, and Master ofEducation. The College also allows those who have completed degrees elsewhere to enroll for a second degree. To fulfill the needs and interests ofcitizens in the region through the most effective use ofexisting resources, MaryWashington College works in close cooperation with its neighboring state-supported institutions in planning and implementing new higher educational opportunities. Purpose ofthe Institution MaryWashington College, as a predominantly residential and primarily undergraduate, limited-enrollment institution ofthe liberal arts and sciences, is distinctive within theVirginia system ofhigher education. Emphasis upon excellence in the pursuit ofliberal learning has traditionallybeen at the core of the College's educational philosophy. Commitment to this conceptwill continue in the years ahead. — The College maintains that a broad, liberal education that is, on—e based upon freedom ofinquiry, personal responsibility, and intellectual integrity is the best preparation for citizenship and career. Thus the goal ofthe instructional and expe- riential program is to offer to students courses ofstudy and co-curricular opportunities which together provide them with a sound, general education, enhance their understanding oftheir responsibilities as citizens in the broader community, and develop the skills necessaryfor creative and productive lives. The College regards the provision ofhigh-quality instruction as its most important function. The role offaculty research and scholarly endeavor in this context is to maintain the vitality ofteaching, and, accordingly, the College encourages such research and scholarship. Furthermore, it especially encourages the participation ofundergraduates in research. MaryWashington College is sensitive to the educational needs ofthe growing population within its commuting region. To address such concerns, it has established undergraduate and graduate degree programs designed especially for adult, part-time students and has developed a number ofpublic service activities to assist in meeting special community needs. In response to accelerating demographic changes that have increased the demand for educational services within the region, the College has developed theJames Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies (located at a new campus in nearby Stafford County). Pursuant to its own distinctive mission, theJames Monroe Center is designed to offer programs appropriate to the region's economic development needs and to provide educational opportunities for the personal life-long learning and professional advancement objectives of the citizens ofthe region. Extent ofthe Institution's Mix ofInstruction, Research, and Public Service The College has adopted as its most pervasive and important function the provision ofinstruction ofthe highest quality. The goal ofthat instruction is to offer to students learning opportunities thatwill provide them with a sound, general education, sensitize them to their responsibilityas citizens in the broader i\Tk community, offer them the means to achieve the highest possible degree of self-realization, and enable them to develop the skills and abilities necessary for life-long learning and productive and creative lives. The College encourages individual and departmental research necessary to support the teaching processes and the undergraduate and graduate academic programs ofthe institution. MaryWashington College's public and community service activities, offered on and offcampus, provide citizens with continuing educational opportunities and assist in meeting special community needs. The Center for Historic Preservation, designed to support the undergraduate degree program in historic preservation and to provide specialized services to preservation organizations and interested individuals, is unique within Virginia and the region. The Institution's Future Directions As the College evaluates its offerings, itwill build upon its high-quality liberal arts and sciences programs and propose curricular additions and adjust- ments specificallydesigned to meet new and increased demands. MaryWash- ington College will continue to emphasize residential, undergraduate, liberal education andwill also offer compatible undergraduate and master's level programs designed primarily for commuting students. COMMUNITY VALUES Several elements contribute significantly to the fulfillment ofthe College's mission. One is the encouragement of, and respect for, individual and cultural diversity. The College also insists upon an atmosphere ofcivility and tolerance consistentwith the ideals ofa community ofscholars. Toward that end, the College embraces a statement ofcommunityvalues and expectations concerning the behavior ofits members. This statement declares that Mary Washington College isan academiccommunitydedicatedto thehighest standards ofscholarship,personalintegrity, responsible conduct, andrespectfor the individual. Weholdamongourforemostcommon values: • The importanceofpersonalintegrityas reflectedin adherence to theHonor Code, • The rightofevery individualto be treatedwith dignityandrespectatall times, • Theacceptance ofandrespectfordiversity in ourcommunityandadherence to the Colleges StatementofNon-Discrimination, and • Thefreedom ofintellectualinquiry in thepursuitoftruth. As members ofthe Collegecommunity, we refuse to tolerate behaviorthatin any way compromises orthreatens these values.