Roanoke College is dedicated to educating men and women in high standards of scholarship and in creativity in the arts and sciences. It seeks to give students a broad understanding of their own and other cultures and competency in a field of specialization. It also recognizes a responsibility to serve its community.
The College believes that it can serve a free society by developing in students a capacity for responsible leadership. It seeks to achieve this purpose through the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and practical aspects of a liberal arts education. It strives to provide its students with the knowledge, skills, and adaptability needed for the successful pursuit of their careers.
Roanoke is a small college with a concerned faculty, dedicated to cultivating students' sensitivity, maturity, and lifelong love of learning. It honors its Christian heritage and its founding by Lutherans in 1842, while welcoming and reflecting a variety of religious traditions.
Because David F. Bittle and Christopher C. Baughman, both Lutheran pastors, recognized the need to educate the young men of the rural frontier, they founded in 1842 the institution which was to become Roanoke College. Located near Staunton, Virginia, and named the Virginia Institute, it was chartered in 1845 and renamed the Virginia
Collegiate Institute.
Realizing the advantage of having the school at a center of activity, the two men moved it to Salem in 1847. In 1853, the Virginia Legislature granted the charter which raised the school to college status, and the trustees changed its name to Roanoke College.
Today Roanoke is the center of learning for its 1,750 students — a place where tradition and innovation blend into reality. Excellence and creativity are the criteria by which Roanoke evaluates its academic programs. Careers of alumni and the respected standing of the College provide a means for measuring the quality of the education offered by Roanoke College. Every area of interest and specialization is represented among the college's alumni; the arts, athletics, business, religion, education, government, industry, journalism, law, medicine, the military, and public service.
Roanoke College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; telephone number 404-679-4501) to award the bachelor's degree. Roanoke is a member of the College Entrance Examination Board, the National Commission on Accreditation, the Association of American Colleges, and the Association of Virginia Colleges. It is on the list of approved colleges of the American Chemical Society and the American Association of University Women. The Business Administration program is accredited by the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs.
Roanoke is proud of its distinguished heritage as America's second oldest Lutheran college. As an institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Roanoke College believes that a sound religious program must be an integral part of the total college life.
Never sectarian in its outlook, the College admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, and sex, to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the College. It does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, or political affiliation in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
Since 1993, students and faculty of Roanoke College have benefited from its membership in Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). ORAU is a consortium of 87 colleges and universities and a management and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ORAU works with its member institutions to help their students and faculty gain access to federal research facilities throughout the country; to keep its members informed about opportunities for fellowship, scholarship, and research appointments; and to organize research alliances among its members.
Since 1993, students and faculty of Roanoke College have benefited from its membership in Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). ORAU is a consortium of 87 colleges and universities and a management and a contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ORAU works with its member institutions to help their students and faculty gain access to federal research facilities throughout the country; to keep its members informed about opportunities for fellowship, scholarship, and research appointments; and to organize research alliances among its members.
Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the DOE facility
that ORAU operates, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, as well as faculty
enjoy access to a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Students
can participate in programs covering a wide variety of disciplines including business, earth sciences, epidemiology, engineering, physics, geological sciences, pharmacology, ocean sciences, biomedical sciences, nuclear chemistry, and mathematics. Appointment and program length range from one month to four years. Many of these programs are especially designed to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority students pursuing degrees in science- and engineering-related disciplines. A comprehensive listing of these programs and other opportunities, their disciplines, and details on locations and benefits can be found in the Resource Guide, which is available on the World-Wide Web at
http://www.orau.gov/orise/resgd/htm,
or by calling either of the contacts below.
ORAU's Office of Partnership Development seeks opportunities for partnerships and alliances among ORAU's members, private industry, and major federal facilities. Activities include faculty development programs, such as the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards, the Visiting Industrial Scientist Program, and various services to chief research officers.
For more information about ORAU and its programs, contact Dr. Kenneth R. Garren, ORAU Councilor, at
540-375-2203; contact Ms. Monnie E. Champion, ORAU Corporate Secretary, at 423-576-3306; or visit the ORAU Home Page at (http://www.orau.gov).
The sense of community at the College provides a setting in which students are readily recognized for their accomplishments and are encouraged to realize their fullest potential. Students are also able to enjoy the security and the support that can be engendered only by personal relationships. Classes, clubs, societies, sports, and performing arts groups are small enough to assure participation. The College furnishes an opportunity for a fuller self-awareness and for achieving a responsible knowledge of society.
The majority of students — after Virginia residents — name Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania as home, with other points in New England and the South being well represented. While most of our students come from about 40 states, the presence of international students on the campus provides an opportunity for students to become acquainted with various cultural backgrounds as well. Most students find friends from cultures both similar to and divergent from their own.
The campus lies in the center of the city of Salem, in southwestern Virginia. The city of Salem, along with the entire Roanoke Valley, was recognized in 1988 as an All-
American Community. Salem is situated just off Interstate 81, a few miles north of the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Roanoke Regional Airport is an hour's flight from New York or Atlanta and only 35 minutes from Washington, DC and Charlotte, North Carolina.
With a population of about 25,000, Salem is a city of diversified industry and business. Adjoining Salem to the east is a metropolitan area of 250,000, which includes the city of Roanoke and Roanoke County.
The campus opens onto Main Street in Salem and merges with the town in common streets and sidewalks. The College's buildings are a genial mixture of historic and modern architecture. The Administration Building (which houses the offices for the President and the Vice-President/Dean of the College, as well as the Office of the Registrar and Office of International Studies) was constructed in 1847 and, together with Miller Hall, Trout Hall, and Bittle Hall which flank it, is registered as a Virginia and National Historic Landmark.
The recently renovated and expanded Fintel Library has a collection containing over 185,000 volumes, over 750 journal subscriptions, as well as microfilm collections and numerous audio-visual materials. In addition, Fintel Library is a selective Government Document Depository. The collections can be searched by computer using the automated library system. A cooperative lending agreement with other colleges increases the number of materials available to students.
Religion and College Life
As a college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Roanoke stands for a steady and consistent cultivation of religious life and strives to develop in its students an understanding of a person's ethical and spiritual responsibilities in society.
The religious life program is under the direction of the College Chaplain, who is an ordained Lutheran pastor.
The Assistant to the Chaplain has major responsibilities for program development with a special emphasis on service activities. In addition, Baptist, Roman Catholic, and Episcopal campus ministers help provide a variety of religious activities.
The Religious Life Center in Trout Hall is a gathering place for student fellowship, informal conversation, and dialogue over moral and theological issues that affect both the students and the society in which they live. The opportunities for worship on campus include
Chapel on Tuesday mornings, an informal service of Holy Communion on Wednesday evenings and special services on festivals and holy days. On Sunday, students are
encouraged to worship in the local congregation of their choice. Roman Catholic Mass is offered every Sunday afternoon in Antrim Chapel.
Through Roanoke's faculty of approximately 100 full-time members, the student can make fruitful contact with a whole new world of learning and educational experiences. Over 90 percent of our faculty hold the earned doctorate or the highest degree in their area of expertise. Faculty members have published works on various subjects — French, statistics, history, political science, physical sciences, biology, business administration — and have been involved in such projects as teaching astronauts to operate the Apollo Launch Escape System, consulting with state and local governments, working with area minority business people, developing a neural network based tracking algorithm used in U.S. navy aircraft, and continuing dissertation research in various fields.
Close relationships between the faculty and students are possible. An advisor is assigned to newly enrolled freshmen or undeclared transfer students during the summer pre-registration process. Students with a declared major are assigned to faculty in their department.