Wesley College

Wesley College is a selective comprehensive college with programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional disciplines affiliated with The United Methodist Church. It offers baccalaureate degrees in:

• Accounting
• American Studies
• Biology
• Biological Chemistry
• Business Administration
• Elementary Education
• English
• Environmental Studies
• Exercise Science
• History, International Studies
• Legal Studies
• Liberal Studies
• Mathematics
• Mathematics-Secondary Education
• Media Arts
• Medical Technology
• Music
• Legal Studies
• Nursing
• Physical Education
• Philosophy & Religion
• Psychology
• Sport Management

Wesley also offers the Associate degree in two fields of study. It offers masters' degrees in:

• Business
• Education
• Environmental Studies
• Nursing

The emphasis at Wesley has always been on educating the whole person. With an enrollment of over 2,400 (including 1,425 traditional full-time) students, individual assistance, teaching, and counseling become personal realities. Modern residence halls, classrooms, and academic buildings offer the student an exciting learning environment in the heart of the historic capital district.

HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE
Wesley College is an independent, comprehensive, residential, liberal arts college related to the United Methodist Church. The College's longevity is a testament to its goal to provide quality educational opportunities to the citizens of the First State and beyond. From its inception, the College also has been committed to providing for the spiritual needs of its students. Wesley believes that education is an intellectual response to the need to foster the personal growth and development needed to persevere and survive academically, socially, and professionally in today's complicated culture.

Begun in 1873 as Wilmington Conference Academy, a preparatory school for boys, it went through several transitional periods culminating as a comprehensive higher education institution. New programs responding to developing needs began to emerge and professional studies joined with the liberal arts to strengthen each student's preparation for life. As testimony to the importance of lifelong learning, graduate programs were developed and adult evening and off-campus programs were established, reaching out into surrounding communities to make education available to a broader constituency. Additionally, the College's history taught the institution the importance of strong academic preparation resulting in the creation of strong support programs. Concurrently, new and renovated facilities prepared the College for the technologically based information age.

Wesley College is now well positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities of the next century. Its enrollment growth faculty enhancement, physical facilities expansion and creative programmatic developments stand it in good stead to become a higher education beacon for the United Methodist Church in eastern United States. This is truly a year of celebrating Wesley College's history and anticipating the exciting future of the new millennium.

GOVERNANCE OF THE COLLEGE
Wesley College is an independent nonprofit corporation of the State of Delaware, whose nonprofit status is confirmed by the Internal Revenue Service and by Internal Revenue Code Section 501 © (3). The corporation's members, who are also members of the Peninsula-Delaware Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, elect the members of the Wesley College Board of Trustees. By legal and by moral obligation, the Wesley College Board of Trustees, an autonomous Board, reserves the right always to establish policy for the College. It is the function of the President of the College to implement and administer the policies of the Board of Trustees.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE COLLEGE
Wesley College is committed to an educational philosophy that expresses its Christian and its United Methodist traditions. The Wesley College concept of education is based upon several assumptions.

First, education is an intellectual response to a loving God. Such a response should involve the pursuit of truth and knowledge and the development of skills that, together, will facilitate the fulfillment of the individual to serve humanity and the world more effectively.

Second, education is concerned with the whole person. While academic excellence is a primary objective of the College, an education is much more than the sum of all academic work. All members of the College community are encouraged to discover and appreciate cultural, aesthetic, and religious realities that are vital to personal growth and development.

Third, education is value centered. Questions of values emerge in a changing society as technological advances influence daily life and help determine the shape of the future. The College recognizes its responsibility to be involved in the study of ethical issues to make informed choices and be responsive to human needs.

Fourth, education is a human enterprise that serves persons who may benefit from its collective resources. In seeking to reflect the richness of a pluralistic life, the College welcomes persons from all religious, national and ethnic groups. Such a college creates a learning environment that respects each individual.

Fifth, education is shared responsibility. The College believes that learning is interactive and personal and offers programs that give opportunity for creative expression and the development of leadership. At the same time, the College holds that privileges are inseparable from responsibilities.