The University
Drew University's highest priority is academic excellence. With that priority as its mission, Drew has focused on three aspects of learning to promote academic excellence in its students and faculty. Under the leadership of President Robert Weisbuch, the University has devoted itself to maintaining the highest quality of teaching and learning, to the use of technology in gaining access to knowledge and interpreting it, and to an awareness of the global contexts of knowledge. In these areas, Drew seeks to be a national leader.
Drew faculty, administrators, students, staff, and alumni are committed to creating the special conditions that make Drew's mission attainable. They realize that the University must foster a genuine community of learners who challenge and support each other for growth and responsible citizenship. Thus, the University is dedicated to sustaining an on-campus community that is characterized by diversity, respect for differences, and a lively engagement with contemporary issues and concerns.
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University History
Drew was founded in 1867 by the General (nationwide) Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church as a "national" seminary. In part this was an attempt to heal wounds remaining from the division between north and south. Drew's mission was to reflect the full range and depth of thought and faith experience of one of the largest and most diverse Protestant denominations, and to train church leaders of many denominations, clergy and lay, to minister to people of all backgrounds and needs.
Drew has continued as a seminary of the United Methodist Church and, in keeping with its original mission, has also become one of the world's foremost ecumenical institutions, drawing on Catholic, reformed, evangelical, and liberal strands of Christian thought.
Location
The school enjoys a setting that is conducive both to study and research, and presents unparalleled supervised ministry opportunities. North-central New Jersey is lavish with woodlands, wildlife, and lakes that provide scenery and recreation. The campus is spacious, forested, and secure. Madison, a pleasant town of 15,000 people, has services and stores typical of a much larger community. New York City, Newark, and Philadelphia are all easy to reach and offer not only rich cultural and historical resources but also an amazing variety of opportunities to practice ministry.
The University Setting
Drew established two other schools as it grew into a university-the College of Liberal Arts and the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies. This university environment makes possible an abundant and enjoyable campus life, with cultural, social, entertainment, and recreational possibilities that could not exist in a more limited institution.
Accreditation
The University is fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, and the Theological School is further accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.
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University Services and Policies
The Writing Center
The ability to write effectively is important in today's communications-conscious world. Therefore, Drew maintains The Writing Center to give students in its three schools (College, Graduate, Theological) special assistance with writing problems and questions. Not only does its staff answer questions about grammar, but instructors and tutors also aid students in getting papers started, developing content, organizing ideas, and revising. The assistance is based primarily on one-to-one tutorial help, but the center offers some group workshops and maintains a resource library of writing manuals and computer software. The Writing Center is located in Brother's College.
Center for Counseling and Psychological Services
The center offers a variety of services free to all Drew students. Students with personal, social, academic, vocational, or other concerns may meet individually with a counselor or take advantage of several group programs offered by the center.
Psychiatric consultation and referral to private and community resources are available. In addition, the center coordinates a reading and study skills program for undergraduates. Psychological and vocational referrals to off-campus specialists also are available through the center. The staff operates under a policy of strict confidentiality, adhering to the ethics of the American Psychological Association.
English for Speakers of Other Languages
Drew University is committed to assisting its non-native English-speaking members in the development of their English language proficiency. Reflecting that objective, the Department of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) serves the community as a language support service for students in all three schools.
Its purpose is to coordinate testing and to provide instruction and activities that help students enhance their English language skills. The ESOL staff also provides individual assistance to students, by appointment, as requested or recommended, in language-related tasks. English language instruction is also available to non-native English-speaking spouses of students. The ESOL office is located in 12 Campus Dr..
International Student Services
The coordinator for International Student Services works with international students in the three schools of the University, assisting them with BCIS regulations and cultural adjustment issues. International students are required to participate in an orientation designed specifically for them. Other programs are offered throughout the academic year. The office is located in Brothers College 119.
Recreation
Drew's athletic fields, tennis courts, and indoor recreational and athletic facilities are available for use by all students, faculty, administrators, and staff when the facilities are not otherwise scheduled. This includes the Simon Forum and Athletic Center with its eight-lane swimming pool, six-lane 200-meter indoor track, racquet courts, free weight and machine-weight exercise rooms, dance studio, performance basketball court, four multisport indoor courts, synthetic-surfaced indoor practice area for field sports, and a forum seating 3,800 for special events. The center is the premier facility of its kind in northern New Jersey and complements Drew's outdoor stadium with its synthetic playing field and the tennis center with eight lighted courts and spectators' gazebo.
The campus itself and the Drew forest preserve are ideal places to jog or hike, while the two ponds in the beautiful Zuck Arboretum attract ice skaters.
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University-Wide Policies
Academic Honesty
Drew University holds academic honesty and scholarly integrity to be indispensable to genuine learning and true scholarship. Breaches of academic honesty and integrity, such as cheating on examinations or papers, offering work done by others as one's own, plagiarism, improperly providing information, papers, or projects to others, or falsifying the nature or results of one's research, are inimical to the learner or scholar personally and are infringements of the mutual faith and trust essential to the academic enterprise.
Sanctions are incurred for demonstrated breaches of academic honesty or scholarly integrity. In the case of students, the faculty regulations of each school of the University provide procedures whereby instances of alleged academic dishonesty are dealt with in an orderly way with due attention to the rights of the student(s) involved.
Where dishonesty has been determined, sanctions may range from requiring an assignment to be redone to automatic failure for a course to dismissal from the University. (Details are published annually in the student handbook and/or faculty regulations of each school.) All members of the academic community are obliged, by that membership, to report observed instances of presumed academic dishonesty to appropriate officials.
Student Education Records: Access and Privacy
Drew students have the right of access to, and the assurance of privacy for, their Drew educational records. Students are also afforded the opportunity to challenge these official records. These rights are in keeping with Public Law 93-380, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (also known as the Buckley Amendment), and university policy. The full text of Public Law 93-380 and a full statement of Drew University policy and procedures with respect to student education records are on file and may be consulted in the offices of the Registrar and Dean of Student Life and in the Office of Financial Assistance.
Equal Access to Education for the Disabled
Drew University has a long history of successfully accommodating individuals whose special needs have ranged from mild to severely limiting. As with all students, those with special needs are accommodated with personal attention, and the University guarantees that each special-needs student shall have equal access to a Drew University education. This policy is in keeping with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Student Conduct
A student's voluntary act of registration is considered an acceptance by the student of the rules and regulations of Drew University. It is a pledge to respect the University's standards of individual responsibility and conduct at all times. Since Drew is an integral part of the larger community, a Drew student is responsible for observing all state and local ordinances governing the behavior of all citizens.
An individual, by nature of his or her status as a student, is a member of a community, the very existence of which is contingent upon the responsible behavior of the individual members, namely, that the exercise of freedom takes full cognizance of the rights of others.
The University reserves the right to take action, including suspension or required withdrawal, without refunding fees, for conduct it considers undesirable. Neither Drew University nor any of its officers shall be under any liability for such required withdrawal. Off-campus violations of University regulations or state and local ordinances may subject a student to University disciplinary action.
The University views the following as among the most serious conduct violations: academic dishonesty; acts of racial, religious, or ethnic intolerance or incivility; intimidation of a witness; sexual harassment; the illegal use, possession, or distribution of controlled dangerous substances; possession of a weapon; use or possession of alcoholic beverages by those under the legal drinking age; theft; vandalism; and direct disobedience of a University official in relation to a University regulation.
Drew University reserves the right to require a student to withdraw when competent medical advice dictates that not to do so endangers the welfare of the student or institution.
Damage to Property
Damage beyond ordinary wear to University property, including residence hall rooms and furnishings, is charged to the student's account. In cases where damage is not assignable to an individual, costs may be prorated to accounts of students within the responsible group.
Breakage of materials in science laboratories is charged to the student's account and is payable in full with the next University bill issued.
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