Statement of Goals and Objectives for Oberlin College
Oberlin College, an independent coeducational institution, holds a distinguished place among American colleges and universities. Oberlin was the first college to grant undergraduate degrees to women and, historically, was a leader in the education of African Americans. The Oberlin community is known for its academic and musical excellence and its commitment to social engagement and diversity.
Oberlin uniquely combines an outstanding professional school of music with a leading undergraduate college of arts and sciences. The Oberlin Conservatory of Music provides The Oberlin Conservatory of Music offers programs and opportunities to prepare students for diverse and fulfilling careers in music, education, industry, and the arts. Deeply committed to academic excellence, the College of Arts and Sciences offers a rich and balanced curriculum in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Within that framework, the College expects that students will work closely with the faculty to design an educational program appropriate to their own particular interests, needs, and long-term goals.
Oberlin seeks a diverse and promising student body. Recognizing that diversity broadens perspectives, Oberlin is dedicated to recruiting a culturally, economically, geographically, and racially diverse group of students. Interaction with others of widely different backgrounds and experiences fosters effective, concerned participation in the larger society so characteristic of Oberlin graduates. Oberlin seeks students who are talented, highly motivated, personally mature, and tolerant of divergent views. The Conservatory, in particular, seeks talented musicians with considerable potential for further growth and development. Performance is central to all of the curricula including music education, history, theory, composition, and technology.
Oberlin’s faculty is dedicated to combining effective undergraduate instruction with productive scholarship and artistry. Members of the faculty are highly skilled and professional, well-grounded in their chosen discipline; yet they characteristically have interests that extend beyond their own specialization. The College seeks to recognize and encourage teaching of unusually high caliber, and scholarly and other creative activities are considered essential to continued teaching excellence. Thus, active research, scholarship, artistry, and/or performance are expected of each faculty member.
Oberlin College and Conservatory: Mission and Goals
The mission of Oberlin College and Conservatory is to educate students for lives of intellectual, musical and artistic rigor and breadth, sustained inquiry, creativity and innovation, and leadership. Oberlin aims to prepare graduates with the knowledge, skills, and perspectives essential to confront complex issues and to create change and value in the world.
Oberlin is committed to educational access and opportunity. It seeks to offer a diverse and inclusive residential learning environment encourage a free and respectful exchange of ideas and shares an enduring commitment to a sustainable and just society.
The goals underlying Oberlin’s mission are given fuller explication in the division-specific Learning Goals articulated by the faculties of the College and the Conservatory. Although the College Learning Goals and the Conservatory Learning Goals and Outcomes are distinct, with each division’s goals speaking in particular ways to the aspirations and needs of its students, they nevertheless are commonly rooted in – and, together, give the fullest flowering to – the core values animating Oberlin and its work – namely, an abiding commitment, on the part of students, faculty, staff, and trustees, to educational excellence, diversity and community, stewardship, and sustainability.
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