<p>UD students are a select groupUD experienced the largest applicant pool in its history when nearly 22,000 students applied for the Class of 2009. For the first time, in fall 2005, the average entering freshman at UD has SATs above 1200, and more than 500 members of the freshman class had high school GPAs of 4.00 or above. Two members of the class had perfect SAT scores. For the incoming Class of 2010, the average high school grade point average of 3.56 and class rank (top 16 percent) are the highest they've ever been. Bottom line: UDs popularity enables us to be selective and choose from the best.</p>
<p>Commitment to diversityThe University of Delaware is ranked fourth in the nation among flagship state institutions in the graduation rate of African-American students, according to a report in a recent issue of The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. UDs rate of 64 percent is nearly twice the national average. In fall 2003, the University established a council of faculty, administrators and students to lead and oversee campuswide efforts to enhance student diversity and success. This new Council on Student Diversity and Success will coordinate and extend programs that support the recruitment and success of a diverse undergraduate and graduate student body.</p>
<p>Successful outcomesStudents in UDs Ronald E. McNair Scholars and University Undergraduate Scholars programs have continued a significant record of excellencea 100 percent success rate for getting into and obtaining funding for the graduate schools of their choice. In 2005, all 13 graduating seniors in the McNair program and five students in the University Undergraduate Scholars program applied to and were accepted by graduate schools.</p>
<p>Students have a world viewUD is ranked No. 1 in study abroad participation among the nations public institutions of higher education, according to figures released in 2005 by the Institute of International Education. About one in three UD students takes advantage of a study-abroad experience during his or her college career. In 2003, UD added the seventh and final continentAntarcticato the list of locations where our students experience educational adventures.</p>
<p>The first Junior Year Abroad program in the world began at the University of Delaware in 1923.</p>
<p>A Commencement tradition showcases the number of UD students who study abroad during the academic careers. Students who have studied abroad wear colorful sashes reflecting the countries they visited, and flags of all the 50 states and more than 120 home countries of UD students are displayed near the speakers platform.</p>
<p>UD was recognized by the Association of International Educators for the faculty and staff support that have helped make study abroad such an important and integral part of the UD educational experience.</p>
<p>Rhodes and other top scholarsSince 1990, UD has had four Rhodes Scholarship winners: Leonard P. Stark, Class of 1991; Douglas Mauro de Lorenzo, Class of 1998; Thomas M. Pellathy, Class of 2000; and David A. Kovara, Class of 2002. In all, UD has had 11 Rhodes Scholars since the prestigious program began in 1904.</p>
<p>In 2005, two UD students, Thomas Isherwood and James Parris, were named Marshall Scholars. UD was one of only six universities that had multiple Marshall Scholars, joining Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Georgetown and the U.S. Military Academy.</p>
<p>Conserving the worlds treasuresThe Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation, founded in 1974, is one of only three graduate programs in the United States that educates and trains conservation professionals to care for the worlds cultural heritage. The programs graduates now serve as conservators in cultural institutions throughout the world, including the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the National Park Service, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of African Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum of Modern Art and the National Trust in the United Kingdom, among many others. Graduates have been responsible for the examination, technical analysis, conservation treatment and preservation of such irreplaceable objects as the Declaration of Independence, multiple drafts of the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Star-Spangled Banner, the Liberty Bell, the Dead Sea Scrolls and works of art by everyone from the Old Masters to contemporary artists, from Rembrandt to Wyeth. Program graduates have conserved Babe Ruths baseball contract, the original R2D2 from the movie Star Wars, the worlds first photograph, Elvis Presleys 81 gold records, the 1905 Wright Flyer III, Anna Pavlovas classical tutu, original manuscripts by James Joyce and Henry David Thoreau and early animation cels from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They have led preservation of architectural interiors of Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg and the White House and have worked at archeological sites from Delaware to Turkey. They have been called upon to assist in preservation efforts in Kobe, Japan, in Baghdad, and along Americas hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast region.</p>
<p>International exchangeThe Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and the University of Sarajevo have established a graduate business school in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Supported by a four-year, $10 million USAID contract, the new schools MBA program began in the fall of 2004, staffed by UD faculty, with support from the economics faculty at Sarajevo. The project demonstrates the high regard in which the University of Delaware is held in the area of international teaching and learning.</p>
<p>Commitment to public serviceUD has been recognized as a Truman Foundation Honor Institution, one of only three selected in 2003, based on the Universitys active encouragement of outstanding young people to pursue careers in public service and its sustained success in helping student win prestigious Truman Scholarships. In all, only 49 institutions have been awarded this honor in the foundations 30-year history. Other recipients include Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities. In 2005, two UD students were named Truman Scholars, and another was so honored in 2006, bringing the total number of recipients at UD to 16 and placing the University among the top 10 percent of colleges and universities with students who have received the prestigious award.</p>
<p>Invigorating curriculumIn May 2004, the Universitys Faculty Senate approved several curriculum changes that mirror the types of activities mentioned prominently in recent news reports as goals that a Harvard University committee considers important as it begins to work on reinvigorating its own undergraduate curriculum. Few public or private institutions meet the current standards of quality now in place at UD in terms of programs, facilities, faculty and students. Items that enrich the Delaware undergraduate experience include a program on the transition from high school to the University; nationally regarded discovery-based learning opportunities; an undergraduate research program that is a national model; a capstone experience that enables students to reflect upon and apply what they have learned; and a commitment to international education and study abroad.</p>
<p>Enriching the educational experience and the communityThe University operates the Early Learning Center, which is serving the needs of 237 children from age 6 weeks to 12 years in a model early care and education center, as well as providing a site for UD students in a variety of fields to gain experience working with children. The facility is also an interdisciplinary research center for faculty and students to conduct studies. In addition to providing high-quality child care and family support services, the center will house, beginning this fall, the UD Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinic, serving children who need physical, occupational and/or speech and language therapy.</p>
<p>Hands-on hotelThe Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware, by Marriott, was completed in fall 2004. It provides accommodations for campus visitors and also serves as a learning laboratory for students in UDs Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management who are involved in all aspects of the hotels operation. The 126-room, four-story, business-class hotel is adjacent to the Clayton Hall Conference Center on the Laird Campus.</p>
<p>One of the best computer networks in the nationUD has one of the best computer network systems in the nation and, in April 2000, was ranked second among universities in Americas 100 Most Wired Colleges, a survey of college and university use of information technologies conducted by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine.</p>
<p>Going wirelessWireless access to the Universitys computing network is expanding quickly as more students, faculty and staff are turning to portable computers. All residence hall lounges and areas in the Morris Library and the Perkins and Trabant University centers are now wired for wireless.</p>
<p>Commitment to students personal growthAn Academic Council on Service-based Learning established at UD to review service-based learning initiatives, to make recommendations on increasing their number and quality, to identify opportunities for partnerships with others and to advise on ways to recognize such activities.</p>