It has been a productive week! Not only have I nearly completed my paper for the conference, but I have met with several college and university officials about a Junior Year Abroad program for our Scholars. The good news is that on this side of the Atlantic they are more than happy to have high achieving students such as ours. The only “bad” news (and it isn’t so bad) is that I now have to work out the logistics of credit transfer and tuition payments. It will be expensive, the exchange rate is currently 1:2 pounds sterling to the dollar. That makes even a cup of Ribena expensive.

The two colleges I have spoken with are Mansfield College (above) and St. Catherine’s. Oxford has a unique collegiate system where undergraduates apply directly to one of the 31 undergraduate colleges and the college, through system of tutorials ensures that their students pass the exams. (Oxford undergraduates are graded solely on their final exams taken at the end of their last year. There are preliminary exams and papers along the way, but the only grades come from those finals. Talk about pressure!) The university is responsible for providing the faculty lectures and seminars that students attend along with their tutorials.

In this arrangement Schreyer Scholars would be directly enrolled within the college and the university. They would have access to all the lectures and seminars and be tutored by the college’s tutors. They would have rights and access to the Bodleian Library, the Oxford Student Union, in short, they would be true Oxford students.

So stay tuned! I will have to work with the appropriate people at PennState to make sure all credits would transfer and so on. I hope to be able to accept applications at the latest next winter for the fall of 09, but maybe as soon as this winter for fall 08!

I will be heading to Slovenia for an international conference in my field so I may not post for a couple of weeks. Have a great summer!