About the Williams-Exeter Programme

Williams College offers a year-long program of studies at Oxford University in co-operation with Exeter College (founded in 1314), one of the constituent colleges of the University. As Visiting Students, Williams College students on the program are full undergraduate members of the University, eligible for access to virtually all of its facilities, libraries, and resources. Williams-Exeter Programme students, as such, enjoy full integration into the intellectual and social life of one of the world's great universities.

Although students in the Programme will be members of Exeter College, entitled to make full use of Exeter facilities (including the College Library), dine regularly in Hall, and join all College clubs and organisations on the same terms as other undergraduates at Exeter, they will reside in Ephraim Williams House, a compound of four buildings owned by Williams College, roughly 1.3 miles north of the city centre. Six students from Exeter College will normally reside in Ephraim Williams House each year, responsible for helping to integrate Williams students into the life of Exeter College and the broader life of Oxford University. A resident director (and member of the Williams faculty) administers Ephraim Williams House, oversees the academic program, and serves as both the primary academic and personal advisor to Williams students in Oxford.

Students enrolled in the Oxford Programme must enroll for the full academic year, which consists of three academic terms, each of which includes eight full weeks of instruction: Michaelmas Term (early October to early December), Hilary Term (mid-January to mid-March), and Trinity Term (late April to late June). Students are expected to be in residence to write their first tutorial papers before the eight-weeks of instruction begins and to remain in residence during the week after the term ends in order to sit their final examinations. Between the three terms there are two intervening four-five week vacations, during which students may be expected to continue reading as preparation for their upcoming tutorials.

Over the course of the three terms students are required to enroll in a minimum of FIVE tutorial courses (consisting of eight tutorial meetings and requiring the preparation of eight essays or their equivalent). For more information about Oxford's tutorial system, please visit the academics page.

History

In the early 1980s, Williams College purchased a group of houses in north Oxford. In 1985, Williams College, then under President Francis Oakley, initiated a year long program of study at Oxford University. Since then, Williams College has sent two dozen highly motivated students to study at Oxford University every year. Beginning in Michaelmas Term 2003, Williams students in Oxford have officially been designated 'Visiting Students'; they carry Oxford University student identification cards and are for all intents and purposes Oxford students for the academic year.