University

20 Jun 09

Mr Joseph Stewart, Chairman of the Board of the WK Kellogg Foundation, was joined by Professor Jonathan Michie, President of Kellogg College, and the University Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, as he planted a tree to mark his visit.

Students, staff, fellows and friends of Kellogg College have been celebrating the official opening of the college’s new site on Banbury Road.

The Chairman of the Board of the WK Kellogg Foundation, Mr Joseph Stewart, visited the college as part of a series of events to mark the opening of new buildings at the college.

The events culminated in a garden party in the Norham Manor grounds of Kellogg College on Wednesday June 17th where current staff and students were joined by alumni and other members of the University. Lord Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University, opened the garden party by congratulating Kellogg on the important and impressive dimension the College brings to the University.

During his visit last week Mr Stewart unveiled a plaque outside the new dining hall, and said: ‘Our Foundation has supported Kellogg College and the Department for Continuing Education for nearly half a century. Our Founder, Mr Kellogg, believed strongly in “the practical application of knowledge”. As our Board of Trustees compares the progress of Kellogg College and the Department for Continuing Education with the beliefs and values of our founder, we can only conclude that Mr Kellogg would be pleased with what this college has achieved in the uplifting of humankind.’

Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, and Professor Jonathan Michie, President of Kellogg College, joined Mr Stewart to plant a tree to mark his visit. The Pyrus Salicifolia ‘Pendula’, a pear tree, will grow just outside the glass walkway between the dining hall and the main building.

Established as a graduate college in 1990, Kellogg has been awarding Oxford degrees to a wide range of students for nearly twenty years. The college aims to support the lifelong learning work of the University and to expand opportunities for the continuing education and professional development of mature and non-traditional students. Initially, Kellogg College was based at Rewley House with the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, as both work to make the educational opportunities at Oxford more accessible by allowing distance, online and part-time study.

As the work of the college and the continuing education department continued to grow, more space was needed. Today, Kellogg College and the Department for Continuing Education welcome over 13,000 students a year, both local and international, offering courses across a range of disciplines.

Kellogg College is home to over 400 students, more than 300 of whom are adult part-time students, with a further 100 or so full-time students from around the world. Thanks to generous support for the College Building Fund from the Kellogg Foundation and other donors, a dining hall, common room, library, seminar rooms and administrative offices have been completed at the Banbury Road site. The development will continue over the coming years to increase student accommodation and academic facilities.
Professor Jonathan Michie, welcoming guests to the college's 'house-warming party' thanked the university and the other colleges for having agreed to the establishment of a new college in 1990 to support students studying for university degrees on a part-time basis.

He said: 'The trust which the other colleges, and successive Vice-Chancellors and Registrars have invested in Kellogg has been rewarded with the outstanding students which the college has attracted to Oxford, supported, and graduated. Our alumni contribute to the positive impact Oxford has nationally and globally, and by bringing students who would otherwise be missed, Kellogg makes the university itself even stronger and more inspiring.'