Welcome to College of the Ozarks

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Welcome to College of the Ozarks

Tour stop audio transcript

Welcome to College of the Ozarks (C of O)! We're excited to provide you with a virtual tour of our campus. C of O is a fully accredited Christian liberal arts college near Branson, Missouri. Reverend James Forsythe, a missionary, founded the institution in 1906 as a high school called The School of the Ozarks®. The institution became a junior college in 1956 before becoming a four-year bachelor's program in 1965. It has been called College of the Ozarks since 1990.C of O provides the opportunity for full-time students to work at one of more than 100 campus jobs or industries in exchange for a tuition scholarship. Our mission is to provide a quality Christian education to those found worthy but without the funds to pay for it. Donors who believe in and support the College's mission provide scholarships to make this possible. Our unique program gives students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. ""In case this is your first visit, here are some tips to help you get started:-To jump to the next destination, select the ""Next"" button on the right side of your screen. -Or, if you already know where you want to go, simply select that location from the list on the sidebar OR directly on the map below.-And remember to explore each destination in more detail by clicking the interactive icons included throughout each location.

Residence Halls

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Residence life is a core component of the robust community of our campus. Residence halls provide safe and healthy environments for our students to develop academically and socially. The ResLife team assists with this development and serves as a support system for students. Friendships for life often begin in the residence halls, where students are paired with roommates and enjoy various living communities throughout their experience. Rooms vary in size with both community and suite-style bathrooms. Community naturally occurs in each hall’s spaces, including a kitchen, lounge, and study areas. The ResLife team is excited about the opportunity to live and work in community with you.

Christian Ministries

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Christian Ministries serves to help students find their identity in Christ through discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and leadership. Students use our library, meeting spaces, and lounge for hosting Bible studies and spending time with friends. Christian formation happens as you engage your head, heart, and hands with God’s truth. So, we provide international and domestic mission trips, service projects, chapel services, Bible studies, and leadership retreats. In addition, the Collins Chapel provides intimate space for prayer and quiet time, and our Student Counseling Center is available where licensed professional counselors see students by appointment at no cost. You matter to God, to us, and we look forward to serving you.

Gym/Fitness Center

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The Tilmon Fitness Center is the heart of healthy living on campus. It offers students, faculty, and staff a place to work out, engage in recreational activities, and develop a healthy lifestyle. The 3,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility includes Treadmills, elliptical trainers, stair steppers, stationary bikes, strength machines for every muscle group, free weights, dumbbells, kettlebells, ab and stretching area, recreational gym, basketball goals, pickleball lines, volleyball court, indoor walking track, spin bike room, 25-meter indoor swimming pool with swimming lanes, diving board, paddle boards, observation area, racquetball courts, and locker rooms.

Pearl Rogers Dining Center

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“The Pearl” is an all-you-can-eat cafeteria open to current students and employees. Daily offerings include deli sandwiches, main courses, salad bar, burgers, pizza, desserts, cereal, fresh fruit, and beverages. Food allergy offerings and boxed lunches are available to accommodate dietary needs and busy schedules. The Pearl offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week. At noon each day, we give thanks for the meals that students, professors, and work supervisors often share. Special themed events are provided several times throughout each semester.

The Watson Student Center

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Coming soon! The student center will be the hub for community at Hard Work U. Students of all interests will find a space to engage while enjoying fellowship and fun. You can relax with a coffee from the coffee shop in the comfortable indoor and outdoor seating area. The movie theatre, enhanced with a hi-definition screen and reclining chairs, is sure to be a student favorite! In addition, the gaming center provides endless entertainment for the gaming community. Students can also enjoy traditional games such as pool, ping pong, or foosball. The Watson Center provides individual study spaces and conference rooms for studying, team-building, clubs, and organization gatherings.

Library

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Lyons Memorial Library provides resources that support the College's curriculum, activities, and mission. This beautiful, midcentury modern-style building is a prime location to study, surrounded by picturesque views of the chapel, Scripture Garden, and Point Lookout. Gorgeous murals depicting the Ozarks region's history adorn the second floor's south walls. The library’s three floors house thousands of volumes and reference materials. The library catalog is accessible online, and student workers assist their peers onsight as needed. One of many computer labs is located here, with spacious tables and comfortable chairs for reading.

McKibben Courtyard

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McKibben Courtyard is in the center of campus, surrounded by important icons like the chapel, library, Jones Learning Center, Christian Ministries, and of course, The McKibben building, home to our nursing and education departments. Hard Work U, stamped in the center, represents not only dedication to academics and work but also traditions. This well-loved spot is where we have our annual Christmas tree lighting and other student activities.

William S Knight Center for Patriotic Education

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The Knight Center is a hub for our patriotic, character, and citizenship programs, encouraging students to become engaged and thoughtful citizens and develop Christlike character. First-semester students participate in Base Camp, a course that challenges them to consider how character, calling, and community help us thrive. Patriotic Education 1 focuses on understanding American heritage, government, citizenship, and service. During Patriotic Education 2, the College sends all students to Washington, D.C., as a capstone experience. For those who elect to serve America in the military, The Knight Center is home to the Missouri Army National Guard Leadership Development Program, also known as Bobcat *GOLD*.

The James P. Keeter School of Engineering – Dee Ann White Engineering Building

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The Dee Ann White Engineering Building houses our multidisciplinary engineering program, which contains state-of-the-art classrooms, collaboration spaces, offices, and labs for electrical, mechanical, civil, agricultural, chemical, and industrial engineering courses and projects. Our 27,000-square feet of space includes a computer lab that supports a wide range of computer-aided design classes. Students have experienced both international and domestic internships, enriching their academic pursuits. Our graduates work in various engineering disciplines, including manufacturing, civil engineering, electronics design firms, aerospace, and national laboratories. Alumni have also completed graduate degrees. Our faculty have vast backgrounds in the field and bring their experience and expertise to benefit our aspiring engineers.

Nursing Simulation Lab

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Our program provides Christ-centered education where we teach, nurture, and prepare students to become professionals. We teach students truth through a biblical worldview. To benefit our students, we mirror our nursing program with a hospital, clinic, and community health setting. Our student nurses accumulate over 900 hours of clinical experience in simulation and direct patient care. Our simulation lab looks like a hospital. It includes patient rooms, observation rooms with one-way tinted glass, a ward and nurses station, and a medication room. Our NCLEX pass rate NCLEX is 100% placing our graduates in high demand where they can use their skills to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

Mass Communications/Radio Station

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KCOZ-The Lookout-broadcasts 24/7providing Christian music, weather, original student programming, and more. They write scripts, record, edit, and engage listeners by live-hosting and deejaying. Students produce original promos, PSAs, shows, scripture readings, and station IDs. KCOZ is a multi-award-winning station competing against stations across Missouri. We are a student service offering games, contests, and giveaways, and we engage with students through on-air broadcasts and social media. KCOZ is a campus resource and assists with podcast production. Our student workers express creativity, exercise teamwork, and take on individual responsibility in a safe learning environment. Tune in online at www.KCOZ.live or on the KCOZ app.

The Keeter Center

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The Keeter Center is the College’s award-winning lodge, dining, and conference facility. Working alongside industry professionals, students develop valuable skills like excellent customer service and interpersonal communication that will benefit them in their professions. Students attain these character-building roles by working in the restaurant, lodge, kitchen, bakery, coffee shop, creamery, maintenance, gift shop, catering, sales, marketing, and administration. In addition, students learn time management and presentation skills and how to deal with stressful situations. The Keeter Center is well-known for developing leaders in its student manager program, where peers lead peers during an incredibly formative experience in the hospitality industry.

Farms/Ag

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Agriculture is a dynamic, diversified field with a great need for graduates trained in the liberal arts as well as the scientific and practical components of agricultural production. Students benefit from the Agriculture Department's strong academic program which is coupled with experiences in on-campus farm production, farm management, and industry internships. The department has excellent facilities in both the academic program and the work education area. Students earning an agriculture degree have the opportunity to get real-world experience at the college's operating farm. Students of the agriculture school produce the dairy, beef, fruit, and vegetables used in the kitchen at The Keeter Center, ice cream shop, and bakery.

Career Center

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The Career Center engages, equips, and empowers students to recognize their vocation and calling. We engage students with various programs, equipping them to identify core values, skills, goals, and marketplace challenges. This empowers them to develop a personal mission statement, preparing them to share their stories. We'll introduce you to our resume-building platform and career postings group and provide many experiences where you can practice interview skills and networking. Our office, in the Berger Building, second floor, is a welcoming space where you can swing by for a cup of coffee and conversation with our staff, who are excited to serve you as you explore your vocation and calling.

Gittinger Recital Hall

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The Edith Gittinger Music Center offers outstanding facilities, including the Gittinger Recital Hall, a 120-seat auditorium with excellent acoustics and recording capabilities. Home to two 9-foot Steinway D pianos, the Center has audio/video classrooms and labs for computers and electronic keyboards. Choir and band rooms provide rehearsal space for the chorale, chapel choir, music theatre workshops, and concert and jazz bands. Private lessons, nine practice rooms with pianos, and an electronic music studio are available. Whether you pursue music ministry, education, theory and composition, or a piano or vocal performance major, we know you'll enjoy the camaraderie and community you'll experience with faculty and students in the music department.

Theaters

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Welcome to Jones Theatre! We offer General Theatre, Musical Theatre, Speech, and Theatre Education. We prepare students for graduate school and professional experiences, including professional stage and backstage work, production, management, radio, television, and film. We produce four shows annually, including a major musical. All students are welcome to participate in acting, singing, dancing, directing, choreography, sound and light design, stage management, costuming, and makeup. Student directors present several showcase productions in the intimate James L. Meikle Crossover Theatre. Participation in the productions is open to all students on a voluntary or credit-hour basis. In addition, our proximity to Branson, Missouri, affords our students internship opportunities at numerous professional theatres.

Stained Glass/Mill

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The Stained Glass and Candle Shop, Edwards Mill & General Store are beautiful farmhouse chic venues where students handcraft stained glass creations and candles. A twelve-foot water wheel powers Edwards Mill, turned by runoff water from nearby Lake Honor. Students grind whole-grain meal and flour, available for purchase. Upstairs is a weaving studio, where students hand-weave baskets and design and produce rugs, shawls, placemats, and other items on traditional looms. We provide fantastic creative experiences for art majors or those who enjoy creativity and learning a new craft!

Scripture Garden

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The Scripture Garden sits on the bluff overlooking Lake Taneycomo and the Ozarks’ natural beauty. Throughout the garden, stones engraved with Scripture remind us of God's powerful majesty and His desire for everyone to live in relationship with Him. A winding path takes visitors to the gazebo, an inviting structure on the bluff's edge that features a spectacular view of Lake Taneycomo. The entire campus community and the general public enjoy the serenity of this campus highlight, surrounded by the promises of God and the beauty of His creation. This calming place of solace is a welcome retreat for students to refill their cups and enjoy the Lord’s presence.

Branson Area

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Our beautiful campus is near Branson, where students a find entertainment of all types. Student favorites include hiking, nature trails, and boating or swimming activities at Table Rock Lake. In addition, shopping, shows and attractions, coffee shops, theme parks, movie theaters, mini golf, and ice cream are in plentiful supply! Many local attractions offer free or discounted admission to C of O students. From attractions on the highway 76 “strip” to the gorgeous Branson Landing on the Taneycomo lakefront, students can enjoy fun and affordable options for entertainment in the Branson Lakes area region.

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Welcome to College of the Ozarks