Mission Statement
The mission of the Department is to extend knowledge and competent performance in university students, children, families, and significant others through ethical experimentation, pedagogical interventions, and comprehensive evaluations designed to create new understandings and paradigms for the present and future that contribute to increasing the quality of lives. The Department will provide systems, support, and mentoring opportunities for each person to acquire necessary sets of knowledge, skills, and attitudes in a learning environment that nourishes enthusiasm and respects the pursuit of individual dreams through lifelong education. The Department invites synergistic relationships with world and community groups as well as individuals to invest mutual efforts and resources in creating promising futures and supporting choices of children, families, and educators. Undergraduate and graduate students are provided with opportunities to pursue their interests in special education through well established, challenging degree and licensure programs that lead to employment. Finally, the Department maintains as a major mission the conducting of exemplary research to discover new knowledge in addition to attracting and retaining outstanding faculty and highly able students who can apply their knowledge and skills to help meet the challenges facing persons who require the best professional practices of special education.