College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education

Interim College Dean: Lorinda Hackett
Taylor Hall Education Building 218B • 417-625-9307

Mission

The mission of the College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education is to create an inclusive and equitable learning environment that promotes intellectual and personal growth through scholarship, research and practical application. Innovative academic programs, supported by the liberal arts and global perspectives will foster student growth as a professional. The college is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and skills with integration of inter-professional and interdisciplinary education for the improvement of society and service to all its stakeholders.

Role

The College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education is one of the three major instructional entities of Missouri Southern. As such, it offers quality instruction by and under the leadership of professional educators who also have the advantage of work experience in business, education, government, healthcare, and industry.

Courses offered by individual departments within the College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education are specifically career oriented toward a specialized field. The faculty in these departments recognize the necessity of providing an understanding of the relationships between careers and society; therefore, courses from the fine arts, humanities and natural sciences, as well as courses to refine a student’s ability to read, write, speak and think are a required part of each department’s curriculum. As a result, the students majoring in the various curricula in the College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education are an integral part of the entire student body.

All courses offered in the College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education are designed to provide students with the experience, skills or expertise that enable them to enter their professional field and meet requirements imposed by any certifying and licensing examination that may be required.

All departments work closely with community stakeholders through advisory boards composed of professionals unique to the program. The advisory board assists the faculty of the various departments in maintaining relevancy of curriculum content and partnering for experiential learning.

Objectives

The objectives of the College of Health, Life Sciences, and Education are:

to ensure the transmission of knowledge regarding the social, historical and philosophical foundations of each discipline;
to foster an awareness of the cultural diversity that exists in society and to provide knowledge relative to the contributions made by various cultures in each discipline;
to integrate and apply technology relevant to research and professional productivity;
to develop critical thinking, communication and professional collaboration skills;
to instill an awareness and understanding of the personal and professional impact of participation in professional organizations and a commitment to life-long learning;
to develop professional attitudes and ethical standards;
to support opportunities for faculty and staff to remain current and to conduct research in their respective disciplines;
to provide instructional facilities and equipment essential to the delivery of effective instruction;
to encourage faculty to provide consultation services and to otherwise serve as resources for the area and,
to maintain the viability of the School of Education’s programs through systematic and continuous assessment, evaluation and modification,
to offer quality programs, and in areas where required, maintain program content necessary for state approval and national accreditation.