Vision and Mission

Vision

The College seeks greater presence and prestige, both statewide and nationally, as TTU's center for "Liberal Arts Education with a Technological Edge." It will continually reshape itself to make liberal arts education a vital, applied force in a university and society that constantly change.

Mission

The scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state he* is MAN* THINKING. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or still worse, the parrot of other men's* thinking. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

[*read "he or she," "person," and "person's"]

Like all other academic organizations in a state institution of higher education, the College of Arts & Sciences exists to serve society. It serves by providing (1) a liberal arts education for all TTU students; (2) strong major programs for students wishing to specialize in any of more than twenty areas of study; (3) high-quality foundational curricula for the professional and technical programs offered in other colleges at TTU; and (4) new knowledge through faculty and student research.

The first mode of service, which informs the other three, requires additional comment. While Tech students learn to be actors in the practical affairs of a democracy--engineers, business people, farmers, teachers, scientists, social workers, etc.--this college tries to foster in each of them the critical function of a liberally educated person. As practiced in the College of Arts & Sciences, the basic constituents of liberal arts education are:

• Critical Thinking--analysis and interpretation of major problems, issues, and texts through various scientific and hermeneutic methods. We teach this mainly through basic courses in each area.

• Context-consciousness--understanding that "truth" and "facts"are imbedded in a context of motives, assumptions, history, and various cultural factors. We teach this mainly through courses in history, literature, the arts, and social sciences.

• Communication--clear expression of the interpretive process and its results. We teach this mainly through writing courses and written or oral presentations in many other courses.