Welcome from the Dean

Welcome to the College of Arts & Sciences. We want you to succeed. We'll help you find one of our 30 programs that fits best with your aptitudes and goals. Then we'll help you complete the coursework, perhaps attend a graduate or professional school, and enter a fulfilling career. That's the commitment of our faculty and staff, our Student Success Center, and the network of advisors, mentors, tutors, and student organizations that constitute your support system while you are part of our community.

We are the largest and most complex academic unit in the University, yet we are coherent, and we care deeply about our students. Our 10 departments teach almost 50 percent of the student credit-hours offered at Tech. This is not because 50 percent of Tech students major in the CAS - actually, the figure is more like 20 percent--but rather because we teach so many of the general education and foundational courses needed by all students, wherever their "home" college might be. In fact, this mission to provide a broad, liberal arts foundation for all students unites our faculty in a way that belies their diversity in other respects. They care about the minds they are helping to shape, and they want to foster habits of lifelong learning and critical decision-making that are vital not only to success in a career but also to effective participation in our democracy.

The faculty is also united in a commitment to leading students beyond merely absorbing information. Students need practice in creating and using knowledge. Thus, each of our major programs has an "applied" dimension, which might include certain job-related, general skills (e.g., computer skills or simulations of team-based problem-solving), a focused set of courses or experiences (e.g., pre-health sciences, pre-law, a minor in Business, or an internship), or an intensive experience in research.

We have high expectations for our students, we support them, and we care about their futures.

Dr. Paul Semmes
Interim Dean