SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY
MISSION STATEMENT
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved for Sam Houston
State University a mission (role and scope) statement, consistent with
Section 61.051(d) of the Texas Education Code on January 24, 1986.
Sam Houston State University is a multi-purpose state university that
exists to meet the needs of a civilized community by providing to the community
educational opportunities and resources of the highest quality. The university
has evolved into a federation of colleges and programs which provides a
climate of intellectual freedom with academic programs to enable its students
to become informed, thoughtful, and productive citizens with the skills
necessary to evaluate issues critically and to appreciate the cultural
and aesthetic values of life. To fulfill its mission, the university is
committed to:
Maintain excellence in instruction, research, and public service.
Secure and retain a highly qualified and dedicated faculty and support
staff.
Maintain high academic and professional standards for faculty, students,
and staff.
Admit and retain qualified and motivated students.
Provide a library of the highest quality capable of supporting instruction,
research, and public service programs.
Provide an intellectual and social climate conducive to the fullest development
of students.
Provide a state-of-the-art computer facility capable of supporting instruction,
research, and public service programs.
Admit transfer students from other degree-granting institutions and from
junior or community colleges in accordance with applicable standards.
Provide early admission programs to gifted high school students who meet
the necessary entrance requirements.
Provide the necessary physical facilities and resources for the attainment
of the university's goals.
Instruction
Excellence in instruction is considered foremost in enhancing the educational
process. The university has assembled a community of teaching scholars
whose goal is to give meaning to the separate elements of our civilization
so that students of all disciplines can analyze, study, and organize the
diverse elements of knowledge, thereby giving conscious direction to the
human mind. To fulfill its commitment to excellence in instruction, the
university seeks to:
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Proclaim a unity of knowledge by emphasizing the mutual interdependence
of all studies.
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Provide a strong liberal arts framework for all instructional programs.
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Provide pre-professional, professional, and technical training in a variety
of specialized programs.
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Offer a wide range of academic studies in both undergraduate and graduate
programs to prepare students for meaningful careers that will contribute
to their personal welfare and to the cultural and economic development
of the state, the nation, and the world.
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Provide doctoral curricula for which there are needs and in which the university
and its faculty have competencies.
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Provide a professional staff to assist the student body in academic, career,
and personal counseling.
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Provide a supervised extracurricular program offering students opportunities
to develop interests and skills in group activities and leadership through
participation in student government, interest-centered organizations, social
groups, honor societies, and athletic, forensic, journalistic, and fine
arts activities.
Research
Creative activity is recognized as an indispensable function of the
institution if its instruction is to have the relevance, freshness, and
effectiveness expected of an institution of higher learning. Knowledge
is indeed an end in itself and one which has value that may properly be
called inestimable since it cannot be expressed in terms of any other value.
The university holds that the term research applies to creativity in
all fields. To encourage the discovery and advancement of human knowledge,
the university seeks to:
Provide an environment that encourages systematic inquiry into both practical
and purely intellectual problems.
Encourage the intellectual development of its students and faculty through
access to the record of human experience.
Support responsible inquiry of old and new ideas by testing their validity
and significance.
Share the results of its research activities with the academic community,
the business and professional world, and the
public at-large to enhance the overall quality of life.
Provide academic, pre-professional, and career curriculum research opportunities
in the applied arts and sciences, the physical and life sciences, teacher
education, the fine arts, business administration, criminal justice system,
the behavioral and social sciences, the humanities, and other related fields.
Public Service
The university acknowledges its responsibility to serve as the nucleus
for the cultural and intellectual development of students and members of
the community outside the framework of formal course work. To provide this
service, the university seeks to:
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Share its expertise and resources with individuals and groups through consultant
services and applied research.
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Work with other consortia, institutions, agencies, and civic groups to
exchange ideas, to share mutual concerns, and to foster intellectual growth.
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Provide its expertise to other public institutions at the local, state,
national, and international levels.
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Provide services such as continuing adult education, correspondence courses,
institutes, conferences, and services to educational, business, community,
and social organizations.
Within this mission, the university seeks to maintain sufficient flexibility
to develop its creative resources to the fullest so that it can adapt to
changing educational and social needs. It is committed to the development
of innovative programs, while at the same time striving to maintain the
highest quality in the traditional curricula. The university operates on
the assumption that a free society depends upon an enlightened citizenry
capable of making wise and responsible choices and that it can make an
important contribution to the development and guardianship of such enlightenment.