About Arts and Sciences

We know that as a parent, you want your son or daughter to succeed at USA as much as we do. Here are some things you can do to help make sure your student is academically successful.

1. Encourage your student to see their academic advisor each semester. Studies have found that college students who have frequent appointments with an academic advisor persist and graduate from college at higher rates. 
   
   If you or your student doesn’t know who their academic advisor is, then they can call their major department to find out. If they don’t yet have a major, they can call the Arts and Sciences Advising Center office at (251) 460-7233 to get an advisor. The Advising Center is also a good resource for other advising-related questions, such as questions about graduation
   
   
2. Help insure that your student attends class. As simple as it sounds, many students, particularly freshman, find it difficult to consistently attend class, even though attendance is strongly correlated with academic success (unsurprisingly!).
   
   
3. Make sure your son or daughter knows their instructors by name. Instructors are required to hold regular office hours, and most like to have students visit. Office hours are a great way to get help outside of class, and office hours are part of what tuition money pays for. So make sure your student asks their instructors when and where they hold office hours so they can take advantage of this valuable resource.
   
   
4. Make sure your student knows about the many helpful academic resources on campus. These include Jag Success, study labs, student instructors, and many more. See our Academic Support page for more details.

Vision Statement

The College of Arts and Sciences seeks to become the premier center for broad and interdisciplinary education on the Gulf Coast of the United States. We are a diverse community of artists, scholars, teachers, and learners, dedicated to humanistic inquiry, scientific exploration, and artistic creation. We foster the intellectual and ethical growth of our students, helping them to develop their individual voice and to find their purpose as citizens of the world.

Mission Statement

The College of Arts and Sciences is the intellectual center of the University of South Alabama and is the foundation for establishing and building the quality of the University’s academic programs. In the College of Arts and Sciences students receive broad exposure to all areas of academic inquiry, as well as in-depth knowledge in their chosen field of study. The College provides every undergraduate student at the University, regardless of major, with the fundamentals of a liberal arts education to enhance students’ knowledge and create an atmosphere in which students develop their own critical thinking, communication skills, and the tools with which to carry out independent inquiry. Such an education promotes a heightened sense of intellectual curiosity, an appreciation of the values and accomplishments of the sciences, arts and humanities, and a sense of awareness and responsibility for the well-being of their society.

In achieving these educational goals, the College of Arts and Sciences will: 

• offer a full range of subjects in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, mathematics, and the natural sciences.
• encourage breadth of learning and training in the fundamentals of scholarship.
• create and apply knowledge in the arts and sciences through dedicated research, teaching, scholarship, and creative works.
• foster educational exchange within the University, the Mobile community, and society as a whole.
• maintain a community of teachers and scholars devoted to the preservation and discovery of knowledge and its transmission to students and to the public.
• promote an intellectual climate that encourages lifelong learning and open and free inquiry
• encourage and support the application of knowledge in service to the University, the Mobile metropolitan area, and the wider society.
• promote tolerance and mutual understanding among all members of the University community and society as a whole.
• emphasize the regional uniqueness of southwest Alabama, including its cultural heritage, its natural environment, and its strategic location as a port city on the Gulf of Mexico.
• prepare students to participate in the larger world beyond the region by giving them an awareness of the complexity of global issues and contexts.
• prepare students for meaningful and productive careers and contribute to the development of an educated work force responsive to the needs of the region.

Service Philosophy

Students, members of the faculty and staff, and other visitors to the Dean's Office of the College of Arts and Sciences should find a high level of professionalism and a consistently friendly and helpful attitude. All communication should take place with sensitivity to racial, ethnic, religious and other characteristics of persons, and respect should be clearly evident in everything we say and do in our workplace.

Annual Report 2023 Annual Report 2022 Annual Report 2021 Annual Report 2020 Annual Report 2019 Annual Report 2018 Annual Report 2017

 

Arts and Sciences Chairs Meeting Agendas	Arts and Sciences Chairs Meeting Minutes
November 30th, 2017 agenda February 22nd, 2018 agenda June 28, 2018 meeting agenda September 20, 2018 agenda February 2020 agenda September, 2020 agenda December 2020 agenda February 2021 agenda June 2021 agenda September 2021 agenda November 2021 agenda February 2022 agenda June 2022 agenda September 2022 agenda November 2022 agenda February 2023 agenda	September 28th, 2017 meeting November 30th, 2017 meeting February 22nd, 2018 meeting June 28, 2018 meeting February 2020 meeting September 2020 meeting February 2021 meeting June 2021 meeting September 2021 meeting November 2021 meeting February 2022 meeting June 2022 meeting September 2022 meeting November 2022 meeting