Dean
Dr. Isis N. Walton

Location
Colson Hall, D1

Contact Information
804-524-5478 | iwalton@vsu.edu

Associate Dean
Dr. Jerry Crawford

Location
Hunter McDaniel, 40ND

Contact Information
804-524-5369 | jcrawford@vsu.edu  

Assistant Dean
Dr. Stephen Rockenbach

Location
Colson Hall, Room #101

Contact Information
804-524-5910 | srockenbach@vsu.edu

Mission Statement

The mission of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is to develop and continuously enhance a perpetually contemporary global standard of excellence that prepares students to assume productive leadership roles anywhere in the world. To this end, highly effective faculty, staff, and administrators provide leadership for programs that integrate instruction, technology, research, the ethic of service, and professional development programs and activities. In accordance with the long- standing tenets of the liberal arts, the College’s philosophy of education is that of liberation of the mind and spirit in facilitation of exploration, discovery, and new ideologies.

Toward fulfillment of this mission, the following are College of Humanities and Social Sciences guiding operational principles:

• Accountability – The 21st century Institution of Higher Education (IHE) is accountable to a myriad of private, governmental, and professional stakeholder groups whose primary interest is institutional effectiveness in all facets of operation, whether fiscal, curricular, programmatic, administrative, or others. The College is committed to maintain an aggressively nimble operational paradigm focused solely upon student achievement and institutional effectiveness.
• Assessment – Outcomes-based educational products are arguably the central emphasis of the 21st century academic enterprise. Accordingly the College’s model is designed to ensure that program completers fluently represent the knowledge, skills, and dispositions espoused by each of the academic units.
• Authentic Engagement – The term authentic engagement means one is authentically involved in their curriculum where the assigned task is associated with an outcome that has a clear meaning and value to the student (LeBaron & Santos, 2005; Schlechty, 2002). Authentic engagement stipulates that the learner has intrinsic motivation to work on an assignment. Essentially, the College’s embodiment of authentic engagement—in accordance with VSU’s core values— invites the student to concomitantly examine content through the eyes of the experts and through their own lives. In this way, the learner becomes acutely aware of how he/she learns and, in turn, is able to get the most out of the curriculum. Authentic engagement, then, requires intense, exacting preparation, knowledge of learning styles, and pedagogical acuity. Authentic engagement encompasses mentoring and retooled iterations of action learning/research.
• Lifelong Learning – The concept of lifelong learning is the byproduct of the infusion of technology (specifically, the availability of, and accessibility to, information) into teaching, learning, and research, which his substantially and rapidly change methodology, procedure, policy, and/or practice in most disciplines. Thus, the well-prepared professional must be disposed to the ongoing development and currency of his/ her knowledge and skill sets. College of Humanities and Social Sciences is committed to the development of the lifelong learning dispositions necessary for the professional success of students, faculty, and staff.
• Individual and Professional Development – The ongoing development of faculty and students is integral to the teaching-learning paradigm. The pervasive use of technology is one driver of rapidly increasing discovery in all disciplines, thus, faculty must be perpetually engaged in scholarly activity in their respective disciplines. Students, then, are the beneficiaries of these activities toward self-actualization as well as pre-professional development.
• Research – Consistent with the university’s goals, the College supports and facilitates a three-tiered structure to perpetuate its research agenda:
  1. discovery or new knowledge that inform the global community and the discipline;
  2. new research/learning opportunities for students; and
  3. School and University niche and global reputation.
• Access – Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been bastions of opportunity for those who did not have access to higher education. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is committed to—through authentic engagement—access and support for those who demonstrate the potential and dispositions conducive to advanced learning.
• Collaboration – Partnerships across disciplines, with internal and external stakeholders, and the professional realm are essential to the comprehensive educational product offered to students and central to the University’s mission to serve the communities to which it is intrinsically bound.

Organization of the College

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences consists of eight undergraduate departments and the ROTC Department. Programs focusing on the humanities and social sciences serve to strengthen critical thinking and analysis, problem-solving capabilities, communication skills and interpretive insights.

Major Programs of Undergraduate Study

Students pursuing undergraduate study may major in the following programs:

Art and Design

Art and Design
Concentrations: Studio Art, Animation, Graphic Design, & Web Design

History and Philosophy

History
History, Secondary Teaching Endorsement

Languages and Literature

English
Concentrations: African-American/Africana Literature, Literatures of the World, Creative Writing, Professional Writing, Linguistics, “7 & 7,” and English/Secondary Teaching Endorsement 

Mass Communications

Concentrations: Print Media, Radio & Television, & Public Relations, Contemporary Sound Production

Military Science (Minor)

Music

Music
Choral Music Teaching Endorsement (Vocal)
Instrumental Music Teaching Endorsement (Brass, Percussion, String) Music Performance (Instrument, Keyboard, Vocal) and Sound Recording Technology

Political Science

Political Science
Public Administration (Minor)

Sociology/Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice
Sociology

Social Work

Social Work

Special Facilities and Equipment

WVST, the campus radio station, and the Virginia State Television Network (VSUN), the units under the University Academic Technology Department provide production skill training and teach the use of current technologies. Computer-assisted writing laboratories assist students with special problems.

Organizations and Clubs

There are many groups that students can join to satisfy their intellectual interests or provide opportunities for co-curricular pursuits. There are clubs connected to academic disciplines that provide informal forums to discuss topics of interest in politics, languages, science, history, computers, literature, technology, and business, among others.