University Mission Statement
Emporia State University is a comprehensive Regents university primarily serving residents of Kansas by providing leadership in quality instruction, related scholarship, and service. A student-centered institution, its central mission is to develop lifelong learning skills, impart society's cultural heritage, and educate and prepare for both the professions and advanced study. Faculty, staff, and students interact in a collegial atmosphere that fosters freedom of inquiry and expression.
The university provides undergraduate educational opportunities designed to meet the broad goals of basic skill development and general education, as well as the more specific goals of a variety of programs in arts and sciences, business, education, and library and information management. Graduate programs serve needs and provide leadership within the region, the state and the Great Plains area. The University offers programs of national distinction in Education and in Library and Information Management and offers the Ph.D. in Library and Information Management. Primary undergraduate and graduate programs include:
Its arts and sciences programs and offerings at the baccalaureate and graduate levels provide a solid foundation for further learning, preparation for the many avenues of employment to which the basic disciplines lead, and the advanced knowledge necessary to enable professionals, including teachers, to move ahead in their fields and accept increased responsibilities and challenges.
Its business programs emphasize undergraduate and master's level professional instruction to meet the diverse needs of business, industry, and the schools, while contributing to both the personal and the professional development of students.
Its educational programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels have the necessary breadth and depth to prepare professionals for elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, universities, and other human-service settings and to foster continuing educational opportunities which promote excellence in education.
Its library and information management programs, the only ones in Kansas, are designed for the preparation and continuing education of professionals for positions in library and information centers in industrial, governmental, educational, and community settings through its certification, Master of Library Science and Ph.D. programs. Its regional program offers courses and the MLS degree in neighboring states.
Demographic, technological, and economic changes require that public universities expand traditionally held concepts of students and learning. Thus, part of Emporia State University’s mission is to provide opportunities for lifelong learning and distance education and to develop innovative instructional strategies and delivery systems.
Emporia State University fosters research and creative activities to enhance its instructional programs and ensure the vitality of the campus community. These activities focus primarily, but not exclusively, on the scholarship of integration, application, and teaching.
An important part of the University’s mission is service in support of educational advancement, economic development, and cultural enrichment for the region and the state. The University seeks to fulfill these obligations through its office of Lifelong Learning, the National Teachers Hall of Fame Conference Center, and various academic and professional institutes and centers. The University provides cultural opportunities to the residents of Kansas in the surrounding region through activities in the fine arts, humanities, and recreation.
Emporia State University is committed to increasing awareness of cultural diversity and providing broad learning opportunities. The campus welcomes and is enriched by students from throughout the nation and the world and seeks students of academic quality and cultural diversity.
The University’s highly qualified and dedicated faculty and staff assist students to achieve their potentials through excellent instruction, through its nationally recognized advising and assessment programs, through a focused concern for individual and personal needs, through special attention to the needs of persons with disabilities, and through use of a wide range of technological innovations. Comprehensive undergraduate and graduate offerings of high quality provide students at the University with the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the present and the future. Its commitment to flexibility and innovation enables Emporia State University to meet the challenges ahead.
Last Updated March 6, 2008