Website: https://www.washburn.edu/academics/college-schools/arts-sciences/index.html

Faculty

Kelly Erby, PhD, Dean and Professor
Maria Stover, PhD, Assistant Dean and Professor
Matt Arterburn, PhD, Associate Dean and Professor
Tracy Routsong, PhD, Associate Date and Professor
Dana King, Communications Coordinator and Assistant to the Dean
Toni Lewis, Office Coordinator
Christine Stoner, Office Coordinator

Mission

The College of Arts and Sciences seeks to engage students in a principled search for intellectual growth and development. In the same progressive spirit that motivated its founders, the College strives to provide all students an education in the liberal arts and sciences, so they may acquire, create, communicate, and integrate knowledge to enrich their own lives and be prepared for positions of responsibility as active citizens of their local communities and our global society. The College promotes community engagement, interdisciplinary opportunities, small classes, and diversity in its faculty and student body.

History

From its inception, the College of Arts and Sciences has been entrusted with the responsibility for providing the liberal education central to the mission of Washburn University. Maintaining a standard of excellence in all of its programs, the College strives to motivate and challenge students to develop creative thinking, aesthetic awareness, and discriminating judgment, as well as a sense of purpose and a zeal for continued independent and formal learning.

Through its faculty, the College remains the advocate for liberal education as a force for adaptation to an everchanging world. Faculty commitment to the triad of teaching, scholarship, and service helps guide students in specialized ways while exposing them to broad areas of knowledge encompassed by liberal education. This combination of generalized and specialized learning leads to the integrated understanding characteristic of an educated person.

Why a College of Arts and Sciences Degree?

The College of Arts and Sciences promotes “learning for a lifetime” across a variety of disciplines. Although the content and focus of course work may vary across disciplines, several themes characterize all departments and programs within Arts and Sciences. Faculty pay attention to students as individuals. Course offerings are designed to meet the needs of a diverse student population. Students work with Ph.D.’s from the beginning of their academic careers. Majors are well-known as individuals and valued as members of a departmental family. Alumni have gone on to do extraordinary things. Among the graduates of the college are a Nobel Prize winner, Governors, CEOs, Members of Congress, Presidential candidates, nationally recognized coaches, world-renowned scientists, entrepreneurs, academics, and writers.

Arts and Sciences students win honors. The debate team has won several national championships in American parliamentary debate. Math, science, and social science majors regularly publish their scholarship. Humanities and performing arts students frequently receive prestigious awards. Year after year, Arts and Sciences graduates are accepted into esteemed graduate and professional schools or go immediately into interesting jobs and begin making important contributions to their communities.

Success in every profession depends on the ability to think critically, recognize new trends, find the key questions in new contexts, and recognize the consequences of new answers. The College provides students with the skills necessary to meet future challenges.

The College of Arts and Sciences offers a broadly based liberal education for all students, regardless of their specific objectives. The College also promotes career-oriented endeavors, including a number of terminal programs and practical experiences in the field, and prepares qualified students for graduate and professional schools.

Graduation Requirements

Each candidate for a degree must meet the general requirements for graduation and the specific requirements for the degree desired.

Declaring A Major

In order to ensure the early and proper selection of a field of concentration, students seeking a baccalaureate degree are expected to file a declaration of major by the time they have completed 54 hours. Declaration of a major is made by visiting or contacting the prospective major department. After the information has been submitted, the student will receive an e-mail confirming the declaration or change and if approved, an advisor will be assigned.

Departmental Minor

A departmental minor in the College of Arts and Sciences shall consist of no less than 15 hours in one discipline as specified by the department. Of these, at least 6 hours must be at the upper-division level. Students must have a grade of C or better in each course in the minor. A minimum of six hours used to meet the minor requirements must be earned in residence at Washburn University.

Interdisciplinary Minor

An interdisciplinary minor in the College of Arts and Sciences shall consist of no less than 15 hours in at least two different disciplines as specified by the minor program. Of these, at least 9 credit hours must be outside of the major discipline. Students must have a grade of C or better in each course in the minor. A minimum of six hours used to meet the minor requirements must be earned in residence at Washburn University.

Certificates

A certificate in the College of Arts and Sciences shall consist of at least 9 credit hours. Students must have a grade of C or better in each course for the certificate. A minimum of six hours used to meet the certificate requirements must be earned in residence at Washburn University.