Dr. Elizabeth E. Smith, Dean
elizabeth.smith@eku.edu
Combs 421
(859) 622-3515

Dr. Dana Keller Bush, Associate Dean
dana.bush@eku.edu
Combs 407
(859) 622-5063

www.coe.eku.edu

EKU: A Legacy of Preparing Educational Professionals Since 1874

College of Education and Applied Human Sciences Strategic Plan 2022-2030

Vision

Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Education and Applied Human Sciences will pursue excellence in teaching, learning, scholarship, and service to the university and our stakeholders, and will foster the pursuit of excellence among our students.

Mission

As Eastern Kentucky University is the School of Opportunity where everyone belongs, the faculty and staff of the College of Education and Applied Human Sciences also meet students where they are to help them achieve their goals and dreams. Student success is ensured through innovative knowledge-building and personalized support to help students develop proficiency and confidence as practitioners and leaders in their fields. The College’s graduates are lifelong learners, invested in their own development and the well-being of all with whom they work and live.

Strategic Priorities

Goal 1: Knowledge

The development and dissemination of knowledge, including the process of acquiring, reflecting on, and transferring knowledge into new contexts, is the defining characteristic of the College of Education and Applied Human Sciences. Inside classrooms, across campus, and through community-based placements, the college’s faculty and staff lead students, alumni, and stakeholders as they create, apply, and share knowledge.

Goal 2: Innovation

The College’s faculty and staff embrace the university’s call for innovative thinking and bold action. Innovative approaches to teaching and supporting students today impact graduates in the field tomorrow and empower the university’s next generation of students. A willingness to ask and define “what’s next” positions the college to strengthen families and shape communities now and in the future.

Goal 3: Transformation

Because education changes lives, transformation is central to all that the College of Education and Applied Human Sciences does. Students select majors in our college because they want to make a difference in others’ lives. To honor their ambition, the college maintains an academic environment that supports students’ intellectual growth and creativity; their desire for purpose, inclusion, and collaboration; and their ability to advocate for themselves and others. To accomplish great things, the college’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni prioritize equitable access to knowledge and opportunity, dignity, and respect for others.

CEAHS Undergraduate Degrees

• American Sign Language and English Interpretation
• Career and Technical Education Teaching *
• Child and Family Studies
  • Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education *
• Communication Disorders
• Education of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (P-12) *
• Elementary Education (P-5) Teaching *
• Family and Consumer Sciences Education Teaching *
• Food and Nutrition
• Global Hospitality and Tourism
• Middle Grades Education (5-9) Teaching *
• Special Education Teaching *

* denotes degrees leading to Initial Teaching Certification

CEAHS University Certificates

• Early Childhood Director
• Family Services
• Gastronomic Tourism
• Infant/Toddler Care and Education
• Sustainable Hospitality

Model Laboratory School

Model Laboratory School is one of the few remaining lab schools nationally, and the only one in Kentucky. EKU’s Model offers a full P-12 educational curriculum. Model is one of only a handful of lab schools left that serves a P-12 population. When the current building for Model was completed in the 1960s, it was a state-of-the-art facility allowing for individual and small group observations, demonstration teaching, and student teaching. Today, teacher educators agree not only that clinical teaching experiences are crucial in preparing teachers, but also that they should begin early in preparation programs. High standards in clinical teaching experiences require the kinds of settings only laboratory schools like Model can provide.

Universities are changing preparation programs for all school personnel significantly to include diverse clinical experiences that are developmental in sequence and provide opportunity for shaping the knowledge, skill, and disposition sets of future educational professionals. Kentucky’s Education Professional Standards Board enacted a regulation requiring 200 clinical hours for initial teacher preparation prior to the professional semester or student teaching. In addition, clinical hours have been initiated for graduate or advanced preparation programs. As a result, a lab school, such as EKUs Model, plays a vital role in serving this clinical preparation model for all educators. Additionally, it provides a site for research-based practices to prepare those planning to enter the profession and to retool currently practicing educators to enhance student engagement, learning, and achievement at all P-12 levels.