College of Education

wou.edu/education
Dean Mark Girod
education@wou.edu

The mission of the College of Education (COE) is to prepare skilled professionals in the fields of education, rehabilitation, American Sign Language/English interpreting, American Sign Language studies, health promotion and exercise science. Our graduates are academically strong, ready to contribute to the continuously evolving state of their chosen professions and prepared for a variety of diverse and complex roles in schools, service organizations and businesses.

The College of Education includes the Division of Deaf Studies and Professional Studies, the Division of Health and Exercise Science and the Division of Teacher Education. It is also home to the Regional Resource Center on Deafness and the Office of Clinical Practices and Licensure.

All academic programs in the College of Education are aligned to external professional standards, and all programs require practica or internship experiences where our students apply what they have learned to the real world.

The Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling program is accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE). The curriculum also meets the educational requirements for the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists (LPC) and certification for both Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC). Additionally, the interpreting programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education.

The College of Education teacher preparation programs are authorized by Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) and have been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) for more than 60 years. The educator preparation programs in the College of Education are guided by the concept of our conceptual framework: Connecting Teaching and Learning.

Connecting Teaching and Learning requires a team of professionals working through states of development, resting upon core values and principles. Our goal is to assure our teaching efforts result in deep, meaningful learning on the part of our teacher candidates and that the teaching actions of our candidates result in deep, meaningful learning on the part of P-12 students. Connecting Teaching and Learning rests on foundational values including educational equity, cultural sensitivity, intellectual vitality and professionalism.