University of West Alabama

The University of West Alabama is a state-supported, coeducational institution of higher learning governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor. As a regional institution, the University's primary commitment is to meet the State's educational needs and particularly of the West Alabama area. Though, valuing a diverse student enrollment also welcomes students from throughout the United States and other countries.
The University's primary purpose is to provide students with opportunities to pursue a quality education through associate, baccalaureate, master's, and education specialist degrees in liberal arts, natural sciences and mathematics, pre-professional programs, nursing, technology, business, and education. The importance is placed on providing opportunities within the curricula to develop enhanced critical thinking, communication, leadership, and computer literacy skills. The University also seeks to provide students opportunities for growth beyond the classroom through a wide range of extracurricular activities, programs, and services and the maintenance of an environment of cultural and intellectual diversity. Through the total educational experience that it provides and through its encouragement of the free exchange of ideas among faculty, administration, and students, the University attempts to assist its students in developing the essential qualities of independent thinking and respect for the ideas of others and in building firm foundations of personal integrity and character in order to realize their quests for a philosophy of life and self-fulfillment.
At the University of West Alabama, the emphasis is upon the traditional learner. However, the institution is also committed to furthering lifelong learning and serving non-traditional students. Its clientele is high schools, businesses and industries, governmental agencies, and professional workers. In serving these diverse publics, the institution employs traditional means of delivery. However, it also seeks to expand its use of innovative technologies, including distance learning and networking with other educational institutions and agencies, to address its region's needs comprehensively.
In fulfilling its mission, the University seeks to employ a vibrant, talented, and diverse faculty. In the recruitment and retention of this faculty, as with all university community members, the institution, consistent with its literary heritage, maintains an openness to all qualified persons.
Excellence in teaching and advising is paramount to the faculty. However, the members are also committed to providing leadership and fostering positive growth throughout West Alabama through research and public service, emphasizing that which meets the region's educational, social, cultural, and economic needs.
Our Vision is "To be recognized nationally and internationally for providing quality education programs via traditional and alternative means and to be acknowledged as the primary agent of positive change in Alabama's Black Belt."
College is one of the essential times in your life. In the next four years, you will learn and grow in ways that you cannot imagine. At UWA, you will find our greatest strengths are small class sizes led by professors who are leaders in their fields. You will find lots of opportunities to get involved, academically, socially, in service. But mostly, you will find that UWA is like family — where people invest their lives to help you make the most of yours.
At UWA, you will be surrounded by people who hold your best interest at heart. You will find all the support you need to succeed, even as you work and play harder than you ever have. And when you finish, you will find the skills and experiences you have gained while earning your degree will allow you to pursue meaningful work, the kind of work that matters in others' lives.
Student Support Services provides limited-income, first-generation, and disabled college students with academic support services that enable students to persist and graduate from The University of West Alabama. The program provides an interconnected series of academic support services: study skill development through workshops and classes to achieve academic success, peer tutoring to master course content, intrusive academic and personal counseling to build confidence, and career and graduate exploration activities to increase awareness the range of career options. Student Support Services also seeks to improve the climate in which the program operates to improve the SSS students' success. Student Support Services provides low-income, first-generation college students with academic support services that enable students to persist and graduate from The University of West Alabama.
The University of West Alabama believes advising is a holistic approach to the student's development through a mutual academic relationship between the advisor and the student, which includes academic advising, career exploration, and identification of campus and community resources. The mission of advising is to foster a personalized partnership between students and advisors that promotes active and responsible learning. Our purpose is to facilitate student ownership of their educational experience and help students identify and clarify academic, career, and personal goals.
International Programs Education Abroad office is here to support your journey to global citizenship. UWA Education Abroad programs range in duration from two weeks to one semester at one of our nine partnership institutions. Programs are designed to accommodate student's programs of study and interest. There is no predicting where your degree will take you, but the journey starts here. Knowing your interests and what excites you is the place to begin. And let us be honest, not everyone knows exactly what field of study they want to pursue when they arrive, which is part of the process.
You will find that part of the college's great thing is discovering what motivates you, challenges you, and rewards you most. Regardless of the major, you select, exceptional dedication, and performance in any field of study lead to career success.