Alabama's Public Liberal Arts University

Message From Dr. John F. Riley

Dear Prospective Student,

You may be familiar with the University of Montevallo’s historical commitment to excellence in undergraduate liberal arts education as Alabama’s only public liberal arts college, but were you aware that we have an equally important commitment to outstanding professional and graduate programs? In addition to preparing many hundreds of classroom teachers, speech-language pathologists, and leaders for initial entry to their careers, we have a strong record of contributing to the continuing professional development of practicing teachers, leaders, and other professionals through our graduate programs.

While graduates of our programs are making a difference all over the state of Alabama and the Southeast, we have an especially strong presence in central Alabama and all internal and external assessment activities indicate that employers are pleased with their performance. By individual and institutional reputation, our graduates are highly sought after. We believe this is true for several reasons:

  • We have a distinct mission at UM—to build graduate programs which advance the habits indigenous to liberal arts learning: listening actively, reading widely, writing clearly, and thinking critically. Apart from the specialized training and subject matter that our graduate students encounter at Montevallo, we believe these habits serve any professional well whatever field or position they pursue.
  • We are committed to the individual development of each graduate student who enters our gates—to prepare them well to assume particular professionals or to assist them as they identify and achieve their own professional development goals.
  • We believe in the importance of "community" and "relationships." Our programs are designed either to have students move through programs in cohort groups or to work with students who have already been identified with a particular professional learning group, both approaches intended to take advantage of how much graduate students learn from each other.
  • We acknowledge that diversity both strengthens and challenges; therefore, we seek students with a variety of backgrounds, experiences, personalities, and aspirations—all of whom are committed to serving populations equally as diverse.
  • We have embraced the value of technology as a tool for learning and management, not merely as an object of study. Our graduate students will be given the opportunity to link current and effective technologies with other "tried and true" resources and to use technology in problem solving.
  • We have never wavered in our allegiance to subject matter knowledge; whether a graduate student intends to teach, lead, practice in a clinical setting, write professionally, or go on to more advanced graduate study, it is important that they have sufficient grasp of the knowledge/literature in their fields.
  • We revere the importance of practicing professionals reflecting on their own growth and practice as the primary context for graduate study, especially in the area of professional preparation; therefore, many of the assignments, projects, field experiences our students encounter will be rooted in their current or anticipated work settings.

In addition to these features, our graduate students tell us over and over that our "calling card" is a nurturing environment. We know who our students are from the minute they apply for admission to our programs until they walk across the stage of Palmer hall or across the lawn at Flowerhill to receive their degrees. Of course, small class sizes, personable and helpful faculty and staff, clean and comfortable facilities, and clear communication all contribute to positive reports from our graduates—nearly all claiming they would "do it all over again" or would recommend graduate study at UM to their friends and acquaintances. We believe it’s unusual that the small college experience transcends undergraduate study and infiltrates graduate study the way it does at Montevallo.

In addition to that, we are convenient a large portion of the population in central Alabama, especially the Birmingham metropolitan area and surrounding counties. Our beautiful tree-lined and brick-street campus is off Interstate 65 in the college town of Montevallo. Along with students who take advantage of a quieter corner of the world for their studies, we have thousands of visitors discovering The American Village and teachers participating in professional development through the University of Montevallo Regional Inservice Center. And, you may want to stick around for a while to enjoy very fine theater, musical, or athletic activities. Even on a busy day, it’s a nice retreat.

Why not take a moment to day to check into our program offerings? You will find information at our website, www.montevallo.edu, about all of our programs: counseling, education administration, English, speech-language pathology, teacher leadership, and teacher preparation in a variety of grade levels and teaching fields. You can initiate an online request for information at that site or you can just call us if you want. We can be reached at 205-665-6350.

We hope you’ll check us out. We’d like to help you capture the power of learning in ways that will make it possible for you to achieve your personal and professional goals, advance your career, improve the lives of your clients or students, and/or make a significant contribution to your community.

 

Sincerely,

John F. Riley

Dean, Graduate Studies