College of Education & Human Services
The College of Education and Human Services equips students to emulate the work of Christ in the world through teaching, training the physical body, and serving the disenfranchised.
About/Mission: The mission of the College of Education and Human Services is to equip students for global service and leadership through exemplary practice in education and human services, informed by a Christian perspective.
Meet the Dean
Jennifer W. Shewmaker, Ph.D.
Jennifer Shewmaker has been on the faculty at ACU since 2002. In her time here she has taught courses focused on child psychology, intelligence theory, exceptionalities and the liberal arts core. Dr. Shewmaker has served in a variety of administrative roles, including assistant provost for teaching and learning, executive director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning, and director of the school psychology graduate program. She is a nationally certified school psychologist who has worked with hundreds of families, children, teachers, and community organizations in her career. She is a founding board member of the Brave Girls Alliance, an international partnership of parents, professionals, and small business owners advocating for healthy, empowering media for children.
Contact Information:
Phone: 325-674-2700
Email: jws02b@acu.edu
A Message from Dr. Shewmaker
Welcome to ACU and to the College of Education and Human Services. Our college is made up of five departments, most with both undergraduate and graduate programs. These include Teacher Education, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Kinesiology and Nutrition, Social Work and a graduate program in Occupational Therapy.
The College of Education and Human Services is a special place, focused on providing excellent programs that train you to use your strengths and passions to serve the world. When you join us, we invite you to do three things.
- Be a part of a community of excellence: At the heart of this college is the desire to seek excellence in our service to those in need, to be a voice for the voiceless, stand with and empower those who have been hurt or disenfranchised, and nurture those who are growing and learning.
- Find your vocation: Our work in this college is a calling, a call to find, as theologian Frederick Buechner said, the place where our deep joy and the world’s deep need meet. In our community, we will work with you to find the intersection of your strengths and passions with the world’s needs.
- Build belonging: The students within our college build community with those within their own courses and programs, but also as a part of this mission-centric, service-oriented, dynamically growing college.
Each of our departments creates opportunities for you to be involved in hands on experiential learning activities throughout your time with us. You might find yourself working in our Human Performance Lab in the Kinesiology and Nutrition department, exploring new cultures and experiences through our Study Abroad programs, serving clients in our Speech, Language and Learning Clinic, creating tools for clients in our Maker Lab or working with diverse populations through community settings in our education, dietetics, athletic training or social work programs.
As a college, we are a community that calls you to excellence and to service. It is our goal to provide you with the very best educational experience as you prepare to be God’s agents of renewal, restoration and reconciliation within the world.