The English faculty are committed to the following principles:

• Educating students at all levels to be literate, linguistically proficient individuals with a firm grounding in the cultural and critical contexts of Western thought;
• Equipping students at all levels with the critical thinking and communication skills--both written and oral--that will allow them to pursue careers in a variety of professions, such as teaching, law, business, editing and publishing, writing, and research;
• Offering a variety of writing-intensive, discussion-oriented classes that encourage active student participation and that incorporate current applications of technology;
• Excellence in teaching at all curricular levels;
• Integrating teaching and research, and actively recruiting students to participate in research and learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels;
• Contributing to the local community and to the region at large by offering public service through the service of its professional faculty and through academic and cultural programs that are open to the university and the general public.