Mission and Goals

The mission of the Health, Human Performance and Recreation Department:

To provide quality curricular offerings in uniquely distinctive areas at the undergraduate level.
To provide quality graduate programs at the master's and doctoral levels.
To provide structural and non-structural recreational opportunities for all university students, faculty, staff and their family members.
To provide quality teaching in all classes.
To encourage scholarly inquiry and research productivity.
To further the expansion of university service and programs to local, state, regional, national, and international dimensions.

As an extension of the HHPR Mission Statement, the department has developed a philosophical beliefs, values, and uniqueness statement:

I. Philosophical Beliefs about HHPR:

We are a graduate research department with a strong undergraduate foundation.
We believe that teaching and research are interrelated and dependent upon each other and represent our primary function. Community and professional service is also highly valued providing our service activities complement and supplement our teaching and research mission.
We believe that the educational opportunities we provide through our service programs represent an integral aspect of the liberal arts education of all students at the University of Arkansas.

II. HHPR Values:

Professionalism (code of ethics, honesty, integrity, efficiency, consistency, dependability, and order)
Quality of life
Caring attitude among faculty, staff and students
Pursuit of excellence
Value uniqueness of individuals and individual programs
Autonomy – professional and personal within structure
Cooperation
Academic inquiry and pursuit of knowledge
Interrelationship of cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains

III. Uniqueness of HHPR (common threads):

We strive to improve the quality of life through maximizing human potential.
Our combination of academic/recreational facilities and programs have an impact on the entire university.
We are primarily an applied science, founded on social, behavioral, and biological sciences.

Educational goals developed by faculty for the recreation degree program are listed below:

To recruit quality students in our undergraduate and graduate programs.
To strive to recruit and retain a diverse student population and faculty.
To offer quality undergraduate and graduate programs within recreation.
To promote faculty excellence in areas of teaching and service.
To seek external funding to support research and graduate assistants.
To be involved in professional organizations and active conference presenters.
To produce and publish quality research.
To continue to be aware of changing requirements and certification standards in the field.
To be sensitive to student needs and concerns, and seek feedback from students regarding the program.
To continue to update library holdings and acquisitions necessary to support learning and scholarly activities.
Recreation faculty will work with communities throughout the state of Arkansas in recreation development.
The recreation faculty will strive to develop a strong reputation throughout the university.