Special Education

Faculty:  W. Evans (Chairperson), S. Barnes, J.D. Carey, S.L. Day, J. Platt, R. Schmid, A. Solarski, S. Stewart, T. Stritch (Emeritus), K. Whinnery

The B.A. degree program in Special Education is designed to prepare students who plan to teach children and youth who are mentally handicapped, learning disabled, or emotionally handicapped. Many aspects of the program provide the student with opportunities to work with exceptional children. With judicious planning and completion of appropriate electives, graduates of this program may become eligible for certification in more than one area of special education, or elementary education. The challenges and intrinsic rewards, together with the NCATE professional endorsement quality, make our B.A. program in Special Education a rewarding and satisfying career.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
In addition to general University requirements, students seeking the B.A. in Special Education must meet the requirements listed below.

Consult with your academic advisor for courses which may satisfy both the General Studies requirements and common prerequisites.

Candidates for admission to UWF's NCATE/DOE approved teacher education programs must meet admission requirements detailed under Admission to Teacher Education. In addition to the program requirements noted below, teacher education students must also complete requirements specified under Teacher Education.

Requirements for teacher education programs may change due to legislative mandates. Therefore, the actual program requirements may differ from those listed in the catalog. Candidates must inquire with the Chair of the Division of Teacher Education or with Teacher Education Student Services to obtain the most current program requirements.

Special Education majors must include in the lower division at least 9 semester hours of course work with international focus. Courses meeting this requirement are indicated below with "*".

Course descriptions are listed alphabetically by prefix in the back of this catalog. 

Lower Division Requirements (60 sh)
The State of Florida mandates specified courses for the Special Education program. These common prerequisites, when combined with the University's general studies program requirements, comprise 60 hours of lower division courses. In addition to three specified education courses (EDF 1005, EDG 2701, and EME 2040), 51 hours must be chosen from the following liberal arts and sciences areas:
(a) communications; (b) mathematics; (c) natural and/or physical sciences; (d) fine arts and/or humanities; and (e) social sciences. The hours must include at a minimum:

In addition to EDG 2701, a minimum of 6 hours with an international or diversity focus is required. UWF courses meeting these requirement are indicated below with an "*".

UWF Students majoring in Special Education should take the following courses to meet UWF's General Studies requirement and the state mandated common prerequisites.

Transfer students from Florida Community/Junior Colleges or State University System institutions with an Associate of Arts degree should complete the state mandated requirements as part of their degree program. Students transferring prior to completion of the A.A. degree or transferring from non-Florida public institutions should contact Teacher Education Student Services.

EMOTIONALLY HANDICAPPED SPECIALIZATION

Upper Division Electives (0 sh)

LEARNING DISABLED SPECIALIZATION

Upper Division Electives (0 sh)

MENTAL HANDICAPS SPECIALIZATION

Upper Division Electives (0 sh)

MINOR
The Minor in Handicapped Individual Services consists of 12 sh of special education courses including: