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COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND
PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
The College of Education and Professional Studies offers a quality-driven education equipping students
for their careers and beyond, actively supporting them every step of the way through a residential campus
experience or online. Graduates are highly qualified professionals who serve as teachers, administrators,
instructional designers, counselors and other professionals in educational settings, industry and human
service agencies. The College also offers degrees for those seeking a career in a variety of disciplines
and for a range of professional roles including health, fitness and wellness, mental health counseling,
hospitality and tourism, sport management, and recreation. SouthAlabama.edu/CEPS
See page five for a
full listing of programs
in the College of
Education and
Professional Studies.
MIA PENNISON,
a special education major at South,
grew up in Folsom, Louisiana, and
got a glimpse of her future in the
sixth grade. When a boy bullied an
autistic girl in class, she stood up to
him, and their argument turned into
a trip to the principal’s office. When
another student with disabilities
struggled in math class, she tried to
help, and the teacher asked if she
would begin tutoring him. “I started
sitting in at lunch with him and
practicing all our stuff,” she said. “I
remember his grade going from a
D to a B, and his grandma sent me
a card.”
At South, Pennison works with
PASSAGE USA, which stands for
Preparing All Students Socially
and Academically for Gainful
Employment. She’s learned to
look beyond labels and work with
individuals on practical solutions to
problems in day-to-day life. After
graduation, she’d like to stay at
South and earn a master’s degree
in special education. She wants to
become a graduate assistant with
PASSAGE. She’s interested in things
like the Special Olympics.
12 | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA