Human Development

About Human Development

Mission Statement

To understand and improve the lives of people of all ages in relationships, families, organizations and communities.

The faculty of the Department of Human Development is committed to understanding and improving the lives of people of all ages through our education, research, and outreach activities. We strive to accomplish the following in all our endeavors:

  • Build caring communities for learning and working among ourselves, with our students and people we serve in diverse contexts;
  • Accept and value diversity; we appreciate differences in people, families, and ideas;
  • Convey that every family has value and that learning should take place in an environment of mutual respect and tolerance;
  • Provide opportunities to learn how to help people live and work in caring relationships, families, organizations, and communities; and
  • Facilitate the acquisiton of knowledge and skills that will help people resolve individual, interpersonal, family, organization, and social problems.

 

Diversity

The Department of Human Development at Virginia Tech seeks to be an inclusive community that supports the full participation of students, faculty, and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds, encompassing diversity of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, and veteran status.  We recognize that diversity enlivens the exchange of ideas, broadens scholarship, and contributes to community engagement.  Our department is committed to operate in and to promote a positive, welcoming educational and work environment, characterized by mutual respect, the right to express freely one’s opinion, civility, cultural sensitivity, multiple perspectives, and a focus on creating and sustaining a just community.  We also actively seek to address conditions  through our teaching, research, and outreach that create and sustain privileges for some while creating and sustaining disadvantages for others. 

Below are links to examples of diversity issues related to learning, discovery, and engagement in the Department of Human Development and the university:

An Inclusive Community: