Southern Adventist University is a co‑educational institution established by the Seventh‑day Adventist Church, offering doctoral, master’s, baccalaureate, associate degrees, and one-year certificates. Various delivery modalities (face-to-face, online, hybrid, and other) are employed in order to effectively support learners enrolled in the university’s classes and programs.
The Mission
Grounded in Jesus Christ and dedicated to the beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, we equip students to embrace biblical truth, embody academic and professional excellence, and pursue Spirit-filled lives of service.
The Vision
Southern Adventist University’s vision is to:
- Model the love of Jesus in every interaction.
- Invite each student into a saving relationship with Jesus.
- Inspire each student to engage with God’s Church and the world through service and witness.
- Provide each student with an exceptional learning experience that equips them to thrive in a fluid, global job market.
Core Values
As Southern Adventist University employees, we:
- Embrace the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Worldview and Fundamental Beliefs
- Love Others as God Loves Them
- Act with Integrity
- Live Prayerfully
- Serve Others Generously
- Follow God’s Calling
- Pursue Excellence
- Exercise Responsible Stewardship
- Offer an Exceptional, Wholistic Learning Experience
Educational Philosophy
Rooted in its theological understanding of God and humanity, the educational philosophy of the Seventh-day Adventist church is summarized as follows:
- God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, is the Source of all knowledge.
- Created in the image of God for the purpose of communion with Him, humanity has sinned and has separated from Him.
- Through infinite love, God sent His Son to restore this relationship with us—a personal relationship that begins now and continues throughout eternity.
Service Philosophy
We serve God through our service to others. We recognize the intrinsic value of each student, colleague, and member of the Southern Adventist University community as a child of God and through our service we honor our Creator. To facilitate this service philosophy, each employee will:
- Initiate proactive interactions with colleagues, students, alumni, campus visitors, community, and other constituents and strive to recognize and promote the other’s significance.
- Engage others with presence, curiosity, and authentic service.
- Take ownership by pursuing and implementing the best possible solution that can be offered to resolve another person’s needs.
- Seek opportunities to deliver exceptional service and to recognize the value of others.
- Ensure all the needs of the individual have been addressed and promote a positive relationship.
Institutional Goals
Southern Adventist University will
- Learning Community: nurture a learning community that engages students with ideas that mark educated persons, global and multicultural perspectives, and advanced technology to develop both ethical principles and intellectual flexibility.
- Faculty and Staff: hire and develop a competent and diverse faculty and staff who model balanced ethical lives, integrate faith and learning, demonstrate scholarship through teaching, research, and other scholarly and creative activities, and celebrate and energize the student spirit as they respect and support the different ways students develop their minds, their persons, and their citizenship.
- Students: recruit, retain, and support a capable, diverse student body.
- Campus Environment: provide a safe, nurturing learning community of faith for students, faculty, and staff.
- Student Service: enable every student to participate in local service and/or mission service activities.
- Partnerships: pursue and nurture partnerships with alumni, church, community, business and industry, civic organizations, and government in order to analyze, project, and respond to changing needs to help ensure that graduates are prepared for a life of service.
- Stewardship: steward resources entrusted to the university through effective fiscal management to fulfill its mission, vision and goals.
Student Learning Goals
Undergraduate students of Southern Adventist University will
- Spiritual Development: grow in a vibrant relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, while integrating into their lives Bible-based beliefs and values as understood by the Seventh-day Adventist church.
- Intellectual Development: develop a commitment to life-long-learning and demonstrate a mastery of the cognitive skills of critical reasoning, independent thinking, reflective judgment, communication, and creativity needed to confront the issues, ideas, and values of historical and contemporary civilization.
- Individual and Social Development: develop socio-emotional maturity that enables them to be effective leaders and contributing members of their churches, families, groups, and communities in a global society.
- Physical Development: take responsibility for their own well-being through a healthy lifestyle.