Texas A&M’s School of Education and Human Development, or SEHD, is one of the highly ranked distance learning programs due to its scholarly support. 

SEHD maintained its status as one of the best online education programs in the country. Jan. 24 marked its fourth consecutive year being ranked in the top 10 by U.S. News. 

The School-level Distance Education Committee was founded five years ago to improve distance education experiences for students, said Beverly J. Irby, Ph.D., regents professor and senior associate dean of Academic Affairs, School of Education and Human Development.

“The SEHD implemented the practice of having an instructional designer to support distance education pedagogy and processes in each of the four departments,” Irby said. “Our SEHD Mar-Comm Department has been instrumental in sharing information with other universities across the nation about our distance education programs.”

The rankings reports benefit the department as a whole and its dedication to being better in all aspects, said Michael A. de Miranda, Ph.D., professor and dean of the School of Education and Human Development. 

“The new U.S. News & World Report rankings serve as an index of our school’s commitment to developing the great professional teachers, coaches, school administrators and industry leaders in human resource development, sport management and kinesiology-related professional careers,” Miranda said. 

Growing up, sports management senior Damian Sanchez said he fell in love with sports which motivated him to work in the sports field. 

“I have loved A&M from top to bottom,” Sanchez said. “The opportunities it has granted me have been incredible. I don’t believe I would be this far into my career without the help of the department and the connections it has led me to.”

In order to be responsive to the constituents of working professionals, Irby said the school continues to improve and grow online degree program offerings. The online degree program has continued to improve and grow while being responsive to constituents of working professionals, Irby said. 

“There are no drastic changes [being made within the education programs],” Irby said. “[However,] We are in the process of a new Ed.D. in Bilingual/ESL/Dual Language Education.”

The SEHD Distance Education Committee was developed and approved by the Dean’s Council as a Distance Education Faculty Training SAP for the SEHD, Irby said. 

“This consists of five training levels for faculty in which they can attend trainings in TrainTraq,” Irby said. “These trainings can continue to improve their pedagogy in distance education. Each level has an attached certificate for the faculty member who completes it.” 

The world-class faculty and advisors use training, experience and talents to provide a thorough education to graduate students, no matter where they reside, Miranda said.

“I am also proud of our dedication to serving our nation’s veterans who now seek to be difference makers in shaping a better tomorrow,” Miranda said.