The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at El Paso is a diverse community of artists and scholars who align with the University mission through devotion to exceptional teaching, service, creative practice, and research, and by visibly contributing to the quality of life in El Paso and the surrounding region. Faculty are committed to providing students of the region, the nation, and beyond with the best education possible, preparing them with the skills necessary for advanced degree programs, successful careers in professional and educational theatre and dance, and life-long learning. All faculty are active in their respective fields as professional artists and scholars, they contribute to the department's self-governance and self-evaluation as well as to departmental, college, and university committees, they are committed to diversity as essential to the education of UTEP students, and they openly and enthusiastically practice true collaboration, collegiality, civility, challenges to existing conventions, continuous self-improvement, and academic and artistic honesty. In these ways, faculty members expect to be models for their students, who in turn will become models for their own students and peers.