Mission Development and Review Policy Directive
Adoped by the Board of Regents, Dec. 14, 1994
The University System of Georgia will lead in access to academic excellence. Among the nation s public universities and colleges, Georgia s will be recognized for first-rate undergraduate education, leading-edge research, and committed public service. . . . [It] will generate a more highly educated populace throughout the state. . . .
To these ends, the University System of Georgia will be characterized by: A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, in which each campus has a clearlyfocused and valued mission, and all contribute their strong, bright threads to a network of programs that covers Georgians diverse needs for higher education.
-- Access to Academic Excellence
The University System of Georgia
Shall promote to Georgians and the nation its commitment to service by supporting strong undergraduate, graduate and professional education, pathbreaking research and creativity, and other national patterns of academic excellence in its curricula and operations.
Shall insure that each of its institutions has a clear, substantive, distinctive mission that supports the mission and vision of the System as a whole; a commensurate array of academic programs; and adequate resources concentrated to emphasize its distinctive strengths. The University System shall also encourage program collaboration and otherwise minimize unnecessary program duplication among its institutions, particularly in costly programs.
Shall pay priority attention to regions of the state with unusually underserved populations and/or exceptionally large population growths in managing access to needed academic programs and collaborative delivery of needed educational services.
-- Principles #8, 13, and 20
GOALS:
To have core mission statements for each institutional type, articulated in language that corresponds to the national terminology of the Carnegie System, by January 1995.
To have a coordinated set of unit mission statements that focus the distinctive strengths and the responsibilities of all University System units and of the System as a whole, by August 1995.
To identify regions with major unmet need for University System services, by January 1995; and to determine, within the context of the Systemwide mission review, the appropriate institutional response to their needs, by August 1995.
IMPLEMENTATION:
A Systemwide mission review will achieve these goals while also providing a framework for the continuous strategic planning and quality improvement that Principle #27 calls for, at both System and institutional levels. As specified in that principle, such efforts are necessary to insure . . . the effectiveness of [the University System s] programs and units and administrative leaders, and proper stewardship by its Board of state resources to provide Georgians access to academic excellence.
The Board of Regents therefore directs that:
The Chancellor s Office, supplemented as appropriate with a blue-ribbon panel of outside consultants and in ongoing discussions with the institutions, provide support, coordination, and oversight, including:
- proposed core mission statements for each institutional type, using appropriate terminology to link them to the Carnegie Classification System, by January 31, 1995.
- written documents detailing other Systemwide parameters for developing institutional missions, including specific questions to be addressed and report format; guidelines and processes for developing missions in relationship to ongoing institutional strategic planning (with special attention to flood recovery timetables), the proposed core missions, interinstitutional collaborations, and other Systemwide considerations; legal advice for historically black institutions; and priorities for dealing with major unmet needs. To be distributed January 15-February 28, 1995.
- ongoing consultative support for institutions, both individually and in collaborative groupings, to reinforce the Systemwide perspective throughout the mission development and review process and, in particular, to provide task-force support and multiple perspectives for mandated initiatives in response to major unmet needs.
- a proposed mission statement for the Chancellor s Office, by May 31, 1995.
- a concerted summer review of all proposed mission statements, seeking revisions as needed to insure that each unit contributes appropriately to the whole System.
- advice to each institution on anticipated new program requests.
- recommendation of a coordinated set of mission statements for Board consideration and approval by August 15, 1995.
Every institution engage in broad consultations for the purpose of developing and presenting a brief (200-500 word) mission statement of its central responsibilities by May 31, 1995, accompanied by a well-focused written report on:
- how its proposed mission statement supports the institution s current range and scope of academic programs, its distinctive strengths, and its relationship to other University System and nearby institutions.
- how it supports the institution s vision for its future within the System s strategic planning environment, including any new program requests and discontinuations anticipated over the next 5-7 years. A preliminary one-page, well-reasoned, data-based justification for any anticipated new program request should be included.
- what specific elements from the following draft toward a new mission statement for the System are most central to the institution s mission--and what modifications (if any) are needed in that System draft to improve its fit to the institution's mission:
The mission of the University System of Georgia is to contribute to the educational, cultural, economic, and social advancement of Georgia by providing excellent undergraduate general education and first-rate academic programs leading to pre-baccalaureate, baccalaureate, masters, professional, and doctoral degrees; by pursuing leading-edge basic and applied research, scholarly inquiry, and arts; and by bringing these resources to bear on the continuing education of Georgia s citizens and committed public service. - how the proposed institutional mission statement differs (if it does) from the previous approved mission statement.
The Board directs that these steps be undertaken as part of, not in substitution for, both its own System strategic planning initiative and its institutions ongoing strategic planning.
The Board further directs that all work on mission development and review be aimed toward helping the System to achieve its vision of Access to Academic Excellence, and be guided by its Guiding Principles for Strategic Action, including, in particular, #8-13 on academic excellence and recognition, #18-21 on efficient use of resources, and #27-28 on System strength through governance.
