Georgia Southwestern State University - Mission Statement
Georgia Southwestern State University was founded in 1906 for the purpose of providing knowledge and skills to improve the education, quality of life and the economy of the people of southwest Georgia. Today, Georgia Southwestern is committed to serving the needs of its developing region with educational programs for professional and technical graduates; post-graduate professional training; research and business services; and cultural enrichment. Through its national and international affiliations, the University links southwest Georgia with the global economy and actively fosters a greater understanding of international business and culture.
In furtherance of its historic mission, Georgia Southwestern State University attaches priority to mathematics, applied science, and technology. While strategically allocating its resources to act as an agent for technological advancement within the University System and the region through its Research and Technology Center, the University also strongly supports its traditional humanities offerings. It is committed to offering its students a sound general education, development of thinking and writing skills, and an understanding of the value structures and societal contexts within which technology exists and is utilized. Georgia Southwestern encourages lifelong learning and the development of character through intellectual inquiry and the examination of personal and professional values.
Its vigorous commitment to excellence in classroom teaching, faculty development, student services, and enrollment management enables the University to recruit actively and attract students who upon graduation take vital roles in the region and its economy. Through advanced instructional technology, the University accesses a rich array of instructional resources, providing professional preparation, training, and cultural resources to south Georgia. By fostering equality of access to educational opportunity, Georgia Southwestern State University values and promotes diversity.
To accomplish its mission, Georgia Southwestern State University provides distinctive programs and services to meet general educational needs of the University System and to strengthen the cultural and economic development of its region.
As an agent for regional economic development and technological advancement, the University actively promotes contract services, instructional technology services, programs for environmental quality, technology transfer, and collaborative industrial training through its Research and Technology Center. Georgia Southwestern State University emphasizes business services, research, and economic development activities through its Center for Business and Economic Development. To further south Georgia's position in the global economy, the University supports advanced language instruction, translation, and cultural liaison services to education and industry through its Center for Asian Studies and its Division of Continuing Education. It fosters national excellence in caregiving and health care policy through the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Human Development and strengthens the quality of life and personnel resources of the entire region by preparing outstanding nurses, social service professionals, and teachers and by providing excellent programs in the fine arts, social sciences, and humanities.
Georgia Southwestern State University shares with the other senior universities of the University System of Georgia these core characteristics and purposes:
- a commitment to excellence and responsiveness within a scope of influence defined by the needs of an area of the state, and by particularly outstanding programs or distinctive characteristics that have a magnet effect throughout the region or state;
- a commitment to a teaching/learning environment both within and beyond the classroom, that sustains instructional excellence, serves a diverse and college-prepared student body, promotes high levels of student achievement, offers academic assistance, and provides developmental studies programs for a limited cohort;
- a high quality general education program supporting a variety of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and professional academic programming at the baccalaureate level, with selected master's and educational specialist degrees, and selected associate degree programs based on area need and/or interinstitutional collaborations;
- a commitment to public service, continuing education, technical assistance, cultural offerings, and economic development activities that address the needs, improve the quality of life, and raise the educational level within the university's scope of influence;
- a commitment to scholarship and creative work to enhance instructional effectiveness and to encourage faculty scholarly pursuits; and, a commitment to applied research in selected areas of institutional strength and area need.
Georgia Southwestern State University endorses the Mission Statement for the University System of Georgia and envisions its own mission within the context of those principles.