At this morning's "Breakfast with the Dean" session, a group of faculty, staff, and administrators from the college discussed our college strategic mission. Specifically, we were interested in how our mission relates to the new strategic plans and goals of the university and how it might relate to ongoing budget decisions and the new university budget model. In a very real sense, we were asking ourselves a deceptively simple question: Who are we....and who are we not?
The discussions quickly centered around some themes that were obvious and probably expected, such as quality teaching, research and service. But we also talked about some things that perhaps are less obvious, such as embracing our role in providing high quality education for underserved populations, or highlighting the interconnectedness of knowledge in the social sciences, humanities and the arts.
A small group will continue to draft the document, which will be vetted through the administrative council of chairs and our departments. I personally found it energizing to be involved in these discussions as the tone and direction that they took was so creative and forward-thinking.