Vision Statement
P. Kay Norton
March 2002
I studied Latin in high school. Latin may be dead as a spoken language, but it lives on in our everyday English speech in ways that illuminate the meaning of words we think we understand. Our word "educate" comes from the Latin words for "lead" and "out." Surely the true meaning of education is, indeed, to "lead out" of the student the promise waiting to be developed. A university's mission is not to stuff facts into the student's head without analysis and context. The University of Northern Colorado, charged by the people of Colorado with the primary responsibility in the state for the development of educators, must be an education institution in that essential, and resonant, sense of the word. UNC must lead out the potential of its students.
We will be the premier, as well as the primary, educator of education professionals through both traditional campus-based instruction and the creative implementation of distance techniques and specialized programs. We will continue to respond to the needs of the state of Colorado for teachers, counselors and administrators who are equipped to successfully "lead out" the potential of all students. We will create and deliver programs such as the Urban Education Institute and Cumbres, which acknowledge the reality that all students do not come out of a cookie cutter in our changing society.
We will foster and disseminate innovative thought in teaching methods, curriculum, education leadership and school structures and funding. We will participate actively in the public discussion of education reforms, bringing the results of scholarship and thoughtful analysis to bear on the issues of today, and the questions of tomorrow. We will demonstrate to the citizens of Colorado the value of their investment in us.
Drawing upon our long and distinguished history in the preparation of professionals such as educators and nurses, we will provide an education for life for all UNC students. A liberal education in the classic sense and professional preparation can, and should, be blended at a great university. We will develop critical thinking through the liberal arts, provide professional preparation through major courses of study, and foster real world experiences that illuminate classroom work through internships, clinical and work experiences. The UNC education will at once prepare our graduates for the realities of life such as work, and for the lifelong learning process that gives meaning to life.
We will deliver the best university experience in the state to students. We will remember that education is about the students, and act accordingly. We will continue to focus university resources on students first by giving instruction priority in budgeting. We will foster and recognize outstanding teaching among our faculty. We will continue to provide student services and activities which support students through the transition from home to university to the world.
We will support excellence in all of our programs, undergraduate, graduate, certificate, specialist, distance and on-campus. Our commitment to excellence will not vary with the location of the student, method of delivery or level of program.
We will broaden the opportunities for students to interact with citizens of other nations, recognizing that globalization is not just an economic buzzword. Individual students and nations benefit from increased exchange with persons different from themselves. We will continue to provide more opportunities for our students to study abroad, and for students from other countries to attend UNC.
We will enhance the quality of the faculty experience at UNC, promoting an atmosphere of intellectual excitement. We will support scholarship financially and philosophically, seeking private and grant funding for the scholarly activities that characterize a vital university and make United States higher education the best in the world. A rich faculty experience redounds to the benefit of students and citizens at large.
We will continue to develop more effective internal lines of communication. Discourse about our common cause is challenging in a university, which does not have an obvious measure of progress such as profit or loss. The university structure is physically and organizationally de-centralized. Nonetheless, we do have a common cause, and we will engage each other in discussion. We will expand our use of electronic and print communication. Budget and decision-making processes will be transparent. University governance processes as laid out in the Board Policy Manual will be honored.
We will continue to develop cooperative arrangements with other Colorado higher education institutions that maximize the opportunities and choices available to our students. UNC already has in place a memorandum of understanding with Colorado State University and articulation agreements with community colleges. We will explore and implement additional opportunities with institutions that have programs which could complement our offerings, such as the Colorado School of Mines.
We will broadcast the UNC story widely to external audiences, enhancing the general reputation of the institution, recruiting qualified and diverse applicants, and laying the groundwork for financial support. The truth about the quality and extent of UNC's programs remains a secret too well kept. We will continue to expand our communications with the various external audiences who shape our fate. We will demonstrate to the citizens of the state the value they receive for their investment in us by disseminating the achievements of our faculty and students.
We will strengthen our ties with the community. It is easy for a university to turn inward and to forget its role in the community at large. It is correspondingly easy for a community to overlook the contributions a vibrant university can make to the community's well being. Greeley and the University of Northern Colorado have each suffered from chronic, co-existing, and unjustified inferiority complexes over the years. There have been periods when each party failed to appreciate, even resented, the other. In a time when the city is concerned about the lack of local jobs to balance residential growth, the University of Northern Colorado is thriving and investing in the established eastern part of Greeley. The great majority of our employees reside in Greeley and Weld County. We are more important than we have ever been to our community, region and state. We will communicate that fact, and live up to the importance of our role.
We will manage our financial resources to maximize our ability to deliver educational excellence to students and the state. In order to be able to do good, one must do it well. We will scrutinize our operations on a regular basis in order to make spending decisions that maximize our ability to fulfill our core mission. We will use transparent budget processes so that the fiscal affairs of the university are clear to all. We will communicate the fact of our extraordinary efficiency at delivery of our educational programs to the people's representatives in the legislature when seeking state support for our programs. We will demonstrate our effective financial stewardship to private donors and grantmakers.
We will foster a broad base of private support from alumni, friends and foundations. It is a given that publicly supported institutions of higher education must have significant private support to supplement state dollars. We will broaden the base of private and grant support for UNC by connecting the interests of potential donors with the abilities, needs and dreams of the university, its faculty and students. We will explore how the university may play a role in the fulfillment of the hopes and dreams of donors.
We will promote diversity in the broadest sense of the word. The term "diversity" has become a euphemistic code word for the racial and ethnic mix hoped for as a result of traditional affirmative action programs. We will act affirmatively in making the University of Northern Colorado a place which welcomes students and employees of every race, religion, national origin and gender. We will encourage the enrollment of students demonstrating excellence of all types by the enhancement of competitive scholarships and programs. We will affirmatively seek students with the capacity to succeed at the University of Northern Colorado who may not immediately demonstrate that capacity by traditional measures. We will also act affirmatively to encourage and maintain the free marketplace of ideas which is the hallmark of a great university.
We will continually enhance the value of each graduate's degree, for life. Every step we take that increases the vigor and reputation of this institution pays to each of our graduates a dividend on his or her investment in education at the University of Northern Colorado. We are the stewards of their investments as well as that of the taxpayers of Colorado who have been supporting UNC for more than one hundred years. We will honor and reward their investment.We will not fear change. We will honor our past, not be bound by it. Change for its own sake is frivolous. Change as growth is essential. We will know the difference.
We will exceed expectations, especially our own.