Miami University will soon change its mission statement, addressing one of the largest short-comings a committee found in a review of the school.
The committee, formed in 2006, performed an accreditation review of the university, and said Miami's mission statement was highest of the university's short-comings.
Mission statements are created to unite the university to move towards the same goals and ideals, Miami President David Hodge said.
"Periodically it's important to visit change," Hodge said. "It's better to be updated to capture where we are at today."
Hodge first revealed plans to revise and re-write the outdated statement in his State of University address in August 2006.
The process of updating and changing these statements though, Hodge said, is common at many colleges and universities.
A committee of faculty and staff, led by professor of architecture Robert Benson, will create the new mission statement using collective ideas and thoughts, Hodge said.
However some believe the new statement was not structured properly.
William Houk, a professor of physics, was around during the re-write of the old statement nearly 20 years ago and he said he is not fully satisfied with the new re-write.
"I thought things were left out of it," Houk said. "My only comment was that it doesn't sound like a mission statement. It sounds more like a press release for Miami but that's what the committee feels like the way it should go. It portrays Miami like the business school and leaves out the arts."
Hodge claims the new piece is simply a polished improvement of the old. Both statements talk about furthering the education of students by offering a variety of courses as well as allowing those less fortunately to learn at higher levels.
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An excerpt from the drafted new mission statement title, "The Engaged University," provides insight of the language of the new version.
"Miami instills in its students intellectual depth and curiosity, the importance of personal values as a measure of character, and a commitment to life-long learning," the statement reads. "Miami emphasizes critical thinking and independent thought, an appreciation of diverse views, and an understanding of our global future."
Jesse Mathey, a senior accounting major, was unaware of the existing statement.
"I never heard it mentioned at any of the schools I looked at attending while I was visiting them," Mathey said.
Houk, however, believes mission statements are important to universities.
"It's very important for students to look at these statements when deciding on a college," Houk said. "It's what they are going to have a stake in and they should most definitely give feedback."
The purpose of the statement according to Hodge is not to define what the university would like to accomplish, but rather to re-affirm what the university wants to enhance for all faculty, staff, and students as well as the greater community.
"No one spends time looking at mission statements when students are looking at universities," Hodge said. "It's the process of creating the statement that's important. I think it re-centers us in the longer, broader vision of whom and what we are and what we want to do in the future."
The new statement will most likely be enacted by the June 2008 senate meeting after it receives formal approval from the Board of Trustees.
A rough draft PDF of the mission statement can be read online at www.units.muohio.edu/secretary/senate/documents/meeting_agenda.pdf.
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