Developing a mission statement to reflect the diversity, equity, and inclusion values and priorities of a College of Nursing.

Abstract

A mission statement represents an organization's values, expectations, and priorities and guides its strategic decision-making. This article describes an innovative and iterative process for developing mission statements to reflect and guide the diversity, equity, and inclusion values of schools and colleges of nursing. The process began with extensive input from the faculty during the fall 2021 faculty retreat using a World Café approach. Following the retreat, members of the Equity and Inclusion Committee reviewed the information from the faculty about the college's values, goals, and vision for our tripartite mission. In drafting the mission statement, the Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which includes faculty, staff, and student representation from the college's multiple regional campuses, units, and departments, met to craft an initial draft collaboratively. The initial draft of the mission statement was then circulated to the Faculty Leadership Team, the Faculty Executive Committee, and individual departments within the college for feedback. Committee members used the input and suggested revisions to refine and finalize a proposed new mission statement. A survey was distributed to faculty, staff, and students to provide quantitative and qualitative feedback about the proposed mission statement (N=125). Mean scores suggested agreement that the new mission statement reflected the values and future direction of the college (M=7.91), aligned with personal values and career goals (M=8.25), and its achievement would advance the discipline of nursing (M=8.30). The level of support for adopting the new mission statement was strong (M=7.83). Most of the faculty voted to adopt the new mission statement at a faculty meeting (N=98, 85%). The strategies described have implications for guiding the development of mission statements to speak to the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values and priorities of schools and colleges of nursing.