University Mission Statements Research Articles

Talking for the sake of talking? Imagining inclusive universities in Spain through their leaders

ABSTRACT Inclusion in higher education is approached by international entities as an unavoidable commitment that is materialised, to a large extent, in university mission statements through purposeful language. Spain, given its greenness regarding the development of inclusive university policies, provides a good example of such rhetoric. The proposals and interpretive frameworks on which the inclusive university project is based are explored via interviews with 62 leaders (individuals occupying an ambassador or management role) from 9 Spanish universities. The present study reveals that rhetoric about the way in which universities are converted into inclusive institutions portrays highly different outcome orientations when placed in specific political proposals. Three different standpoints are identified in the present study, which are linked to specific areas connected to the institutionalisation of inclusive projects: continuity (for access and specific services), expert (in training, awareness and curriculum) and transformative (philosophy, exercise of leadership, participatory culture and community projection). The present research contributes to the study and analysis of the different meanings adopted by inclusive university projects in the international context, stemming from the different, non-sterile, political models on which they are based.

English medium instruction in Ethiopian university mission statements and language policies

AbstractEthiopia, with no colonial language legacy, adopted English medium instruction (EMI) policy with the establishment of its first higher education institution, University College of Addis Ababa, over seven decades ago. Over the last two decades, the country has significantly expanded its higher education institutions (HEIs) to increase skilled human capital that contributes to economic growth and alleviating poverty. The expansion of HEIs has inevitably increased English taught programmes, which means universities must teach entirely through English presenting myriad issues as most students, especially in rural Ethiopia, have limited English proficiency. This study aims to explore higher education policy statements and how these policy statements were interpreted in public universities’ mission statements. The study further examines language support policy for effective implementation of EMI policy. Data gathered from publicly available Ministry of Education and universities’ official websites were analysed using qualitative content analysis. In our analysis we identified two language-relevant key concerns: English language support and internationalisation. The study uncovered a gap in the statements concerning provision of English language support, despite research evidence and government acknowledgement of students’ and teachers’ weaknesses in the language of instruction. The findings of this study call for Ethiopian universities to focus more on improving provision of targeted language support for students experiencing language-related challenges, and for policymakers to rethink monolingual EMI policy, to raise the quality of education in such contexts.

Unfulfilled Promises: Tensions in Mission Statements of For-Profit Colleges and Universities

Unfulfilled Promises: Tensions in Mission Statements of For-Profit Colleges and Universities

Value generation and economic impact of the University of Granada

ABSTRACT Knowledge of the value generated within higher education institutions is of great interest for various agents, particularly managers, as well as governments and society. University mission statements and their scope complicate any comparable measurement of the effects each university may have within a particular region. Perhaps the most adequate term for it and one that includes simple economic impact is value. This study is centered on the estimation of the short-term economic impact of the University of Granada (UGR). Using a method based on the input–output framework and multipliers, the total (direct, indirect, and induced) effects of UGR on production, income, and employment are quantified, differentiating between economic sectors. The total economic impact of UGR is 3.2 times the expenditure of the agents linked to the activities of the university, which implies that each Euro that the government invested was converted into 7.1 Euros. Its effect on total production surpassed two-thousand million Euros, with an income of one-thousand million Euros and over 25,000 equivalent jobs. Quantification of the impact is a measure of the importance of UGR within the province of Granada and the performance of public-sector investment in higher education.

Navigating the Ethically Complex and Controversial World of College Athletics: A Humanistic Leadership Approach to Student Athlete Well-Being.

The college athletics environment within the USA is ethically complex and often controversial. From an academic standpoint, athletes are often viewed as a privileged class receiving undue benefit. Yet closer inspection reveals that student athletes are at risk psychologically, physically, and intellectually in ways that undermine development and flourishing. This reality stands in troubling contrast to the prosocial, virtue-based goals expressed by university mission statements. Given the role of sport in many university business models, college athletics invites scrutiny from a business ethics standpoint. Using a humanistic leadership perspective (Pirson in: Humanistic management: protecting dignity and promoting well-being, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2017), we organize our analysis around three challenges facing the college athletics system: (1) navigating the tension between claiming college athletes are amateurs rather than professionals; (2) defining the ethical edge between winning and winning fairly; and (3) moderating the insatiable drive to win while protecting student athlete well-being. We then articulate three strategies for successfully addressing these challenges: leadership role modeling, putting structural supports in place and holding people accountable. We argue that humanistic leadership and a ‘balanced motivational drive mindset’ (Lawrence and Nohria in: J Bus Ethics 128:383–394, 2002, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2090-2; Pirson 2017) could help move college athletics from an economistic model toward a more humanistic model that prioritizes the dignity and well-being of its participants, particularly student athletes.

Sporting Faith: Exploring Displays of Faith as Part of Christian Higher Education Athletic Program Identity

Contemporary higher education is made of a marketplace where institutions aggressively market themselves to student consumers who “shop” for school options (Tolbert, 2014). This study examines the marketing of faith-based higher education institutions’ athletic programs to determine how faith-related missions are revealed on institutional websites. Higher education institutions analyzed in this study consisted of 112 of the 141 member institutions that are members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), which compete in sanctioned intercollegiate athletics programs (e.g., NCAA, NAIA, NCCAA). The study attempted to quantify how strongly a university’s athletic program portrays the faith dimension of the school’s identity through the visual marketing tool of the athletic departments’ website to determine whether that measure is indicative of external perception. For this study, institutional websites were examined to measure the strength of faith identity presented on the sites using a content analysis of the university tagline, university mission statement, and athletic department mission statement. Faith expression was lacking in 53% of taglines and 33% of athletic department mission statements. Study results reflect that CCCU member institutions should streamline the faith expression of the university mission statement into the message conveyed in the tagline and the athletic department mission statement.

ON THE FULL-FLEDGED MISSION STATEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY

The mission statement of an organization compiled in accordance with the definition of the term “mission” of the dictionary of the ISO 9000 quality management systems standard cannot be recognized as an effective management tool, since the ISO requirements for this document are too generic and vague. The objectives of this work were to clarify the functions of the mission statement of the university library as a management document, to develop a definition of the mission statement, consisting mainly of a list of its functions, and to develop a full-fledged mission statement of the Scientific Library of the Belarusian National Technical University based on the developed functional definition. Accordingly, the methods of work were the retrieval and interpretation of relevant scientific literature and the synthesis of data obtained from it for the development of new documents, viz. the definition of the mission statement and the mission statement of our library based on it. As a result, the intended functional definition of a university library mission statement as a full-fledged effective management document has been given and the mission statement of the Scientific Library of the Belarusian National Technical University has been crafted. The aspects of improving the efficiency of the library after the adoption of the new mission statement are briefly discussed.

Differentiation of Colombian university mission statements

PurposeA mission statement is the central axis of any organization and the cornerstone of its strategic planning. Universities have implemented this tool to define, among other things, its identity; however, the legal nature and functions of the mission statement have not been determined. In this article, the authors analyze the differences in the university mission statements of public and private higher education institutions in relation to the mission functions proposed by the 1992 legislation on higher education in Colombia – Law 30 – involving teaching, research, extension and social projection and internationalization.Design/methodology/approachThrough content analysis, the authors analyze the mission statements of two groups of institutions that make up the totality of universities in Colombia – 32 public and 53 private universities. The analysis is conducted along the four dimensions defined by the law as comprising the higher education mission, i.e. teaching, research, extension and social projection, and internationalization, due to its importance in the high-quality institutional accreditation process.FindingsBased on the differences identified in the mission statements, the authors establish the university functions and determine how they give back to society in their legal capacity as public or private institutions.Research limitations/implicationsThis research scenario is appropriate for answering research questions related to whether there are differences in the strategies of Colombian public and private universities based on their mission statements. Although the Colombian higher education system includes various types of tertiary institutions, only universities are included in the study.Practical implicationsResearch has shown that regardless of their legal nature, based on their mission statements, Colombian universities are mainly geared towards teaching. However, when comparing additional dimensions, private universities are less involved in research processes and more focused on activities related to social impact than are public universities. Additionally, private universities are more engaged in internationalization than are public institutions, with mission statements focused on both national and international accreditation processes.Social implicationsThe results of this research are intended to help society comprehend the differences between public and private universities in Colombia based on mission statements, which can contribute to understanding, among other factors, the academic programs offered by universities and how they should guide their activities.Originality/valueThis is the first such study in Colombia, a country that provides higher education through public and private institutions in very similar proportions, that analyses the differences in university mission statements and whose findings contribute to understanding whether universities are strategically oriented towards their own established policies or to contributing to the development of new public policies aimed at supporting the country's development process.

What Russian University Stands for: Analyzing Socially Embedded Vision and Values

SummaryThe present investigation is a response to the discourse analytical methodology expanded by corpus linguistic techniques. Within a discursive approach the university’s identity is seen as existing in and being constructed through discourse. The research interest is in how ideology and the obligation models set by the state construct the university’s self-image and university-based research as its core mission. The study is generally consistent with current trends in social constructivism where identity is considered as the process of identity construction rather than a rigid category. It is presumed that key factors are developed within a definite socio-cultural practice, which then shape the concept of collective identity. Detecting and analyzing such factors on the basis of Russian realities and modern Russian university is becoming a new research objective. The focus of the given article is on how certain values can be foregrounded in texts representing university strategies to the public. The research employs corpus linguistic methods in discourse analysis. The organization of the paper is as follows. First, it outlines the socio-political context in which the transformation of academic values and organizational principles of Russian national universities are embedded. Second, it discusses corpus findings obtained from an original research corpus which includes mission statements posted on the websites of Russian national research and federal universities. Conclusions concerning the university mission statements reflect ongoing transformations of the universities’ role in the society. The rhetoric of the statements is declarative and foregrounding new values. The linguistic data analysis shows their socially constructive nature as they build a framework for currently relevant uniformed ideas and concepts.

Sustainability in the mission and vision statements of Colombian Universities

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze how Colombian Universities have incorporated the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development goals (SDGs) into their missions and visions.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a documentary design to analyze the content of the missions and visions of the 86 Colombian Universities registered with the Ministry of National Education (MEN).FindingsThe study shows that universities are primarily aligned with Goal 13 as follows: climate action and this alignment is carried out to a great extent by the university’s governance, culture and activities. In contrast, there was a predominance of intentions to address the social dimension of sustainable development (SD).Research limitations/implicationsThe study focused on examining universities’ missions and visions, which leaves out other sources of information that could account for university practices linked to the SDGs and sustainability.Practical implicationsThe study’s results reveal the degree to which the universities are aligned with the SDGs in Colombia, which serves as a basis for the formulation of guidelines by the MEN and other organizations to strengthen the processes that contribute to the 2030 Agenda.Originality/valueResearch on how universities align with the SDGs is not a new topic, but it is scarce in the Colombian context. This research contributes to this gap by addressing the topic from a holistic and comparative perspective of SD education.

Textual analysis of university mission statements in East Asian world-class universities

PurposeThe management of higher education institutions (HEIs) is undergoing a period of rapid development around the world and particularly in Asia. Competing forces of neoliberal decentralisation, increased government oversight, internationalisation and regionalism are creating difficulties for managers and stakeholders alike. This paper aims to look at the ways in which universities have institutionalised their strategies for coping with these forces, in the form of their mission statements (MSs), particularly within an East Asian context.Design/methodology/approachSeveral major international university ranking tables were used to compile a list of “world class” institutions in East Asia. Those with available MSs in English were examined for reference to factors existing within the literature, as well as those which were not previously identified.FindingsEast Asian universities placed a high degree of emphasis on aspects related to university management, as well as social, cultural and historical foci. Far less emphasis was placed on aspects such as engagement of stakeholders and inclusion.Originality/valueThe paper draws on previous research from other regions and attempts to provide some insights into the particularities of higher education in East Asia from a management perspective.

Stakeholders’ Awareness and Acceptability of University’s Vision and Mission, and Teacher Education Program Goals and Objectives in a State Institution in Central Luzon, Philippines

The vision, mission, goals and objectives (VMGO) of any institution serve as its founding pillars in realizing its thrusts, mandates and aspirations. This descriptive cross-sectional survey research gauged the level of awareness and acceptability of the stakeholders on the university vision and mission statement, and the goals and objectives of the teacher education programs of a state institution in Central Luzon, Philippines. A total of 118 stakeholders, composed of administrators, faculty members, staff, alumni and students, served as the study respondents. Results showed that the stakeholders are very much aware of the university’s new vision statement and mission. They are also very much aware on the goals and objectives of the teacher education programs. Almost all stakeholders have full participation in the reformulation of the vision statement. Further, the VMGO are clear, understandable and acceptable as assessed by the university stakeholders. Massive information dissemination of the VMGO in all types of media is recommended. Stakeholders are also encouraged to take part in the realization of the university’s target outcomes and mandates

Creating the Innovative University

Universities are among the oldest institutions in the world. In America, most of the highest-ranked universities were founded in the 19th century or earlier. Despite their age, universities need to innovate, perhaps now more than ever, to serve evolving societal needs, modernize through use of technology, stay financially viable, and fulfill their missions. University innovation is more than inventorship, technology transfer, and commercialization. It entails developing a culture that stimulates novel and integrated change through education, research, and public service as well as clinical care, athletics, the arts, and various auxiliary activities. This article shows how innovation appears in university rankings and in university mission statements, providing insights into how universities can become innovative universities.

The mission statements of the federal universities and the projection of internationalization in Brazil

Higher education institutions declare their intentions in mission statements. In the last decade, Brazilian universities have developed and expanded their internationalization plans and offer of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) courses as a strategy to internationalize. Inspired by Bocanegra-Valle (2019) study on the mission statements and the projection of internationalization of universities in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), this study aims to expand this discussion by focusing on the geopolitical Global South (Sousa Santos, 2018). Particularly, it aims to analyze the internationalization process of Brazilian universities made visible in their institutional mission statements. The institutional sites of 62 universities were analyzed, though the term "international" was found in only 7 mission statements. The analysis of mission statements also revealed that the same values of internationalization underlie their mission statement, indicating a view of internationalization aligned to social/cultural and political perspectives, suggesting that the motivations to internationalize are to contribute/promote social and cultural development, mutual and intercultural understanding, citizenship, social and community development. By directing the analysis to the geopolitical Global South, zooming in the Brazilian scenario, the study concludes that there is a mismatch between beliefs and actions in that context.

World-Rank and/or Locally Relevant? Organizational Identity in the Mission Statements of Higher Education Organizations in Israel, 2008–2018

Israeli higher education organizations are currently under pressure to achieve global excellence, satisfy Israeli economic and security needs, and serve Israel’s diverse social groups; they are also required to meet standards of proper governance; and, they wrestle with Israeli, Jewish, Zionist and Palestinian legacies. This array of complex and often conflicting constraints drives our research, to investigate how Israeli higher education organizations are embedded in this particularly complex environment. Whereas research on the mission statements of universities focuses primarily on higher education organizations in the core countries, which serve as the ideals and templates for others worldwide, our investigation reorients this burgeoning research towards the study of higher education identification outside the highly-reputable Western academia. We examine the English-language mission statements of all academic organizations in Israel, in the period 2008–2018. Analyses reveal two main findings: (1) that local–global axis of organizational identity is ordered along place/space distinction and (2) that such glocal identity is enacted at the field level, among categories of higher education organizations. We discuss these findings in the context of the “identity paradox” of contemporary organizations, which are compelled to simultaneously declare their uniqueness as well as their relevance to certain social groups and agendas.

Vakıf Üniversitelerinin Web Sayfalarındaki Misyon ve Vizyon İfadelerinde Etik Vurgular Üzerine Bir Araştırma (A Research on Ethical Emphasis on Mission and Vision Expressions of Foundation Universities Web Pages)

Purpose – The aim of this research is to analyze the mission and vision statements of the foundation universities and to determine which headings of ethics are collected in general, to determine which ethical emphasis they adopt and how often. Design/methodology/approach – The sample of the study was determined according to the purposeful (criterion sampling) technique used in qualitative research methods. A total of 69 foundation universities, which provide undergraduate education, declare their mission-vision statements separately, are currently in education and training activities and have a web page included in the study. The primary data of the research was obtained from the documents on the official websites of foundation universities between 23-27 September 2019. The documents were analyzed, evaluated under the themes and categories, and ethical highlights were analyzed. Findings – Ethical emphasis expressions frequently used according to the research result; academic freedom and autonomy, academic honesty, respect, impartiality and merit, the priority of public interest and the interests of the institution, team orientation, compliance with rules, laws and regulations, responsibility and accountability, openness to innovation, responsibility to society and student focus. Within the scope of 11 themes; 280 ethical emphasis was found in the mission, and 130 ethical emphasis in vision. Discussion – According to the findings obtained, the most ethical emphasis in the mission statements of the universities are as follows; student orientation (94), responsibility towards society (77) and openness to innovation (43). The most important ethical emphasis in vision statements is openness to innovation (40). Responsibility towards the society (36), student orientation (34) follows. To the extent ethical codes are established and processed, behaviors and practices that comply with ethical principles occur. For this reason, universities should include ethical emphasis determined in YOK Ethical Behavior Principles in their mission and vision statements, while those who take part should increase their emphasis.

Internationalisation of higher education in Malaysia and the Philippines: a comparative analysis of mission and vision statements of selected universities

ABSTRACT This paper examines how internationalisation of higher education institutions is reflected through their mission and vision statements by comparatively analysing the mission and vision statements of selected universities in Malaysia and the Philippines. To carry out the study, twenty (20) mission and vision statements of public and private universities in Malaysia and the Philippines were collected and analysed, underlined by the importance of textual agency in policy orientations. The framework used in analysing the mission and vision statements includes the analysis of textual practice and discourse practice. The micro-level analysis of the discourse focused on the textual practice, such as vocabulary, grammar, and text structure. Moreover, the genre and style of text were also analysed. The findings of the study reveal that the mission and vision statements of universities in Malaysia and the Philippines align with respective country policies, and have something in common as far as the concept of internationalisation in higher education is concerned. It is also evident that universities in both countries emphasise the importance of producing global and competent graduates, and obtaining international recognition and world-class education.

What do mission statements reveal about the values of top universities in the world?

PurposeMission statements are perceived as effective strategic tools and foundations of an organization's objectives, driving the development of strategic plans to meet the established goals. A vast number of studies have investigated mission statements in industry; however, little is known on how mission statements affect institutes in the higher education sector. Every university is intrinsically different, with its own mission and goals. This study aims to explore how mission statements make the difference among universities, by understanding the values delivered by the mission statements.Design/methodology/approachThis study attempts to understand the core values of universities through a content analysis of the mission statements of the top 250 universities worldwide.FindingsThe results show four core dimensions in university mission statements, namely, “Education Philosophies”, “Strategic Orientation”, “Social Responsibility” and “Values to Stakeholders”, while the most common core values are “Research”, “Educate” and “Student”.Research limitations/implicationsMission statements offer insightful venues for the analysis of the strategic directions of universities. The results show that top universities present their core values through their mission statements. Some mission statements are more service-oriented (towards students) and some are more social-oriented (towards society and stakeholders). These mission statements are communicated to various stakeholders. “Education philosophies” are communicated to educators and students, “Social responsibility” is to the society, “Values to the stakeholders” are towards the different parties involved in the education system and the last one “Strategic orientation” is for the strategy setting.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a new methodology of mission statement studies, covering not only studies on mission statements but also the internationalization strategies of universities, which attract attention from academics and education researchers.

Experiential Learning for Effective Knowledge Transfer and Mission Achievement

Traditional university mission statements are multifaceted. The majority focus on fundamentals: teaching, research, and service. Most core values are holistic learning, freedom of expression, and openness. However, recent trends appear to embrace a consumerist “transactional approach” emphasizing competitiveness, superiority, self-interest, and quantifiable quality with students as primary customers. At a time when students are demanding value for money, universities must endeavor to balance private interests with traditional universities' values. Hence, consideration of some form of experiential learning and knowledge transfer in universities' mission statements is expected to enrich student learning, add value to society, and also meet the transactional approach requirements. This paper explores theoretical and conceptual approaches to the learning process including theories, models, and perspectives. The United States International University's experience is used as a case study with reference to integrative learning experiences in the General Education (GE) courses, the Collaborative Active Learning Model (CALM) Approach to Learning, and the Global Executive MBA Program, and the knowledge transfer experiences in the GAME Center Living Lab, the Agent Net Work, and the Entrepreneurial Simulation.

Reinventing the third mission of higher education in Germany: political frameworks and universities\u2019 reactions

Higher education systems are changing due to trends of funding pressures, increasing social demands and growing numbers of students. Even though teaching and research are still considered as the pivotal functions of universities, other activities such as technology transfer, lifelong learning or social engagement have broadened the scope of their actions. These activities, labelled as third mission, are supposed to strengthen the impact of science in society and epitomize the changing role of universities. In Germany, the federal government and the states announced different programs aiming to foster these activities, e.g. the “Innovative Hochschule” or Real-world Laboratories. In this article, we first want to develop a definition framework of third mission. In two further steps we analyze how politics and policies in Germany have framed the concept in the last few years and how public universities are responding to this in their formal structure. We use approaches of neo-institutional theory according to which organizations such as universities create institutionalized structures and reflect institutional rules in order to maintain legitimacy. As an example of organizational formal structure we analyze mission statements of public universities. Using computer-based qualitative content analysis, we assess to what extent these universities take up the third mission. Our results show that most universities mention the third mission in their mission statements. However, the focus is mainly limited to economic impact and (technical) knowledge transfer. Much less emphasis is put on civic engagement or further education issues.