After four months of work, the university will send a proposed new mission statement to the Board of Trustees of the University of Oregon in September.

The new statement, which is now posted on acting Provost Frances Bronet’s web page, is part of a statewide process initiated by the state Higher Education Coordinating Commission among all seven public universities. After approval by UO trustees later this month, the mission statement will be forwarded to the HECC for discussion and final action in the fall.

“This latest draft of the mission statement captures the important work we do to educate and discover, our commitment to a greater good and our aspirations for a fully engaged learning environment,” said acting Provost Frances Bronet.

After launching the revision project in April, the university held several open sessions and invited the campus community to talk about the mission statement and gather suggestions.  It also conducted an online survey to help guide the revision.

After that, additional comments posted online helped guide the crafting and refinement of the new statement. The feedback also was converted into a word cloud, which was posted on the UO Mission Statement website, illustrating the themes that had emerged.

The provost’s office and academic affairs office used the comments, along with a set of peer and AAU benchmark university mission statements, to help prepare an initial draft mission statement. That version was posted online for additional public response and discussion, which led to an updated version that was crafted following in-depth discussions with academic leadership.

Any final comments will be incorporated into the final version that will come before trustees at its next meeting, Sept. 11-12.

―By Greg Bolt, Public Affairs Communications