Saint Mary's considers change to statement
By MOLLY McVOY
Saint Mary's Editor
The Saint Mary's faculty will discuss proposed changes to the College's mission statement at their Faculty Assembly meeting today.
After the College's evaluation as part of their accreditation process, it became clear that the statement needed some adjustments. The basic goal of the statement, however, will remain unchanged.
"The mission has not changed," said Sister Roseanne Schultz, chair of the committee that is reviewing the statement. "We're still educating women for leadership and action in a Catholic institution that is based on a liberal arts foundation."
The phrasing and length of the mission statement will be revised, however. The present mission statement was written in 1987 and has not been re-evaluated. Part of the present mission statement reads, "Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1844, Saint Mary's promotes a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic appreciation, religious sensibility and social responsibility."
The current statement is nearly a page in length and, according to Schultz, several groups on campus felt they were left out of the statement's ideals.
The proposed new statement will be a shorter and more complete picture of the College.
"One of the focuses is that we want to be more inclusive of the entire College community," Schultz said.
The new statement, as was the old statement, is based on the core values set up by the College — learning, community, faith, spirituality, and justice.
The committee has been working on a new draft of the statement for nearly two years, but is nearing the point of completion. After the faculty has offered their input at Wednesday's meeting, the statement will be offered for the Board of Trustees approval at their November meeting.
"We are moving toward a final draft and that is why it's being presented to the faculty," Schultz said.
In addition to making the mission statement more inclusive, the new draft has added specifics to the general goals of the 1987 version.
"The current statement has goals and objectives and we wanted to make it more precise," Schultz said.
The new statement will also become a part of all of the College's planning, Schultz said. The committee hopes the brevity and completeness of the statement will lend itself to wide use.
"[The new statement] is briefer and everyone can remember it," Schultz said. "Our hope is that this will be incorporated into everyone's planning."
The committee is also setting up a system so that the mission statement will be re-evaluated every five years in the future.
"We were also asked to organize a mission assessment plan," Schultz said. "This is simply so we can assess the mission statement."
All News Stories for Wednesday, September 13, 2000
