Core Component 1a
The organization’s mission documents are clear and articulate publicly the organization’s commitments.
CSU-Pueblo has a clear and definitive mission that is articulated throughout the institution as a whole. The new
university-wide mission statement, supported by various unit and college mission statements, shapes the program goals and expected student outcomes for all programs of study. The current mission of the university evolved in three stages in recent years and is published in the university catalog and featured prominently on the Web site.39
Mission Documents
In 2000-2001, the university undertook the creation of a new Strategic Plan to guide the university during 2002-2007. The planning process entailed a discussion of the vision, role, and mission of the university as it entered the 21st century. In section two of the strategic plan, “Mission and Vision for the Future,” the committee proposed to change the university’s mission statement as follows:
The University of Southern Colorado is a regional, comprehensive university distinguished by excellence, access, diversity, and opportunity. The university offers a broad array of baccalaureate programs with a strong professional focus and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, blending theory and practice to prepare all graduates for success. The university also offers a select group of graduate programs that address regional needs. The university is a major educational resource for cultural enrichment and economic growth in southeastern Colorado.40
In 2002, the state legislature changed the name of the University of Southern Colorado to Colorado State University-Pueblo and revised the mission statement proposed in the strategic plan. This legislative mission statement became CSU-Pueblo’s new legal description and definition. The final statutory mission statement reads as follows:
There is hereby established a University at Pueblo, to be known as Colorado State University-Pueblo, which shall be a regional, comprehensive university with moderately selective admissions standards. The University shall offer a broad array of baccalaureate programs with a strong professional focus and a firm grounding in the liberal arts and sciences. The University shall also offer selected masters level graduate programs. (House Bill 02-1324, May, 2002)
Because this change in the university’s official role and mission came as a result of extended campus and community discussion, most students, faculty, staff, and community members make reference to this statutory mission. After legislative approval, this mission statement was posted to the university’s public Web page and included in the university catalog. The first few pages of the university catalogs for the period 2003-2006 provide several paragraphs elaborating and interpreting this statutory mission, and these passages have until recently served as the de facto authoritative statement on the university’s mission and goals for both internal and external constituencies.
In April of 2005, however, the Colorado State University System Board of Governors developed a plan to revisit and revise its own vision and mission statements at the system level, as well as to revise the mission statements for its two constituent institutions—Colorado State University in Fort Collins and CSU-Pueblo. The system hired an external consultant (Ted Wiley and Associates) to facilitate the development of the new mission statements. After soliciting input from faculty, students, administration, and the community, the CSU System adopted a new vision, mission, and value statement for itself, rewrote the mission statement for CSU, and adopted the following official mission statement for CSU-Pueblo:
Colorado State University-Pueblo is committed to excellence, setting the standard for regional comprehensive universities in teaching, research and service by providing leadership and access for its region while maintaining its commitment to diversity.41
The goal of this new mission statement was to be more inspirational and more readily understood than the statutory mission statement. It was not meant to replace or alter the legal statutory definition of the institution from 2002. Although the new mission statement does not mention “moderately selective admissions standards” specified in the state statute, it does not alter or contradict the intention to set such standards. What the new mission statement does is provide a clearer and more common-sense description of the university and its aspirations—to “set the standard” as a regional comprehensive university. The mission statement is characterized by its emphasis on excellence; its recognition of the tripartite responsibilities of teaching, research, and service; its recognition of CSU-Pueblo’s role as a regional comprehensive university; and the university’s commitment to diversity.
The university catalog serves as the primary public declaration of the institution’s mission. As a result, not only are
the mission statements clearly highlighted at the beginning of the catalog, they are followed by several paragraphs that elaborate and clarify the full impact and meaning of the mission. CSU-Pueblo not only publicly declares its mission; it wants that mission clearly understood by all. These passages explain the university’s educational focus, the kinds of degrees offered, the relationship between CSU-Pueblo and CSU in Fort Collins, the importance of teaching excellence as the top priority, the diversity of the learning community, and the university’s commitment to serving its region and the state (12-13).42
39 For the current catalog, see http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/catalog/2006-2007/ ; for the Mission Statement on the Web site, see http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/About/MissionStatement.htm
40Strategic Plan 2002-07 (9). See http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/StrategicPlan/
41CSU Board of Governors Web page, http://csusystem.edu/index.asp?url=values
42http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/catalog/2006-2007/TheUniversity.htm