Strategic Statement
University Priorities
Five priorities guide our future direction. They represent the strategic outcome near the midpoint of our one-year Long Range Planning process.
Strengthen Academic Excellence
We need excellence to characterize all that we do. Our campus must be intellectually attractive and desirable: a place where the joys of education and the cultivation of the intellect are regularly shared in the campus community and carried to the community beyond. Thus, we must invest in people, programs and facilities that strengthen academic excellence in each of our schools and colleges.
Strengthen Student Life
As an intellectual residential community our purpose is to meet the needs of students to learn, to become educated leaders and informed citizens— engaged in ideas and work that benefit the larger society. Thus, we must invest in students, programs and facilities to strengthen a residential and campus life that reinforce Willamette’s special sense of place and community and that values civility, integrity and moral and ethical awareness.
Strengthen Our Visibility
We need to increase both the number of people who know our institution and the depth of their understanding about who we are and what we do. Our work is good and deserves better visibility precisely because of its intrinsic value, worth and goodness to society. Our traditional interest groups should be joined with new, more diverse groups–ethnically, culturally, religiously, geographically and socio-economically–all of whom should know us and understand our educational mission. Thus, we must invest in people and programs to strengthen our visibility so that we become better known by more people, especially in the West and selected regions in the nation.
Strengthen Technology Leadership and Innovation
We need to be national leaders in the innovative and creative use of information technology as it relates to the liberal arts and professional school education. Technology innovation will distinguish us from our peers. We do this not as an end in itself but as a means by which our students can more fully enjoy, experience and use their education. It quickens the life of our campus with a unique vitality that derives from the presentation of constantly new and interesting ways to communicate and express ideas, which are our most enduring product. Thus, we must invest in technology to strengthen teaching, learning and research at Willamette and develop Willamette as a national leader in the application of technology.
Strengthen Our Commitment to Diversity
Commitment to diversity is needed as a visible expression of our collective worldview and the world in which we live. It is essential to quality education and supports our sense of moral duty to overcome racism, bigotry and discrimination in all forms. Thus, we must invest in people, programs and activities to strengthen our appreciation of and commitment to diversity.