Strategic Statements – Original Drafts & Comments

In his Convocation 2009 address, President Cornwell shared a contemporary articulation of the College’s mission and core values with us. Our work now is to engage in comment and conversation with the purpose of building a consensus about our mission and values and our vision for our future, all of which serve as the basis for our planning work.

The foundation of strategic planning is a shared sense of identity and purpose.  We can only agree on where we want to go and how we hope to get there if our values are clear and consistent, and if we all share common assumptions about who we are, why we exist, and what we are trying to achieve.  The following strategic statements are intended to be both descriptive and normative; they capture what is true about Wooster and they serve to guide our vision of the future.

The statements are intended to capture the essential qualities and character of The College of Wooster, and to discern them from our history, our current practices, and the stories we tell about ourselves.  They are not meant to signal any basic change in who we are or what we do.  In the process of revision, therefore, the key questions are: Do these statements get it right?  Are they accurate and true of Wooster?  What is missing?  What is important to our essential qualities and character that is not conveyed in these statements?

A word on terminology and succinctness:  a college’s core institutional values, mission/purpose, and vision are stated in terms that are for “internal use” only – language that is clearly understood by members of the college community, and in a voice that is the college’s “internal” voice.  Of course, once vetted and adopted, these statements will ground our communications strategies and form a basis of consistency in how we talk about Wooster. These statements should be long enough to inform and guide the planning effort, but be as succinct as possible.

We invite all members of the College of Wooster community to join in the conversation.  In addition to sharing your thoughts in formal and informal discussions, we encourage conversation here.     The three strategic statements — mission/purpose, core values, and vision — are included each on separate sub-pages (at right) to facilitate specific comments and reference.   General comments may be posted here.