Mission, values debated

The Strategic Planning Committee held a forum in the Moot Court Room of the law school Thursday to discuss which priorities to include in the campus' mission and values statement. \nOne of the main issues discussed among those represented at the meeting was the exclusion of certain schools and programs at IU from the strategic priorities.\nDavid Gallahue, dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation expressed concern as to whether schools which are not mentioned in the mission statement would not receive the same attention for funding. \nFred Cate, chair of the Strategic Planning Committee and professor of the law school responded by saying that programs such as life sciences and informatics would receive more attention since they would provide the biggest profit for the University. \n"Our job is to say 'yes' and say 'no,'" Cate said. "Unfortunately the process is more exclusive in the aspect that strategic priorities are much more likely to get more funding than other proposals."\nQuestions were also raised as to why environmental sciences are not included in the mission statement as well. \n"It is reality," he said. "If we listed all of the schools as priorities, then we wouldn't get anything done."\nBusiness economics professor Eric Rasmusen asked what would happen to schools which may not be mentioned in the strategic plan, but desperately need funding to stay alive.\nCate's response was that the committee tried to ignore campus needs in creating the strategic plan. \n"Virtually every school on campus could use more funds," Cate said. "In order to prioritize our money strategically, we have to decide which aspects of the University are crucial to campus." He also said if certain programs like life sciences were not around, that would seriously affect the campus.\nHe said the committee is only considering which strategies would improve the entire campus, as opposed to certain programs. \n"We don't want the best law school, but a law school that makes us the best campus we can be," he said.\nAttendance was unfortunately low at the forum, said Bob Eno, president of the Bloomington Faculty Council and professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures. Eno said this was unfortunate given the importance the mission and values statement has to the identity of the campus.\nEno said 40,000 people were invited and only 40 -- all faculty members -- showed up.\nThe forum also discussed using assessment processes to see if the money invested in projects achieve their desired effect. \nRasmusen agreed with these sentiments, saying the negative aspects of proposals should be discussed as well. \n"Just like the Catholic Church, when someone applies for sainthood, there is an advocate and a devil's advocate," Rasmusen said. "In the same way, we should have people talk about the positives and negatives for all proposals."\nCate said the committee will use assessment processes on the mission and values statement to ensure that the priorities are updated.\n"I am sure that a year later, we will look at our mission statement and see the need to change content, as the time requires," he said. \nCate said he hopes people communicate with the council if they are unhappy with the final product so the values statement will continue to be improved. \n"Our activities will continue for another year," Cate said. "So I hope your interest doesn't fail just because we got this part done."\nFor more information on the Strategic Planning Committee, check out or e-mail the committee at iubspc@indiana.edu.