University to revamp mission statement

Members of the IU-Bloomington community will have a chance to voice their opinions on the direction in which IU is heading today. The University is revamping its mission and seeking community input in planing for its future. \nThe meeting begins at 2 p.m. today in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union and will last until 5 p.m.\nIU President Adam Herbert sent a letter to the IU community in February outlining the need for Bloomington to differentiate itself from the other IU campuses with a specific mission statement. The committee is expected to approve a draft of that mission statement today, which calls IUB the "flagship campus ... with a statewide, national, and international mission, offering programs in a wide range of fields, while engaging in extensive scholarly research, continuing adult education, and public service."\nThe mission statement praises IUB's faculty, research, libraries, museums and collections, and defines its primary mission as "to create, disseminate, preserve, and apply knowledge." \nHerbert said Mission Differentiation has been one of his top priorities since he arrived in Bloomington in 2003.\n"The process is continuing, and we will have initial reports back from all the campuses next month," Herbert said. "At that point, (IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis) and I will go through all of the documents from the campuses."\nFrom there, Herbert said the campuses will have another chance to define their missions before they become official. \n"We'll go through that and then send any additional questions that we have back to the campuses for one final opportunity for the campuses (to respond)," he said. \nHerbert said he expects to make a recommendation to the board of trustees of mission statements for each of the campuses in late spring or early summer and expects reports in December.\nGros Louis said the differentiation will focus on all aspects of University life. \n"Each campus has had one or more conversations around such issues as admissions criteria, appropriateness of degrees offered and what it is that binds the campus plans for the future," he said. \nThe revamping of IU's mission occurs once every four years.\nThe discussion will be lead by IU Vice President for Institutional Development and Student Affairs Charlie Nelms. In addition to describing the current project, he will also review questions that were proposed at a previous meeting.\nGros Louis said he invited about 130 people to attend the meeting, including heads of student organizations, all deans, directors and vice chancellors, and the entire faculty council. However, the meeting is not a closed session.\n-- Contact staff writer Amber Nicholas at amrnicho@indiana.edu.