Draft Statements (August 2021)
Our most recent version, incorporating input from faculty and other stakeholders, is ready for your review. The values have largely remained unchanged since they were presented earlier this year, and the Mission and Vision statements have been updated slightly. New over the Spring/Summer term are the three emergent strategies that articulate our collective and individual commitments for the next four years.
Those of us on the steering committee are happily accepting invitations to speak with groups large and small across campus—especially college and divisional meetings prior to the start of the academic year. We invite you to have conversations about how we can all work together to further shape these strategies and how we can all participate in reaching higher together in advancing co-designed and individualized learning across all our lifetimes, as well as how we can bring about equity and justice at GVSU and beyond.
Let’s get started!
We are seeking endorsements and support from any and all campus entities, especially those that reflect the broad input of students, staff, and faculty. In particular, we ask students to provide their input and thoughts to student senate representation, and student senators to actively solicit that input from the student body. Likewise with other groups of faculty and staff. It will take all of us.
Values
Inquiry
Inquiry that encourages active questioning and problem solving to improve lives and strengthen communities. Building on our strong foundation of a liberal education and commitment to teaching excellence, we strive to provide opportunities that integrate theory and practice towards personal transformation and career success. Active scholarship, creative expression, and relevant co-curricular experiences drive learners towards fulfillment, prosperity, and justice.
Inclusive and Equitable Community
Inclusive and Equitable Community that fosters and sustains a sense of belonging, promotes diversity and respect, and addresses systemic issues that impact outcomes for those who have been historically excluded from higher education. Inclusion and equity are experienced through our physical campuses and in digital environments, as well as our interpersonal, institutional, and community engagements.
Innovation
Innovation that puts ideas into practice, drives us towards excellence, and represents our forward- thinking mindset. We value entrepreneurship, risk taking, and interdisciplinary collaboration that solves local, regional, and global problems and advances the common good.
Integrity
Integrity that drives us to be accountable to ourselves and to others. Integrity moves us to actively pursue and sustain quality educational experiences rooted in research and evidence, and to be excellent stewards of our communities, resources, and planet.
International Perspectives
International Perspectives that simultaneously support people, planet, and prosperity. We think and act on a global basis. Our efforts at supporting the well-being of individuals, groups, and ecosystems are important locally, nationally, and globally—all of which are interconnected and interdependent.
Vision
Together we design educational opportunities that are unmatched in preparing learners for the future they face and the communities they shape.
Mission
At GVSU, learners are empowered in their pursuits, professions, and purpose. As a community, we advance equity, understanding, and a lifetime of learning.
Strategies and Commitments
Empowered Educational Experience
Our Commitment to you, the learner: It’s your path, your purpose, and your mission. At Grand Valley, your passion and curiosity spark our work, and we will learn from one another along the way. We’ll help you personalize your approach to fulfilling your educational purpose.
Our focus: We will serve as your guides, commit our expertise, and enrich your network through an active community valuing the development and exchange of knowledge, ideas, and expressions.
Strategy: Together we develop an educational pathway reflective of you and your unique experiences and passions. We accomplish this through cutting edge programs, deep experiential learning, a foundation of liberal education, a relationship-rich community, and your personal network of mentors and advisors.
Lifelong Learning
Our commitment to you, the learner: We integrate learning and experiences across your lifetime.
Our focus: From our first encounter with learners, we will strive to provide innovative curricular, co-curricular, and experiential learning opportunities. That engagement with you on growth, adaptation, and problem-solving will continue in partnership with you for the rest of your life.
Strategy: At GVSU, our approach to teaching and learning integrates liberal and professional education in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary ways, and is directly relevant to the worlds you will shape. Our faculty will model the passionate pursuit of lifetime learning through cutting-edge research, scholarship, and expression. All of us will seek or generate avenues for entrepreneurial and creative growth. We pursue reciprocal relationships with alumni and community partners to create a powerful, sustainable, and supportive learning network. We will encourage students to generate ideas on how they can be entrepreneurial in their learning and the rest of their lives, especially in ways that enhance their communities and workplaces. Finally, we ensure that our quality offerings are accessible and flexible, supporting you on your pathway wherever you are.
Educational Equity
Our Commitment to you, the learner: We create transformative equity and a sense of belonging.
Our focus: We embrace our role as a leader in impatiently advancing equity for all learners.
Strategy: Together, we ensure that our community serves as a catalyst towards a more just and sustainable world -- both on our campuses and beyond. We work to eliminate disparities and obstacles for student success, especially those that have historically been along lines of race, gender, class, and social structures.