University of Montana Visioning Exercise

Context

The Strategic Planning Coordinating Council (SPCC) spent Fall 2016gatheringyour feedback on UM’s current state. The SPCC nowasks for your feedback on UM’s future state. Whatshould UM aspireto become?

A vision is not a description of what UM currently does; it is an aspirational statement ofwhat we want to be in the future.A vision statement defines what our future will look like if we fulfill our mission. A UM vision should inspire and challenge us, providing a view of ourselves that will attract and retain talented faculty, staff, and students, and that will serve as the animating purpose for all UM employees.

Step One: Read Sample Vision Statements (10 minutes)

Please independently read the following vision statements. Use the highlighters to identify anyideas, aims, and wordsthat resonate, motivate, and inspire you as a UM employee.

  • We will advance learning through scholarship, research, and teaching of unsurpassed quality, with an emphasis on undergraduate and doctoral education that is distinctive among the world’s great universities, and with a pervasive commitment to serve the nation and the world.
  • We aspire to be widely recognized as a top public research university, and a model university for the interweaving of liberal education and fundamental knowledge with practical education and impact on societal and world problems.
  • We will cultivate character through transformative engagement that empowers students to be a positive influence in the world.
  • We will be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.
  • We will be an intellectual hub where diverse individuals set the standard for innovative learning and research that address the most consequential challenges of today and questions of tomorrow. Our unmatched blend of quality and access in a spectacular setting will guarantee opportunities that transform lives, communities, and the world. Together, we will travel great distances.
  • We aspire to be a model student-centered public research university that prepares students to thrive in a global society by providing high quality programs and transformative experiences in a community distinguished by its inclusiveness.

Step Two: Prioritize UM’s Aims(15 minutes)

As a group, please list the most importantideas, aims, and words from the above examplesthat you’d like to see show up in an aspirational UM vision statement. Also, add anything you feel is necessary but missing from the examples.

Step Three: Draft UM Vision Statement(if time)

If your group has remaining time, draft a new UM vision statement around the prioritized aims listed above.

______

______

______

______

______

______

______