As Georgia emerges as a leader in a global society, the University System of Georgia will lead in access to academic excellence. Among the nation's public universities and colleges, Georgia's will be recognized for first-rate undergraduate education, leading-edge research, and committed public service. Georgians will appreciate the System's prestige and leadership in public higher education, including its graduate and professional programs, as fundamental to the state's economic, social, technological, and cultural advancement. The University System of Georgia and its component colleges and universities will sustain close contact with the people of Georgia, be responsive to the needs of Georgians first and foremost while raising their aspirations, and generate a more highly educated populace throughout the state. It will seek to create for students from various backgrounds every possible avenue to intellectual achievement without compromising academic excellence, and challenge them to their full potential for leadership. Its students, who are its heart and soul, will therefore be its strongest supporters.
To these ends, the University System of Georgia will be characterized by:
A whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, in which each campus has a clearly focused and valued mission, and all contribute their strong, bright threads to a network of programs that covers Georgians' diverse needs for higher education.
Students who master their majors and the basic skills of critical reasoning, independent thinking, computation, communication, collaboration, and creativity needed to enter the workplace with confidence, to move beyond entry-level jobs, to pursue lifelong learning, and to exercise leadership as contributing citizens who advance their families, communities, state, nation, and world into the new millennium.
A world-class, diverse faculty and staff who have superior communication and teaching skills; who use new technologies, roles, and curricular innovations creatively to enhance student learning; and who exhibit the highest standards of intellectual achievement and continuing growth, social responsibility, and concern for students.
Active partnerships with business and industry, cultural and social organizations, and government in order to analyze, project, and respond to changing state and regional needs, to support Georgia's economic and cultural development and to insure that its graduates are prepared for the future.
Campus learning communities that engage students with the ideas that mark educated persons, global and multicultural perspectives, and advanced technology to develop both ethical principles and intellectual flexibility for the world of tomorrow; and that celebrate and energize the student spirit, while respecting and supporting the different ways students develop their minds, their persons, and their citizenship.
Leadership in establishing higher state standards for post-secondary education and--with the public schools and technical institutes--in improving and valuing education at all levels, helping students move smoothly within the System and from one educational sector to another, and insuring that all students who enter the University System are prepared to succeed.
A constitutional Board of Regents that establishes clear policies and review procedures to promote the continuing improvement of every unit and of the System as a coordinated whole, that encourages initiative and innovation throughout the System, that requires full accountability from all, and that insures responsible stewardship.
The University System of Georgia will hold itself accountable to the citizens of Georgia for the effective and efficient use of every available material resource, new technology, and human insight and activity to achieve access to academic excellence for all citizens, and to charge its collective intellectual power on behalf of the state.
Source: Access to Academic Excellence for the New Millennium, June 1995
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Information Digest 1998-1999
© December 1999 University System of Georgia