General Guidelines

• Each program should have one mission statement, reflective of the missions of Pratt Institute and of its schools. Departments offering programs at both the graduate and undergraduate level should have separate mission statements for the undergraduate and graduate programs. Programs within one level (associate, bachelors, or graduate) level with multiple majors/concentrations can have a more comprehensive mission statement relating all subprograms to a unified purpose. 

• Faculty Role, Participation: In conjunction with guiding principles published by the Academic Senate, Pratt Institute asks faculty to participate in the process. The Institute believes that faculty, as the critical interface between students and the school, are uniquely situated to set goals and assess the effectiveness of their delivery. Through this effort, the Institute hopes to establish learning objectives for all undergraduate and graduate degree programs and to develop departmental plans for evaluating the extent to which students are achieving those objectives.

All faculty members who help to deliver a program should help shape the mission statement. The goal of this process is not simply to write a mission statement but also to develop consensus with programs as to their purposes. A well-crafted statement is clear and informative; where further validated by consensus, it can become a focal document in the program. It will assist everyone and harmonize their departmental efforts.

• Procedures for developing mission statements will vary; some departments may hold faculty meetings, others may want to communicate electronically.
  

• Optional Web Form: To facilitate the process, the Academic Senate has developed a Feedback Form for faculty to submit contributions toward the Department Mission Statement.
  

• Please send the link to your faculty to respond to the guiding principles and general questions. Faculty responses are set to send to his/her respective department chair upon pressing “submit”.
  

• Faculty responses collected by the Feedback Form may be compiled and distributed within your respective departments, by email and hard copy in faculty mail-boxes. All faculty contributions should be considered and discussed via a combination of in-person meetings and e-mail exchanges. It is hoped that this process, which is intended to include all members of the department, will result in a cohesive and representative Department Mission Statement.
  

• A checklist is provided to help you determine if the mission statement effectively and clearly defines the mission of your program.
  

• Completed mission statements should be submitted to the Senate Learning Committee by January 20, 2005. The committee, with assistance from the offices of the Provost and Institutional Research and Assessment will review for alignment with the Institute’s mission and strategic planning directions and may ask for adjustments.
  

• The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (read Marianthi) will be happy to answer any questions or work with you in ways that are helpful. She can be reached at extension 4256 or by email at mzikopou@pratt.edu.

• As members of the Committee on Learning develop expertise in assessment, questions can be directed to the Committee.