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from the issue of June 8, 2006
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Core values meld into campus programs
UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
UNL's core values may not be new. But they're newly articulated.
After nearly 18 months of discussion and input campuswide, UNL is ready to make seven "core values" part of anything and everything under way on campus.
Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said faculty, staff and students are hearing a lot more about our core values.
"These values are what we're about," Couture said. "They should be integrated in whatever we do, grounded in our expectations, and communicated as our way to say 'who we are and what we're doing'."
Beginning in fall 2004 as part of strategic planning, faculty and staff looked at the university's core documents: the 2020 Vision report, the Blue Sky Report, the university's mission statement, and "Everyone a Teacher, Everyone a Learner" document, and talked about ways to ascribe overarching values in a consistent and meaningful way.
Six core values, describing excellence, diversity, learning for success, discovery leading to economic prosperity for Nebraska, engagement and institutional climate, were highlighted by chancellor Harvey Perlman last fall in his 2005 State of the University address. He recently added a seventh core value and edited the writing on the original values to make them more readable and memorable.
Perlman, in an e-mail to all faculty and staff earlier this spring, highlighted the new seven core values:
• Learning that prepares students for lifetime success and leadership;
• Excellence pursued without compromise;
• Achievement supported by a climate that celebrates each person's success;
• Diversity of ideas and people;
• Engagement with academic, business, and civic communities throughout Nebraska and the world;
• Research and creative activity that informs teaching, fosters discovery, and contributes to economic prosperity and our quality of life;
• Stewardship of the human, financial, and physical resources committed to our care.
Perlman and Couture now are asking faculty, staff and students to get to know the core values, repeat and share them generously and use them to guide and direct units and departments.
For instance, colleges are beginning to use the individual core values as a guideline for their deans' evaluations. Academic program review self-studies are being asked to address the unit's contribution to the core values. And units' strategic plan priorities must relate in some way to core values.
"Since these values are central to what we do, really everything that we do should work toward the values in a strategic way," Couture said. "The values should be part of our annual assessment process, part of our accreditation process, and kept in mind as we reshape our general education program."
The core values should also be communicated to others as an outline of what the university stands for, she said. College and department Web sites, campus architectural elements, public relations materials and other places and projects will be looked at for opportunities to show the values to others.
Couture encouraged faculty and staff to generously copy, share and link to the core values as a way to generate support for and promote their use. A new Core Values Web site, www.unl.edu/svcaa/planning/documents/core_values, is available for information and use.
Core Values
UNL’s seven core values are:
• Learning that prepares students for lifetime success and leadership.
• Excellence pursued without compromise.
• Achievement supported by a climate that celebrates each person's success.
• Diversity of ideas and people.
• Engagement with academic, business, and civic communities throughout Nebraska and the world.
• Research and creative activity that informs teaching, fosters discovery, and contributes to economic prosperity and our quality of life.
• Stewardship of the human, financial, and physical resources committed to our care.
GO TO: ISSUE OF JUNE 8
NEWS HEADLINES FOR JUNE 8
Time to try something new
Rededication scheduled for Hardin Hall
Scientists strike gold in cage-like structures
Booklet details story behind campus, Lincoln-area stone
Colonial revival quilts on display
Core values meld into campus programs
Project Fulcrum puts UNL scientists into Lincoln schools
Quilt center construction begins
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