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vision
San Francisco State University aspires to be
the nation's preeminent
public urban university. Building on a century-long history of offering
broad access to undergraduate and graduate education, the University
will provide a learning community in which students can equip themselves
to meet the challenges of the 21st century workplace and world. We will
become an institution of choice for many by offering comprehensive, rigorous,
and integrated academic programs that require students to engage in open-minded
inquiry and reflection in multiple real-world contexts. We will implement
this vision in one of the world's great cities and its surrounding
metropolitan area, making the San Francisco Bay region our classroom,
as we prepare our students to become active, ethical citizens of a pluralistic
democracy, possessing a global perspective.
SFSU upholds and embodies the American ideal of e pluribus unum – "out
of many, one." It seeks not only to reflect diversity in its
students, faculty, staff, and administrators but also to build a unified
and vibrant community by exploring and affirming the many forms of
that diversity.
The University aspires to these goals in a turbulent environment. The
role of public higher education in modern society is in flux. We face
an immediate future of uncertain funding, increasing competition, changing
demands, and a shifting student population. Against these challenges,
we are committed to developing fully the potential of those from around
the state, nation, and world who choose to attend as students or who
choose to work at the University, while benefiting the citizens of
California whom it is our mission to serve.
As a complex organization, we are made up of many people and experiences.
In order to encompass that complexity, we have developed visions for
the future of SFSU from four perspectives: the Academic Experience,
the Student Experience, the Employee Experience, and the University
and Its
Environment. These four visions, developed by a cross-section of the
University community and articulated on subsequent pages of this document,
represent our values and aspirations.
Several common themes emerge. Though echoed in different ways in the
various sections, they are key unifying elements in a comprehensive
vision of the University's future. These themes are:
- Academic excellence.
The
University best serves those who choose to study here by creating demanding
and rigorous learning experiences that encourage students to
grow. All students will have experiences that challenge them to integrate
the knowledge they are acquiring and to apply it to solve problems
in multiple real-world contexts in collaboration with colleagues.
- Improved access and flexibility for diverse communities.
The wide range of people coming to San Francisco State University
in differing capacities necessitates a strong commitment to improved
access
and flexibility. This commitment will shape the way the University
serves its students and delivers its academic programs; the access
to resources
it provides its employees; and the efforts it makes to meet the needs
of the community by providing educational and other services to a
wide audience.
- Engaged and expanded intellectual community.
The University encourages its members to engage fully with the community,
to share knowledge, to move beyond traditional boundaries,
and to develop new knowledge to meet new opportunities and serve
the needs
of multiple
internal and external constituencies.
- Institutional
culture that supports change and innovation.
To meet
the challenges of a changing environment, SFSU must continue
to innovate. We will endeavor to create a University
that welcomes innovation, whether it is in delivery of learning
opportunities, streamlining
of services, building of institutional spirit, or engaging
with the community.
We will align our processes, procedures,
incentives, and evaluation criteria with our central vision
and mission.
When we succeed in realizing our vision, we will
become the San Francisco State University that is described in the
following
pages:
• the academic experience
• the
student experience
• the employee experience
• the
university and its environment
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