Mission, Vision, Values and Core Themes & Objectives

Mission, Vision & Core Values Adopted by the Skagit Valley College  Board of Trustees in Spring 2006; Core Themes & Objectives in Fall 2010.

> Printable Mission, Vision, Values and Core Themes & Objectives

Mission

Skagit Valley College exists to expand opportunities and horizons for students and to improve the communities in which they live. We achieve this by welcoming and valuing diverse learners, providing quality education and support, and contributing community leadership and service.

Vision

We will be the community’s college, respected by our diverse population for open access, a welcoming climate, excellent teaching and support services, successful student learning, and for our contribution to economic development, cultural enrichment, environmental awareness, and social justice.

Core Values

• Learning: Our focus is on learning in a climate of open inquiry, respect, academic freedom, and scholarship.
• Excellence: We deliver skillful teaching, innovative curricula and co-curricular activities, effective services and support, continuous assessment, and systematic, measurable change.
• Student Success: We foster student success by being learner-centered, remaining flexible and accessible, and engaging students as active partners in their learning and in shaping and participating in the life of the college community.
• Employees: We support, value, and reward our employees, who are key to the achievement of our vision and mission.
• Diversity and Global Multiculturalism: We affirm individual uniqueness, celebrate diversity, and encourage mutual cultural understanding.
• Civic Responsibility: We are committed to democratic ideals that encourage engagement in the affairs of the college and the community it serves, involvement in the global community, and the promotion of social justice.
• Sustainability: We model best practices to create facilities, systems, and programs that are regenerative and sustainable.
• Communication: We value honest and respectful communication that contributes to effective relations, operations, personal growth and learning.

General Education Learning Values

0. Integration and Application: Using information, concepts, analytical frameworks, and skills from different fields of study to understand and develop comprehensive approaches/responses to personal, academic, professional, and social issues.

1. Information Literacy: Recognizing when information is needed and having the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

2. Critical Thinking: The ability to think critically about the nature of knowledge within a discipline and about the ways in which that knowledge is constructed and validated and to be sensitive to the ways these processes often vary among disciplines.

3. Communication: Understanding and producing effective written, spoken, visual, and non-verbal communication.

4. Community & Cultural Diversity: Recognizing the value of human communities and cultures from multiple perspectives through a critical understanding of their similarities and differences.

5. Global & Local Awareness & Responsibility: Understanding the complexity and interdependence of, and stewardship responsibilities to, local and global communities and environments.

6. Individual Awareness & Responsibility: Understanding, managing, and taking responsibility for one’s learning and behavior in varied and changing environments.

7. Aesthetics & Creativity: Interpreting human experience through engagement with creative processes and aesthetic principles.

8. Mathematical Reasoning: Understanding and applying concepts of mathematics and logical reasoning in a variety of contexts, both academic and non-academic.

9. Scientific Literacy: Understanding scientific principles, and analyzing and applying scientific information in a variety of contexts.

10. Technology: Understanding the role of technology in society and using technology appropriately and effectively.

Core Themes & Objectives

Core Theme I: Fostering Quality Learning Opportunities and Outcomes

What it would look like: Institutional structure, programs, and services focused on creating access and quality educational programs and services that result in identifiable learning for students and employees.  

Core Theme Objectives
 1.    Educational access for a diverse community
 2.    Quality, equitable student learning outcomes at both the general education and program level 
 3.    Learning opportunities for faculty, staff and administrators

Core Theme II: Building and Supporting Healthy Communities

What it would look like: Institutional structure, programs, and services that create, communicate, and support a sense of community internally and externally, and contribute to the economic, environmental, and social vitality of the college’s communities and partners.

Core Theme Objectives
1.    Relationships and connections that create engagement and success in our learning environments
2.    Partnerships with the community that contribute to cultural and economic development
3.    Facilities, systems, and programs that are regenerative and sustainable

Core Theme III: Creating and Supporting Educational Alignment, Achievement and Transitions

What it would look like: Institutional structure, programs, and services that are aligned, understandable, consistent, and adaptable in ways that foster successful transitions across levels of educational attainment, and into the workforce.

Core Theme Objectives
1.      Curricula and support services that are aligned to produce maximum institutional coherence
2.      Student progression and completions
3.      Student success in transitioning to four-year programs/institutions and/or to the workforce