Your job is to argue for change by creating a vision that more than compensates for the loss of self esteem that some people will feel as the needs of the University change, because their specialties are no longer needed. To help you in that regard, I have created a tentative vision statement for the University, which should not be seen as final, but should give you some idea of how a vision statement might be written for your department. It rewards good teaching. It offers significant courses and makes them readily available. The academic community of the University supports learning outside the classroom, for example, by participation in Operation Jumpstart, the Festival of Ideas and the Fall Convocation.
Students find jobs upon graduation and possesses lifetime learning skills.
The initiation of research programs is based on established criteria which are clearly understood by the institution. These criteria helped to focus research on the real needs of the region and support excellent graduate programs. The research programs and the graduate programs are themselves diverse enough to maintain our status as a major Doctoral I, Research I institution. Our outreach programs compliment our research strengths, meet significant regional needs, offer service learning opportunities, strengthen West Virginia's communities, and build public support for the University. A major goal of our outreach programs is to increase the quality of life for all West Virginians.