Standard One

1.1a The mission of the institution defines its distinctive character, addresses the needs of society and identifies the students the institution seeks to serve, and reflects both the institution’s traditions and its vision for the future.

Based on its mission statement, CCSU’s distinctive character consists of these elements:

§  focus on student-centered teaching

§  dissemination and creation of knowledge as a public service

§  research, scholarship, and creative activity which inform our teaching

§  support from the state of Connecticut

§  three Centers of Excellence

§  nationally accredited programs

§  accessible, quality higher education

§  extensive support for students

§  numerous student organizations and clubs

§  welcoming environment for a diverse community of learners

The mission statement addresses the needs of society in two basic ways: it seeks to provide access to quality higher education, and it emphasizes public service as the responsibility of all members of the CCSU community.

According to the mission statement, CCSU seeks to serve Connecticut students who “can benefit from our offerings.” The term “access” connotes the university’s role in educating those whose finances might preclude their attending college, or whose academic preparation might require additional support for success.

The mission statement refers to the university’s “historical mission” but does not mention its historic role in teacher training.  On the other hand, the mission clearly articulates a vision for the future with five bulleted items that build upon the basic mission.

1.1b  The institution’s mission provides the basis upon which the institution identifies its priorities, plans its future and evaluates its endeavors; it provides a basis for the evaluation of the institution against the Commission’s Standards.

Currently, three documents provide a good barometer of how CCSU’s mission provides the basis upon which the university identifies its priorities, plans its future, and evaluates its endeavors.  These are the Strategic Plan developed in 2003 and approved in 2004, the University Planning and Budget Committee’s Institutional Goals begun in 2007 to replace the 2003 Strategic Plan (www.ccsu.edu/goals), and the Facilities Master Plan.  All three build upon the basic premises of the mission by focusing on the university’s responsibility to Connecticut taxpayers to provide an accessible, comprehensive education to citizens from the region.  For instance, the 2004 Strategic Plan’s first four (of twelve) goals focus on ways to enrich undergraduate and graduate education in order to better serve Connecticut’s workforce needs. Similarly, Goal 5—to sustain and expand financial and human support for faculty and student inquiry—emphasizes the role of research, scholarship, and creative activity as fundamental to good teaching and learning.  Other goals seek to extend the university’s engagement with the central Connecticut region. Likewise, the UPBC’s Proposed Institutional Goals (2007) stress student learning and ways to prepare students to be productive citizens.  Finally, the Facilities Master Plan addresses the need for more teaching and learning space. 

1.2 The institution’s mission is set forth in a concise statement that is formally adopted by the governing board and appears in appropriate institutional publications.

CCSU’s concise mission statement has been formally adopted by the CSUS Board of Trustees. It appears in all appropriate institutional publications, including the university’s website.

1.3a  The institution’s purposes are concrete and realistic and further define its educational and other dimensions, including scholarship, research, and public service.

CCSU’s mission statement describes a mutually reinforcing relationship among education, scholarship and research, and public service.  As a publically supported institution, the university has a public responsibility to provide both quality and access to higher education. As a teaching university, it sees scholarship and research as informing our teaching with the ultimate goal of creating a community of learners. 

According to the mission statement, an important element of education at CCSU is “the personal and social growth of our students.”  Most explicitly, the mission is to engage them in “activities ranging from basic research and the creation of original works to helping individuals and organizations achieve success in purely practical endeavors.” Thus, beyond providing fine quality undergraduate and graduate programs, CCSU seeks to “foster a welcoming environment in which all members of our diverse community receive encouragement, feel safe, and acquire self-confidence.” The university also provides multiple opportunities for students to “engage in activities or to join organizations and clubs where they develop leadership and social skills.”

The mission statement indicates that these three aspects will come together in the university’s many nationally accredited programs and in the three Centers of Excellence recognized by the State of Connecticut and the CSUS Board of Trustees. Though not listed in the Mission  Statement, the three centers of excellence are the Center for International Education, the School of Engineering and Technology, and the Center for Public Policy and Social Research.

1.3b Consistent with its mission, the institution endeavors to enhance the communities it serves.

The mission statements and strategic plans of CCSU’s five schools reflect a commitment to serving the workforce needs of Connecticut. All five respond to Connecticut’s workforce needs by offering undergraduate and graduate programs with internship placements in such areas as science, mathematics, computer science, criminal justice, business, public administration, information design, engineering, technology, nursing, education, school counseling, family counseling, and hospitality and tourism.  Moreover, in specific response to the state’s workforce needs,

§  the School of Engineering and Technology has developed outreach programs to increase enrollments in all its majors, including its newly developed Mechanical Engineering program.

§  the School of Business currently focuses exclusively on undergraduate education, offering the Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with majors in Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Finance, International Business, Management, Management Information Systems, or Marketing.

§  the Arts and Sciences graduate programs fill workforce needs in nurse anesthesia, public history, criminal justice, computer information technology, data mining, and information design.

§  the School of Education and Professional Studies’ proposed expansion of its Nursing program is under final review at the Connecticut Department of Higher Education.

CCSU’s origins as a normal school continue to be reflected in its commitment to enhancing education in the communities it serves.  Through its NCATE-accredited School of Education and Professional Studies, the university prepares more Connecticut teachers than any other university in the state. Graduates demonstrate wide-ranging classroom skills and possess a knowledge base steeped in theory and supported by extensive field-based learning and reflection.  Through Professional Development Schools and a variety of other formal and informal school-based partnerships, grants and projects, the university supports best practices in teaching and enhances learning for its own students and for those in Connecticut’s public schools. The Office of Field Experience works collaboratively with CCSU faculty/departments, state-wide school districts, and the State Department of Education to ensure that teacher candidates are prepared to address the challenges of the twenty-first-century classroom. A new program recently approved by Connecticut’s Department of Higher Education offers a Master of Arts in Teaching specifically to address teacher shortage-area needs.  Lastly, CCSU addresses the critical need for a new generation of leaders in Connecticut schools with recruitment programs, such as the Dean’s Leadership Institute, which recruits and helps retain students from under-represented groups who are pursuing a career in education, and the Educational Leadership’s Aspirant Program specifically designed for and with Hartford Public Schools, as well as with its Ed. D. in Educational Leadership, the only doctoral degree granted by the university.

CCSU also serves the New Britain community more directly. A weekly Literacy Center housed on campus serves New Britain children needing additional reading help.  The Family Therapy Institute, a state-of-the-art training facility operated in partnership with Klingberg Family Centers (the nationally accredited Marriage and Family Therapy program), allows master’s degree students to hone their skills as therapists under the expert supervision of outstanding clinical faculty while providing psychiatric services to children and adults in the New Britain metropolitan area.  Also, the Institute of Technology and Business Development supports new and small business development with customized training, and Continuing Education sponsors courses and programs addressing educational needs in the community.

Every week, local residents, along with members of the campus community, are invited to attend a wide array of performances, exhibits, lectures, guest speakers, and sporting events.  Every Monday, the New Britain Herald features a column, “The Scene @ CCSU,” written by members of the campus community, and “Central Authors,” a presentation of books written by CCSU faculty and staff, is broadcast via local-access cable channels. Recently, CCSU has joined the Veterans’ History Project and the African Burial Project, and CCSU has entered into a partnership with the New Britain Museum of American Art to promote community education in the arts.  Moreover, specific centers, such as those devoted to Polish, Africana, Caribbean and Latin American, plus Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, cater to issues of intrinsic interest to nearby residents. In recognition of this close tie, local individuals, foundations, and corporations have endowed several faculty chairs: the Stanilaus A. Blejwas Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies, the American Savings Foundation Chair in Banking and Finance, the William A. O’Neill Chair in Public Policy and Practical Politics, and the Robert C. Vance Chair in Journalism and Mass Communication.  At the same time, the university asks members of the local community to share their knowledge and expertise with our students through several speaker series maintained by each of the academic schools and student services.

The university works to improve relationships with the surrounding neighborhood by improving communication channels. In addition to distributing the Central Courier [Document Room] locally and creating a website through which local residents can find the best way to contact campus officials, the university-sponsored Early Learning Program is open to local residents.  (CCSU & The Neighborhood) 

Above all, the university seeks to fulfill its mission in regards to students.  In order to provide an accessible college education to Connecticut students who might otherwise be unable to attend college for financial, background, or academic preparation reasons, CCSU’s Pre-Collegiate and Access Services and the Africana Center’s Summer Transitional Program help underprepared students be ready for college work. Once students are enrolled, CCSU works to keep them in school with academic help and with a social support structure; some programs integrate the two.  Students can find academic help through The Learning Center, The Writing Center, Academic Computing Center, Student Disabilities Services, and the Intensive English Language Program.  They can find social and personal support through Central Access and Student Development, the Counseling and Wellness Center, Fitness and Wellness Center, Residential Life, Office of Veterans Affairs, and RecCentral. Three programs seek to integrate the social and the intellectual: the Honors Program, the First-Year Experience, and Learning in Communities.

Alumni are encouraged to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the university.  Some services the university continues to provide for alumni include a career network, alumni scholarships, and the Central Focus magazine [Document Room].

1.4a  The mission and purposes of the institution are accepted and widely understood by its governing board, administration, faculty, staff, and students.

Official, public pronouncements make it clear that constituents affiliated with CCSU accept its primary responsibility: teaching students.  Not only has the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) Board of Trustees officially approved the CCSU mission statement, but the  CSUS’s governing mission statement focuses entirely on the role of the university to provide “affordable and high-quality, active-learning opportunities” to “students of all ages, backgrounds, races and ethnicities.”  At the campus level, all CCSU official web and print publications express the university’s “one goal: to improve the educational experience of our students.” Similarly, the union contracts of the teaching and administrative faculty emphasize the advancement of teaching. Specifically, the collective bargaining agreement, ratified by both the CSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the CSUS Board of Trustees, stipulates that teaching (which is the primary component of load credit) is the most important criterion by which faculty will be assessed. At the same time, the contract provides for research grants, reassigned time, and sabbatical leaves to advance research, scholarship, and creative activity.  For the administrative faculty, SUOAF-ASCME mission states that it seeks to “promote the quality and effectiveness of education in the Connecticut State University System and maintain high standards of academic excellence in all phases of instruction, research and service.”  The Faculty Senate, a governing body representing faculty and administration, approved the current mission statement. Moreover, all materials formally introducing students to the mission emphasize that CCSU is an institution for learning and for self-growth.

1.4b  They provide direction to the curricula and other activities and form the basis on which expectations for student learning are developed.

The mission and purposes of the university guide curriculum development for undergraduate general education, undergraduate majors and minors, and graduate study.  According to the most recent catalog, the general education program “aims to provide students with the basic foundations for life-long learning as rational members of society, to awaken the pleasures of intellectual exploration and to elevate aesthetic sensibilities. This commitment to personal development depends on the acquisition and expansion of knowledge, intellectual processes and techniques.” Thus, in accordance with the mission’s goal “to encourage the development and application of knowledge and ideas through research and outreach activities, a student’s general education experience ideally integrates both traditional knowledge acquisition and experiential-based research and creative activities. The undergraduate majors and minors seek to provide students with a deeper knowledge of a specific field of study built on the general education foundation, consistent with the mission’s goal to promote students’ “intellectual achievement and professional competence.”  The University Curriculum Committee, the Faculty Senate, and deans of the five schools shepherd curricular decisions that seek to ensure a quality educational experience.

In addition to activities overseen by the division of Academic Affairs, many activities sponsored by the division of Student Affairs look to encourage student learning. The Student Government Association, the Inter-Residency Council, and a multitude of clubs allow students to acquire leadership and community-building skills. In addition, speakers and forums promote students’ personal and social growth.  In these ways, Student Affairs is charged with ensuring that CCSU “foster[s] a welcoming environment in which all members of our diverse community receive encouragement, feel safe, and acquire self-confidence.”

1.4c Specific objectives, reflective of the institution’s overall mission and purposes, are developed by the institution’s individual units.

A large majority of the university’s individual units—divisions, schools, departments, centers, units, etc.—post mission statements dovetailing with CCSU’s mission. Thus, the School of Arts & Sciences seeks to prepare “students to take their place in a complex and interdependent world as thoughtful people and involved citizens.” Similarly, the School of Engineering and Technology “imparts a general education through a combination of lecture- and laboratory-based instruction.” In a similar fashion, the division of Student Affairs is “dedicated to supporting a student-centered learning environment,” a commitment extending to Residence Life, which proposes to help students “develop leadership, social, and communication skills by getting involved in campus activities.” Even such diverse offices as Intercollegiate Athletics and the Police Department have mission statements explicitly seeking to advance the university’s mission.

1.5 The institution periodically re-evaluates the content and pertinence of its mission and purposes, assessing their usefulness in providing overall direction in planning and resource allocation. The results of this evaluation are used to enhance institutional effectiveness.

In 2003, a university taskforce developed a Strategic Plan, which was approved by the Faculty Senate in 2004.  In 2007, the UPBC began work on seven Institutional Goals that provide a framework for an updated Strategic Plan.

Back to Main Page