Rockford College - The
21st Century Plan
Our
mission is to educate men and women to lead responsible
productive lives by means of a curriculum grounded in liberal
arts learning and complemented and extended by professional
and practical experiences. Through the total academic and
co-curricular experience, Rockford College strives to prepare
students for fulfilling lives, careers, and participation
in a modern and changing global society.
Our vision is
to be Jane Addams’ college in the 21st century
At
Rockford College, the principles for our mission-based work
together are found in the life and work of our most distinguished
graduate, Jane Addams—whose work has inspired and taught
us much. We live out our vision through our commitments
to:
A “practical”
education – the difference between training (for
a job, a profession) and education – an education for a
lifetime, an expansive liberal arts approach to our work
as a teaching and learning community (no matter what we
teach), accessible to all, translating our commitment to
education so that others might understand and join us (“the
best results of civilization…must be incorporated into our
common life and have free mobility through all elements
of society if we would have our democracy endure.” Twenty
Years at Hull House)
Civic engagement
– humane philanthropy – crossing boundaries, bringing people
together, bias toward community, abundance, students, staff,
faculty, alumni, and wider public engaged in service to
each other (people must mix “on the thronged and common
road,” Democracy and Social Ethics)
Agile and accountable
institutions – being able to adapt and respond
to both problems and opportunities, while holding firm to
abiding principles, the nature of human institutions of
integrity ( “The one thing to be dreaded is that (we) lose
its flexibility, its power for quick adaptation, its readiness
to change its methods based on what the environment demands…”
Twenty Years at Hull House) – and don’t wait for someone
to ask you, find ways, be resourceful, stand up and be counted
(“open, democratic conversation” Twenty Years at Hull
House)
At
Jane Addams’ college – Rockford College – we take these lessons seriously in all aspects
of our common work. In our curricular and co-curricular
programs and activities; in the good citizenship of our
community members – both on and off campus; in the ways
we hold each other accountable for what we do and say; and
in the structure and practices of institutional leadership
and governance.
As
we seek to make our vision a reality during the next three
to five years, we shall pursue the following strategic
goals and action projects:
Strategic
Goals
1)
We shall order our lives
academically and administratively based on the best of the
liberal
arts tradition – expansive thinking, interdisciplinary work,
moral reflection, and
creative
energy.
2)
The boundaries of our
campus will be more and more fluid.
3)
We shall link learning
and scholarship with civic engagement and leadership in
all we
do
as a college.
4)
We shall build our community
so that our work is common, our behavior is civil, and
our
attitude is responsive.
Action Projects
and Priorities
[See
attached chart.]
Management of
Strategic Plan Implementation
Overseen by a Steering Group, composed of President’s
Cabinet members (officers), two faculty members, a staff
member, a student, and a trustee.
Monthly management meetings. Staffed
by President’s special assistant.
Implementation
of the 21st Century Plan
21st
Century Plan Update - March, 2006 |
