Criterion One: Mission and Integrity Core Component 1a: The organization’s mission documents are clear and articulate publicly the organization’s commitments.

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	UMKC’s core values We identify our values as the basis for reflection and dialogue. We strive to live our values as instruments for positive change.
Education First: We are committed to lifelong learning. We recognize that students are integral to everything we do. Discovery and Innovation: We promote creativity, critical thinking and interdisciplinary cooperation. We promote scholarship in all its forms. We promote research and sharing of knowledge. We recognize and reward excellence. Integrity and Accountability: We encourage free, honest and candid communication. We accept individual responsibility for shared ownership. We are committed to sharing both information and decision-making. We foster academic and intellectual freedom. Diversity, Inclusiveness and Respect: We seek, support and celebrate the diversity of all people. We respect individual dignity. We are sensitive to differences in learning styles, ideas and beliefs. Energized Collaborative Communities: We nurture positive, visionary, empowering environments. We collaborate, partner and interact. In summary, our mission documents and our core values articulate our strong commitment to ever-increasing academic standards in teaching and research; to create a more enriching diverse environment for learning; and to facilitate a greater involvement in the economic and cultural life of the city, state, nation and the world. In order to achieve those objectives, we have established four goals that guide our strategic planning: Strengthen our resource base and financial capacity Strengthen our core academic mission Increase student success Improve the racial climate and increase campus diversity We recognize that a university’s mission documents must be more than printed postings on a wall or words on a Web site. Our mission, values and goals must be made clearly to various constituencies, including present and prospective students, the families of students, faculty and staff, as well as to the wider community, and the academic and political institutions that oversee higher education in Missouri and beyond. Chancellor Leo Morton understands that this is one of the major responsibilities of the Office of the Chancellor. Therefore, the Chancellor represents the mission of UMKC when speaking to community groups in the metropolitan area, Missouri and the region. He also carries the importance of our mission and vision when he talks to lawmakers and testifies before the Missouri General Assembly on behalf of the University. During the 2008-09 academic year, the Chancellor made more than 100 speeches and presentations to constituent groups where he consistently spoke about the mission, vision and values of the UM System and of UMKC, and about the importance of our mission documents in developing our Strategic Plan. Finally, in striving to fulfill the multi-faceted missions of UMKC, we recognize that mission documents must be living documents, regularly reviewed, evaluated and revised. During the course of this self study, the University has been engaged in creating a new Strategic Plan. It is noteworthy that the Strategic Planning Committee is organized around subcommittees (made up of faculty, staff, students, University administrators and community leaders) dedicated to the specific UMKC mission areas as defined by the UM System’s Board of Curators.
Following the reports prepared by six strategic planning subcommittees, a draft of the Strategic Plan was presented in a series of Town Hall meetings. These presentations were held with both internal and external constituencies and occurred on both of our campuses. At each of the meetings, Provost Gail Hackett made a presentation explaining how the strategic planning process was driven by the UM System mission, and by our specific UMKC mission and vision statements. (A discussion about our Strategic Plan is in Criterion 2.) Town Hall meetings with Town Hall Presentation