1.0 Mission
2.0 Academic goals
3.0 The faculty
4.0 Diversity

1.0 Mission

The mission of San Diego State University shall be to provide well-balanced, high quality education for undergraduate and graduate students and to contribute to knowledge and the solution of problems through excellence and distinction in teaching, research, and service. The university shall impart an appreciation and broad understanding of human experience throughout the world and the ages. This education shall extend to

1. Diverse cultural legacies,
2. Accomplishments in many areas, such as the arts and technology,
3. The advancement of human thought, including philosophy and science,
4. The development of economic, political, and social institutions, and
5. The physical and biological evolution of humans and their environment.

The university shall accomplish this through its many and diverse departments and interdisciplinary programs in the creative and performing arts, the humanities, the natural and mathematical sciences, and the social and behavioral sciences. Through the President's Shared Vision, students, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, and the community have identified the following five challenges:

• 1.1 To extend and enhance the university's deep and abiding commitment to academic excellence expressed through superior teaching, research, creative activity, and public service;
• 1.2 To nurture a learning-centered university that supports the growth and development of the whole person;
• 1.3 To create a community proud of its diversity and committed to furthering social justice on and off campus;
• 1.4 To promote the growth, development, and wise use of our human and fiscal resources; and
• 1.5 To create a global university.

2.0 Academic goals

Responding to these and other challenges, the university shall pursue the following academic goals to sustain and strengthen our position as a leading university:

• 2.1 To encourage the intellectual and creative development of a diverse group of students by helping them learn about themselves and others, their own and other cultural and social heritages, and their environment;
• 2.2 To foster development of critical thinking, writing, reading, oral communication, and quantitative and qualitative analysis as well as a commitment to lifelong learning and international perspectives needed to contribute to communities and fields of endeavor;
• 2.3 To provide the basis for informed citizenship in a democracy;
• 2.4 To offer advanced undergraduate and graduate students professional training and preparation for further study in a broad range of disciplines, with special emphasis on the preparation of teachers;
• 2.5 To support faculty in developing specialized contributions to knowledge, including innovative curriculum and pedagogy responsive to intellectual and professional needs of undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students;
• 2.6 To support faculty in their professionally-related community activities and informed exchanges with diverse professional and lay communities that strengthen the university's courses and scholarship;
• 2.7 To encourage scholarship, including the creative and performing arts, by students, faculty, and administrators from all areas of the university; and
• 2.8 To continue our commitment to research, including the expansion of externally funded projects and doctoral programs where appropriate.

3.0 The faculty

Given these challenges and academic goals, we hope to create

• 3.1 A Faculty of Teacher-Scholars: Every faculty member shall demonstrate excellence as a teacher-scholar. The faculty shall adopt and evaluate innovative teaching methods and shall incorporate active scholarship into teaching. The university's research orientation, distinctive within the California State University, shall afford graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to become involved in research as well as interact with active research faculty.
• 3.2 A Faculty That Meets the Needs of Departments, School, and Programs to Provide Quality Degree Programs: Proud of our accomplishments in many areas, we shall continue to build upon the excellence of our academic offerings.
• 3.3 A Faculty That Is Diverse: Because academic discourse is informed and enriched by diverse ideas, the university shall diversify its faculty to meet the academic need for various perspectives and experiences, to address our student demographics, and to prepare students for the world in which they will live and work.
• 3.4 A Faculty That Provides International Perspectives: In our increasingly global society, we shall recruit faculty who can bring international perspectives to their work, who are committed to internationalization in their teaching and scholarship and in advising students, and some of whom are bilingual or multicultural.
• 3.5 A Faculty with Community-Based Interests. To strengthen the university's courses and scholarship and to bring university expertise the community, the faculty shall address the needs of the region through teaching, research, and service, which may include community-based activities such as applied research, training grants, and service learning.
• 3.6 A Faculty That Provides Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Because societal issues are multidimensional and transcend traditional academic disciplines, the faculty shall be expert in its disciplines and shall collaborate across disciplines to encourage students to work in groups and to provide an integrated educational perspective.

4.0 Diversity

Diversity shall be an essential consideration in all university policies and decisions, and shall be guided by the following statements that shall be published in staff and faculty handbooks, in the university Policy File, in the university General Catalog, the Bulletin of the Graduate Division, the IVC Bulletin, and linked from the Mission and Goals section on the main university Web home page.

• 4.1 San Diego State University is a community diverse in race, ethnicity, language, culture, social class, national origin, religious and political belief, age, ability, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. As a university committed to learning in all its forms, San Diego State University recognizes the need to attract and retain a critical mass of diverse persons who will advance its goals and ideals. This fundamental commitment to diversity 1) enriches the institution and provides an atmosphere in which all human potential is valued, 2) promotes learning through interactions among people of different backgrounds and many perspectives, and 3) better enables the university to prepare all members of its community to promote social responsibility, equity, freedom, and productive citizenship in a global society.
• 4.2 Diversity means not only the opportunity for all groups to be represented among faculty, student, staff, and administration but also the support for these persons as they seek the highest achievements. Attitudes, actions, programs, and policies that foster diversity engender the vigorous exchange of ideas, enhance respect and consideration for individuals and groups, strengthen the understanding of our mutual dependence, and form the core of the university. Diversity promotes enriched learning and produces positive educational outcomes for all.
• 4.3 Vigorous efforts to increase the diversity of the faculty, staff, administration, and students shall continue as a high priority, and as access increases, the university will create changes in its environment that enhance the opportunities for the success of all members of the campus community.
• 4.4 The university shall cultivate a campus climate that promotes human dignity, civility, and mutual appreciation for the uniqueness of each member of our community. Because the university's educational goals are founded on the values of intellectual honesty, appreciation for diversity, and mutual respect, it is critical that our academic and co-curricular programs, scholarships, courses, workshops, lectures, and other aspects of campus life reflect diverse perspectives. Freedom from discrimination, harassment, and violence against persons or property is a basic right and is requisite for learning. Freedom of speech shall be protected. By the same token, the campus community shall denounce and confront acts of intolerance, abusive behaviors, and the beliefs and past events that have separated us as a people.