Office of the Provost

Mission Review

The University is well on its way to concluding the second cycle of its award-winning Mission Review process.

Calling Mission Review, "one of the biggest reasons for the significant gains we’ve seen across the State University...," Provost Salins described Mission Review II (2005-2010) as broader in scope than the first, with more focused attention on resource and facilities implications of academic plans.

Through this campus based system-wide process, SUNY will continue to demonstrate its shared commitment to set and reach goals that build academic excellence—in teaching, research, and service.

Mission Review II (2005-2010) Key Documents and Campus Resources:

• Link to all campus Memoranda of Understanding (2006-2007)
  
  
• Announcement Letter 
  
  
• Building an Expectation of Excellence - MRII Overview   
  
  
• SUNY CAMPUS RESOURCES: Guidance questions, timeline, and data

Mission Review I Archive:

• Link to all campus Memoranda of Understanding (2000)
  
  
• Link to Comprehensive Mission Review Summary    (html)
  
  
• Getting Started: the white paper that launched Mission Review;

This extensive effort to think coherently about the role and niche of each of the System’s 64 campuses — what they do best and what they would like to do better — was designed to:

• clarify goals and market niches of each campus, with a focus on distinctiveness;
• enhance the quality of academic programs, through effective planning and a resolution of programmatic overlaps; and importantly;
• increase opportunities for and support of inter-campus collaboration.

Mission Review is focused on meeting the academic goals of the Board of Trustees’ policy, Rethinking SUNY*, thereby ensuring that the State University provides services of the highest academic quality and is recognized as the premier comprehensive system of public higher education in the world. This cyclical process is intended to encourage campus responsibility for higher levels of distinctiveness, performance, efficiency, and System-wide collaboration.

Mission Review was formally launched in the spring of 1998 with the issuance of a set of questions (the Guidance Document), designed to elicit a thorough review of mission and direction. From information on institutional peers and enrollment goals, to selectivity standards and plans for program development, each campus response — in the form of a Mission Summary — created a foundation for ongoing dialogue between that campus and System Administration. The final product was the collaborative development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for each campus, signed by Chancellor King and the campus president, summarizing institutional goals, milestones of progress, and planned changes.

Through the first cycle of Mission Review, the status and direction of the State University was articulated, and a vision for the future began to take shape. Today that vision is clear and is embodied in the strategic academic agenda that drives Mission Review II (2005-2010). New to this cycle will be greater attention to the physical facilities, resources, and infrastructure implications of academic plans. Consistent with national trends and SUNY Trustees’ direction, efforts to further enhance and measure student outcomes will be of central importance. The enduring theme across Mission Review topics will continue to be academic quality.

Without question, Mission Review is an academic strategic planning process that provides the framework for assuring SUNY’s place in the front ranks of American public higher education. It is recognized as a "best practice" in higher education by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and, as an ongoing process, will continue to build on the success and national recognition the State University of New York has already achieved.