The Master Planning Committee, composed of faculty, staff, and administrators, began developing the Los Angeles Mission College Mission Statement in January 1999 using information garnered at two all-day planning retreats held in August and September of 1998. A widely representative group of faculty, staff, and administrators attended these retreats (1.1). The Master Planning Committee approved and adopted the statement on October 5 (1.2), the Academic Senate on October 7 (1.3), the Mission President’s Coordinating Council on October 11 (1.4), and the Board of Trustees on March 22, 2000 (1.5).

This mission statement read as follows: "Los Angeles Mission College exists to provide the highest quality education for each student who comes to us. To achieve this mission, we are dedicated to creating an atmosphere of respect to assist all people in pursuit of their educational goals. We strive to facilitate student mastery of academic and workplace skills by using traditional and innovative modes of instruction. Recognizing that growth is a life-long process, we maintain our commitment to reflect the changing needs of our students as we build upon the interdependence of the college, the student body, and the community we are privileged to serve. Our mission is student success."

After completing the mission statement, the committee developed seven broad-based educational goals: the college will adapt its educational programs and services to meet the needs of the students; the college will increase student access, retention, and success; the college will diversify its environment to reflect the educational, social, and cultural uniqueness of all people; the college will strengthen its relationship with the community at large; the college will increase and integrate the use of technology to better serve and educate students; the college will develop a campus facilities plan based upon the needs of the educational programs and the community; and the college will maintain fiscal stability and seek alternative sources of revenue in order to enrich and expand educational programs. These, then, are the parameters under which the college offers programs and allocates resources.

For many years, however, the prioritization of programs and resources has been accomplished without a defined planning process guided by a mission statement. Planning and decision making at the college had been guided primarily by pragmatic concerns influenced by campus, community, and state political and fiscal matters as they related to higher education. For a variety of reasons, the college did not widely implement several proposals for master planning. However, key campus constituencies have long recognized the need for such a process.

Individuals and committees involved in planning and decision making have accepted input and advice from a multitude of sources. They have generally been aware that they are subject to state and district educational regulations and policies, including the Los Angeles Community College District Mission Statement (1.6).

SELF EVALUATION

Subsequent to the planning committee approval of the 1999 LAMC Mission Statement, the college hired an associate dean for campus development and institutional research. This additional expertise provided the impetus at the May 9, 2000 (1.7), meeting of the Master Planning Committee to form a subcommittee consisting of the associate dean of research, the program evaluation chair, and the accreditation chair, with a mandate to reexamine and further revise both the statement and the goals. ( Standard 3 details and documents the efforts that began with the 1998 retreats and that have led to a further revised mission statement and the present adoption of a new assessment and planning process.)

The subcommittee found that the Master Planning Committee did consider the District Mission Statement while formulating the LAMC Mission Statement. It further found however, that the committee did not specifically consider the District Educational Philosophy (1.8) even though the two agree substantially.

While rewriting the mission statement and the goals, the subcommittee considered Title 5 (1.9), the Education Code (1.10), the District Mission Statement and the District Educational Philosophy, several exemplary mission statements and sets of goals from other districts in the state, and a critique prepared by the associate dean of research (1.11). The subcommittee determined that the 1999 statement matched educational philosophies and vision statements from the exemplary districts but lacked their specificity, measurability, and compliance with Title 5 and the Education Code.

For example, the 1999 LAMC Mission Statement lacks a statement regarding academic freedom and fails to mention support services, community education, or transfer education. It is also silent on the issue of maintaining appropriate standards for academic achievement, and it does not address remedial, non-credit, or community education. While the statement indicates that the college strives to "facilitate student mastery of academic and workplace skills," the Education Code speaks specifically of academic and vocational education.

However, the college statement does include a commitment to innovative instructional methods while the district statement does not. In addition, the district does not mention any plans to strengthen ties with the community, to increase the use of technology, or to create a facilities master plan.

The subcommittee proposed that the latest mission statement be re-titled as a philosophy and a new mission statement be formulated along the lines of the examples.

The new mission statement, which the Master Planning Committee approved during the summer of 2000, reads as follows: "Los Angeles Mission College will provide comprehensive lower-division general education, AA and AS degree programs, occupational education, occupational certificates, transfer education, developmental education, counseling and guidance, and community services which meet the changing needs of people in the San Fernando Valley while protecting academic freedom and maintaining academic standards."

Finally, the subcommittee evaluated the college goals for measurability and proposed a set of key indicators for each college goal (1.12).

In the Faculty and Staff Survey, seventy-five percent of faculty and staff ( Item #1, FSS) indicated that they had a good understanding of the 1999 LAMC Mission Statement (1.13). In addition, the same percentage indicated that the mission statement and goals were appropriate for the college ( Item #2, FSS). However, this agreement is somewhat at odds with the relatively low visibility of the statement in college publications. Survey results support the view that the faculty and staff agree with the overall sense of purpose and appropriateness of the college’s mission even though they may not be familiar with the specific content of the official statement.

PLANNING AGENDA

1. The Assessment and Planning Committee will review the college’s mission statement, philosophy, and goals on an annual basis with the assistance of the associate dean for campus development and institutional research. The responsible committee members will focus on the measurability of the goals, the alignment of college goals to the external environment as determined by environmental scanning, the ongoing compliance with relevant state and local policies, the compliance with the newly adopted district vision and goals statement, and the input from all evaluation procedures in place at the college. The Assessment and Planning Committee will disseminate the results of the evaluation of the mission statement and goals to the college and its constituency after the annual review.

2. The college will use appropriate measures to increase the level of awareness and application of the mission statement and goals among all college constituencies.