I.1 MISSION OF THE COLLEGE OF LETTERS AND SCIENCE

In 2009, Dean Sandefur will present for discussion by the faculty, staff, and students of the College of Letters and Science an updated framework for planning College-activities. This framework, which was drafted after consultation with members of the college community and governance committees, aligns college-level efforts with the campus-level strategic framework, "For Wisconsin and the World". The L&S framework seeks to articulate, for the college, those aspects of the university plan found in a liberal arts college that promotes excellence in education and research, contributes to service (within the institution, and for the wider world), and promote a civil and supportive community within its auspices.

That said, the core (and complex) mission of the College of Letters and Science has not changed: Within the overall mission of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the responsibility of the College of Letters and Science is to:

• Provide an intellectual community in which students and faculty can discover, examine critically, integrate, preserve, and transmit knowledge, wisdom, and values;

• Foster undergraduate and graduate education and research in the liberal arts, encompassing the humanities, the arts, the social sciences, the physical sciences and the biological sciences;
• Provide a supportive educational and employment environment for a community of students, faculty, and staff characterized by diversity;
• Serve the liberal arts curricular needs of the applied and professional schools and colleges of the University;
• Encourage interdisciplinary linkages throughout the University;
• Respond to the citizens of Wisconsin through focused programs of outreach;
• Manage human and material resources in a manner both to sustain the College and to enhance public support of higher education.

Last reviewed: August 2009 by emk.