An Assessment of the Institutional Vision of Catholic Colleges and Universities

Abstract

Institutional vision is a philosophical template-a concept of what, at its best, a college or university is like and the kinds of human beings that institution is attempting to cultivate. A content analysis of the institutional vision of a nation wide sample of Catholic schools was performed and key linguistic components found to constitute a well conceived, viable, and easily diffused mission and vision were isolated. The prevalence of these components in comparison to other types of religious schools and secular four-year institutions is discussed. Findings suggest that Catholic schools are vision-driven institutions that communicate their priorities and defi ning characteristics by employing clear, highly optimistic, and inspirational language. They do little to articulate effectively a unifi cation among the community of students, faculty, and staff, or coordinate their vision of the institution with that of the administration. They are less likely than other types of religious and secular schools to address the pragmatic benefi ts of their education.

Institutional Vision in Christian Higher Education: A Comparison of ACCU, ELCA, and CCCU Institutions

“…When the institutional vision of Christian schools is examined in accordance to their specific religious orientation, as was suggested by Abelman and Dalessandro (2008), several interesting differences emerge that shed light on the findings previously noted. Catholic colleges and universities offer mission statements and vision statements that are significantly less shared than other religious institutions.…”

“…They also found that private schools in general, and religious, tribal and military private schools in particular, are more likely to have vision statements than public institutions. In a follow-up investigation, Abelman and Dalessandro (2008) found that Catholic schools are more likely to have vision statements than other types of religious colleges and universities. However, non-Catholic religious institutions were clustered under the umbrella category of ''religious,'' which ''does a disservice to the differences that exist across these faith-based colleges and universities and the expression of those differences in their respective institutional vision'' (p. 244).…”

Assessing the Alignment of Preparatory Year Program Vision, Mission, and Goals Statements with First-Year Student Success Principles

“…(Senge, 2006, p. 192). Thus, the vision statements of universities are considered to be a philosophical guide for what a particular university or college works toward achieving (Abelman & Dalessandro, 2008). In his article, Vision and Education, Pekarsky (2007) explains how vision guides education.…”

“…As the current working models of Preparatory Year Program have no published or released documents that report a program theoretical and pedagogical base, this study used and analyzed the vision, mission, and goals statements of all 28 Preparatory Year Programs published on the official websites of all public Saudi universities. The vision statements of universities are considered to be a philosophical guide for what a particular university or college works toward achieving in the future (Abelman & Dalessandro, 2008). The mission statements of universities or schools illustrate a set of values, principles, purposes, directions for individuals, and program functions (Boerema, 2006).…”

“…The three categories: vision, mission, and goals statements, used are considered as: 1) a philosophical guide for what a particular university or college works toward achieving in the future; 2) illustrate a set of values, principles, purpose, directions for individuals, and program functions; and 3) express the performance level of all university or school components, either educational, professional, students, curriculum, professional development, etc. (Gurley, Peters, Collins, & Fifolt, 2014;Boerema, 2006;Abelman & Dalessandro, 2008).…”