mission statement in higher education

23 University Mission Statement Examples

I compiled a list of university mission statement examples and fed them through a word cloud to find out some words and phrases that would be good to include in a higher education mission.

Some of the most common words in university mission statements are:

• Global / International / World
• Classroom and beyond

Here’s the word cloud in visual form:

These words give us some idea of what’s are the center of a university’s purpose, and what you should include in your own university mission statement. Connectedness appears to be a central theme (community, global, international, beyond the classroom). Excellence also appears important (excellence, leadership, leading)

Similarly, learning and research remain two central pillars of a university’s purpose and are two common themes within a mission statement.

University Mission Statement Examples

1. Teaching Focused University We are a university with a strong emphasis on student-centered education that prepares our students for a life of service to their community. Our classes are led by leading practitioners in their fields to provide students with real-world skills and enable them to complete their degrees job ready .

2. Research Focused University The mission of the university is to be at the forefront of the advancement of knowledge in the 21st Century through ground-breaking research agendas that inform policy makers, the business community and our teaching.

3. Teaching and Research Focus Our mission is to be a leading educational institution where our teaching is underpinned by the ground-breaking research of our academic staff so students can enter the workforce with innovative skills and knowledge in their chosen fields.

4. Student-Centered At the core of all we do is a focus on our students’ needs as we prepare them for their careers. Our educators are leading educators in our community who work side-by-side with our students in hands-on, innovative and creative learning environments.

5. Prepare Students for Work We are a leader in our community, preparing future leaders for careers within health, education and scientific fields that will serve the community in which we practice. Our educators are focused on skill readiness so all students regardless of background will be able to become successful, competent and confident practitioners.

6. Global Leaders We are a university with a focus on developing leaders with distinctively global perspectives on social, cultural, economic and environmental issues affecting the 21st Century.

7. Community Service Our mission is to develop community-oriented professionals who have the social, emotional and cognitive skills to contribute to our thriving and diverse city. Through job readiness programs underpinned by the latest research, we prepare our students to be connected, empathetic and inclusive members of society.

8. A Liberal Arts College Our mission is to develop critical and creative thinkers who can address the complex and unsolved challenges of tomorrow. We support our students’ creative talents within a diverse and inclusive environment so they can become forces for social justice and humanitarianism at home and abroad.

Read Also: Mission Statements for your Classroom

9. A Christian College Our mission is to promote God’s word through christ-centered teaching. We dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of God’s truth in everything we do while preparing tomorrow’s leaders to serve their community in the name of Jesus Christ.

10. A College that Serves a Diverse Community We are committed to equipping students with the critical thinking skills, intellect, resourcefulness and knowledge to be improve the livelihoods of themselves, their families and their community. We foster an environment that is inclusive, diverse and committed to social justice on campus, in our city, and across the nation.

11. Innovation The university works every day to be an innovator in teaching and learning. We bring together the latest technologies, research-informed knowledge and dynamic learning spaces to identify solutions to the complex global problems of the 21st Century.

12. A Global Perspective Our mission is lead global debates in areas including education, climate, the economy and industry. We do this through pursuing outward-looking blue skies research, collaborating with international research and business partners, and creating learning environments that pursue knowledge from a global perspective.

13. University of Technology We are a technology university that employs creative solutions to address complex problems facing business and industry across the nation. Through innovative information technology systems, our faculty progress the excellence in both research and teaching that we are renowned for.

14. Holistic Education Our mission is to be the institution of choice for liberal arts students seeking a holistic education that assists them to tackle the big questions that our society faces this decade. We encourage our students to pursue a philosophical, spiritual, theoretical and practical education.

15. Business Engagement We connect business, community leaders, researchers and students to create a dynamic community designed to serve all stakeholders . Through pioneering research we help businesses become innovative world leaders and prepare students to become the business leaders of tomorrow.

16. A Progressive College Our mission is to be a leader in pursuing social justice and equality in the communities we serve. Through critical, collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship we seek solutions to inequalities that affect progress in our community and research avenues for a more inclusive America.

17. A Conservative College Since 1921, our college has been a pillar in the community supporting businesses and enterprise to succeed. We seek excellence in all our teaching and research endeavors and uphold our commitment to free speech and liberty. Our students leave with the leadership and skills

18. Independent Thinkers Our mission is to prepare creative and independent thinkers who are capable and confident global citizens. We provide a public service to our community and nation through generating, collating and preserving interdisciplinary academic knowledge.

19. A Rural University Our university is committed to serving our state’s rural community and the unique needs of our region’s industries. We progress research and education in agricultural and raw minerals industries with the goal of developing innovative solutions to meet the challenges of food and energy security that are key concerns to our region.

20. A City University We are a metropolitan university committed to pursuing solutions to the economic and cultural needs of our internationally connected city. We leverage our position within a world-class city to attract internationally recognized faculty and educate students from across the world.

> Read Also: Library Mission Statement Examples

Real-Life Examples of University Mission Statements

21. Harvard University

The mission of Harvard College is to educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society. We do this through our commitment to the transformative power of a liberal arts and sciences education. ( See Here )

22. Yale University

Yale is committed to improving the world today and for future generations through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice. Yale educates aspiring leaders worldwide who serve all sectors of society. We carry out this mission through the free exchange of ideas in an ethical, interdependent, and diverse community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni. ( See Here )

23. Kings College London

To provide staff and students with an excellent service in all aspects of academic and student administration. ( See Here )

24. University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne’s enduring purpose is to benefit society through the transformative impact of education and research . ( See Here )

25. University College London

London’s Global University: a diverse intellectual community, engaged with the wider world and committed to changing it for the better; recognised for our radical and critical thinking and its widespread influence; with an outstanding ability to integrate our education, research, innovation and enterprise for the long-term benefit of humanity. ( See Here )

> Read Also: School Vision and Mission Statements

Difference Between Mission, Vision and Values

You may also see that some universities have university vision statements rather than mission statements. While I don’t think there’s a right or wrong about whether you have a vision or mission statement, it’s worth observing the subtle differences:

• Mission Statements – What we do and how we do it…
• Vision Statements – Where we’re going and how we’ll get there…
• Values Statements – What we believe and how that informs everything we do…

You could have all three of these statements for a holistic set of guiding principles , and in fact many universities do.

> Read Also: Childcare Mission Statement Examples

The above university mission statement examples demonstrate how different universities each have their own approaches to teaching and research. Depending on the communities you serve and the founding principles of your institution, you will likely have a slightly different university mission, vision and values. By looking at the statements of other universities, you can develop an idea of what it is you and your stakeholders value so you can create a mission statement that reflects your position within your own community.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

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Foundational Guidelines for Mission Statement Writing at the University Level

Darby Deutsch

Purpose and Use

Specifically, the treatment of mission statement writing as a constructed response task constitutes the university’s proposed articulation of its general description, function and short-term / long-term objectives. Here, the underlying purpose and use of this action-oriented summary is to declare the goals and values that an organization will then serve to its audience. Beyond this, it is a way of exemplifying how a university may stand out against its competitors. Therefore, it is important that these powerful statements of purpose make a declaration, take a stance, and stand for something important. In doing so, the assembled framework should emphasize the interests of alumni, government, businesses, students, and faculty.

Additionally, these descriptions of purpose in higher education may often be referenced as the guiding principles for navigating difficult conditions. As a result, these points of reference remind administrators of the direction in which the university is aiming for. This is important as these mission statements should be flexible enough that their enactment welcomes revisitation. As a measurable goal, the articulation of purpose in higher education should be evaluated and revised when necessary in the future.

Effectiveness 

As each university defines their brand through the use of a mission statement, they are aiming to impose lasting values that extend far beyond their current state and practice. As readers engage with and interpret the presented verbiage, they will hopefully capture the intended essence of what is reflected in the university’s objective.

This style of discourse employs powerful genre specific actions verbs to captivate the intended audience and convey the organization’s framework. The following verbs can help create dynamic and visual images that inspire action:

Mission statements often use verbs in the simple future tense. The tense is constructed as follows:

subject + auxiliary will + main verb

This construction refers to a time later than now, while expressing things that are seemingly factual or certain. Trends suggest that this utilized tense may convey a message that will explain core values. Specifically, who they are and where they are going. For example, notice the use of the simple future tense in the University of Miami’s mission: “ We will strive to transform the world in positive ways through innovative education, impactful research and scholarship, and the translation of knowledge into solutions”

In the following mission statements from three different universities, notice how language is used, including action verbs , descriptive language, and terms to identify community and relationships .

Example Mission Statements

Wake Forest University Mission Statement: Wake Forest is a distinctive university that combines a liberal arts core with graduate and professional schools and innovative research programs. The University embraces the teacher-scholar ideal, prizing personal interaction between students and faculty. It is a place where exceptional teaching, fundamental research and discovery, and the engagement of faculty and students in the classroom and laboratory are paramount . The University continues to fulfill its ideal of a more diverse learning community, providing students and example of the world they will be called upon to lead. The University sustains a vibrant residential community with a broad-based program of service and extracurricular activities. The University recognizes the benefits of intercollegiate athletics conducted with integrity and at the highest level. Central to its mission, the University believes in the development of the whole person – intellectual, moral, spiritual and physical. From its rich religious heritage, Wake Forest is committed to sustaining an environment where vital beliefs and faith traditions can engage secular thought in a climate of academic freedom and an unfettered search for truth. The University embraces the challenges of religious pluralism. While national in scope, the university has been shaped by a culture that is distinctively North Carolinia n. This history provides it with a sense of place and community responsibility . In extending its reach, the University has made a priority of international study and international understandin g. Wake Forest seeks to be a place where a vibrant and diverse learning community weds knowledge, experiences and service that lift the human spirit.

The University of North Carolina Mission Statement

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the nation’s first public university, serves North Carolina, the United States , and the world through teaching, research, and public service. We embrace an unwavering commitment to excellence as one of the world’s great research universities. Our mission is to serve as a center for research, scholarship, and creativity and to teach a diverse community of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to become the next generation of leaders. Through the efforts of our exceptional faculty and staff, and with generous support from North Carolina’s citizens, we invest our knowledge and resources to enhance access to learning and to foster the success and prosperity of each rising generation. We also extend knowledge-based services and other resources of the University to the citizens of North Carolina and their institutions to enhance the quality of life for all people in the State . With lux, libertas – light and liberty – as its founding principles, the University has charted a bold course of leading change to improve society and to help solve the world’s greatest problems.”

The University of Miami Mission Statement:

We are committed to freedom of inquiry-the freedom to think, to question , to criticize , and to dissent . We will pursue excellence in our research and educational missions with the single-mindedness that marks great commitments. We will prepare our students for rewarding lifelong careers and will instill in them a continued and permanent dedication to the search for knowledge and the search for truth. We will provide them with the foundations for ethical citizenship and service to others , a respect for differences among people, and a commitment to high standards of thought and communication. We will provide service to our community and beyond , including the delivery of high-quality, compassionate care through an academic health system. We will strive to transform the world in positive ways through innovative education, impactful research and scholarship, and the translation of knowledge into solutions. Founded in 1925 by a group of Miami citizens who believed that an institution of higher learning was necessary for the development of their young and growing community, the University has matured into a major research university and academic health system. Located within one of the most dynamic and multicultural cities in the world, the University is a distinctive community with a variety of races, ethnicities, customs, genders, and faiths. Its geographic location uniquely positions the University to be both local and global in outlook and outreach. We aspire at the University of Miami: to be a global university with an intentionally hemispheric strategy, pursuing inclusive engagement as a bridge across the Americas to the rest of the world ; to be an excellent university, striving to achieve the highest standards of performance in every aspect of our work; to be a relevant university, connecting scholarship to real-world solutions; and to be an exemplary university, offering a model to society through the steadfast achievement of our mission.

Aspects of Effective Mission Statements (Checklist!)

•  Written with clarity
•  Provide institution’s uniqueness, purpose & methodology
•  Answers “What? – by when?”
•  Action-oriented statement
•  Measurable / evolves with time
•  Maintains a degree of flexibility
•  Emphasize interests of alumni, government, business, students, and faculty

Higher education mission statements should define, not limit, the campus focus (Donachie). Specifically, these goals should outline the focused potential without limiting the demands too narrowly. Meaning, it is important to maintain a degree of flexibility in order to “help schools navigate difficult economic and external conditions . . . [and] help administrators feel emboldened to steer the institution in ways that are helpful rather than harmful for its long-term strength” (Free, as cited in Donachie). By avoiding constraint and welcoming future growth, administrators can pursue decisions that enhance ensuing viability.

For example:

We are committed to freedom of inquiry – the freedom to think, to question, to criticize, and to dissent. We will pursue excellence in our research and educational mission with the single-mindedness that marks great commitments. We will prepar e our students for rewarding lifelong careers and will instill in them a continued and permanent dedication to search for knowledge and the search for truth (University of Miami).

Think Twice

Amending mission statements may introduce new issues to campus life. It is paramount that institutions affirm that their current proclamations are adequately upheld. In part of such values, students will often make the decision to attend the university (or not). Therefore, if the outlined principles are lacking, their credibility will become tainted.

In fact, many campus protests have emanated from the false claims that university’s market in their mission statements. When administrators in higher education claim to value diversity and inclusion, their actions that then ensue should validate their declaration. Yet, many students report that their living and learning community lack these values in practice. Specifically, College Pulse’s ‘Student Discrimination’ survey engaged with more than twelve hundred students across eight hundred four-year institutions. These students were asked to respond to a variety of questions that aimed to gain access to their perception of campus climate. Of these surveyed, “64 percent of student say there is ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ discrimination” evident at their institution (Gottschling). This finding certifies that there is a misalignment between the objectives of an institution and the resulting practice.

Recently, students protested Albany State University’s mission statement after its revision. This Historically Black College and University (HBCU) was forced to merge with Darton State College – a predominantly white university (Lynch). Still operating under Albany’s visual representation, students were astonished when changes to their school’s mission statement omitted their status and roots of being an HBCU. Most of the student body chose to attend Albany State University because of their rich history and cultural significance; however, after the stark change in their campus’ mission statement, they felt as if their school was being taken away from them. Campus wide walkouts and protests occurred almost immediately. The point of this is to remind institutions of the ways in which their mission statement can affect their student body.

Let’s practice! In the space below draft your university’s goals and objectives. Here it is beneficial to articulate both internal and external motivations.

For reference, internal objectives should be outlined to guide the decision making of university officials / administrators. These desires should aim to define the focus and future direction of the institution. Next,  external aims will generally extend the [university’s] personality beyond its physical walls (Madden). This aspect should resonate with the students, parents & alumni that engage with the mission statement. In other words, this aspect should distill a strong sense of identity.

Works Cited

Gaff, Jerry, and Jack Meacham. “Learning Goals in Mission Statements: Implications for Educational Leadership.” Association of American Colleges & Universities, 17 Dec. 2014. aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/learning-goals-mission-statements-implications-educational.

Gottschling, Grace. “New Survey Reveals College Diversity, Inclusion Efforts Fail Miserably.” Campus Reform, 4 June 2019, www.campusreform.org/?ID=13290.

Hull, Patrick. “Answer 4 Questions to Get a Great Mission Statement.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 Jan. 2014, www.forbes.com/sites/patrickhull/2013/01/10/answer-4-questions-to-get-a-great-mission-statement/#cc3443a67f57.

Lynch, Matthew. “Students Protest Albany State’s New Mission Statement.” The Edvocate, 15 Jan. 2017, www.theedadvocate.org/students-protest-albany-states-new-mission-statement/.

Madden, Susanne. “Writing an Actionable Mission Statement.” Physicians Practice, 13 Sept. 2011, www.physicianspractice.com/writing-actionable-mission-statement.

Wang, Jinhao, et al. “Thematic Differences in Mission Statement Between Four-Year Public Institutions and Two-Year Colleges in Texas.” Texas A&M University , 2017, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ987299.pdf.

Writing Guides for (Almost) Every Occasion Copyright © 2020 by Darby Deutsch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Higher Learning Commission

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• News and Reports  | 
• EVOLVE 2025 Strategic Plan  | 

EVOLVE 2025: Vision Goals and Action Steps

The Mission and Vision statements of HLC reflect the changing higher education and accreditation landscape. They also illustrate HLC's critical role in the higher education ecosystem.

Mission Statement

Effective April 2021. Will be reviewed annually at the June Board of Trustees meeting. Advance the common good through quality assurance of higher education as the leader in equitable, transformative and trusted accreditation in the service of students and member institutions.

Vision Statement

Effective April 2021. Will be reviewed annually at the June Board of Trustees meeting. HLC will be the champion of quality higher education by working proactively in support of students, institutions and their communities.

Timeline: 2021–2025, then ongoing

Goal 1: Focusing on students first as the most critical stakeholder in higher education and institutional accreditation.

Goal 2: Exemplifying a commitment to equity in its operations and policies, service to members, Criteria for Accreditation and all other standards.

Goal 3: Emphasizing the importance of outcomes that lead to student success in academics, the workforce, engaged citizenry and social responsibility as they relate to institutional mission.

Goal 4: Providing leadership and advocacy in higher education and accreditation at the state and federal levels.

Goal 5: Demonstrating HLC's respect for the role of diversity and inclusion in higher education institutions and missions.

Goal 6: Exploring new business models which include an expansion of membership, including the wider higher education and postsecondary ecosystem.

Goal 7: Demonstrating agility in thought leadership to promote innovation.

Goal 8: Enhancing the value of higher education through accreditation and peer review.

Goal 9: Promoting and displaying civil discourse and engagement.

Goal 10: Fostering collaboration and member development through timely and informed educational opportunities.

Goal 11: Expanding and refining the use of technology and other services for the benefit of members engaging in accreditation activities as well as HLC's educational programs.

Goal 12. Continuously exploring new means and opportunities for achieving operational excellence in service to its membership.

• On September 1. HLC launched a new Accelerated Process for Initial Accreditation for institutions interested in seeking accreditation with HLC when they are currently accredited by another historically regional accreditation agency. HLC also streamlined its Eligibility Process and Candidacy procedures for other institutions seeking HLC accreditation.
• HLC has continued its work with the Students' Right To Know Guide Task Force and the Stakeholders' Roundtable. The Task Force is currently drafting the guide and the Roundtable is drafting two thought papers.

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Beyond rhetoric: reinventing the public mission of higher education

• Published: 03 August 2019
• Volume 26 , pages 1–4, ( 2020 )

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• Antigoni Papadimitriou 1  

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The concept of the “public mission” of higher education institutions has several dimensions. In the broader and more general sense, it is the institution’s public mission to provide knowledge, critical reflection and discourse on the larger and more fundamental questions of society. This general function has become recently challenged as some governments openly question or simply dismiss scientific evidence. The discussion of this more fundamental dimension of “society engagement” is therefore very timely. The second meaning, “community engagement”, emphasizes the more instrumental dimension: collaboration of various kinds between higher education institutions and their “communities”.

To many universities and other higher education institutions are attributed three major, interrelated missions: education, the generation of new knowledge, and engagement with society or “the community”. While the processes and structures associated with teaching and research are relatively well defined and analyzed, this is less the case with the public mission. Mission statements, websites and promotional materials often underline an institution’s commitment to community engagement and public responsibility. However, despite the growing importance of higher education’s public mission at a declamatory level, its implementation in practice is not clear-cut. The wide range of activity incorporated in universities and colleges’ community engagement suggests that a precise definition of the public mission is difficult, and that organizing and coordinating such external activities and internal policies and practices is a complex task.

This task might begin with articulating, generally, the current and future public mission of higher education, and what difference this mission makes to society and the community as well as to the higher education institutions. Another question is which specific public missions apply to which universities and higher education institutions? This will depend on their respective internal characteristics (e.g. traditions, mission, structures and policies), external environment (e.g., demographics, sociocultural, economic and political), and the variety of the institution’s stakeholders, both internal and external.

Looking to the future, higher education institutions will have to become or remain active to move with the political, economic and technological winds. With increased globalization, many institutions will have to reimagine themselves in the light of global citizenship. Many institutions will rely increasingly upon online delivery education. Public mission will need to be well-defined, well-planned and well-supported. The means of assessment will need to be clear, relevant and effective.

This special issue invited contributions dealing with the theme of the public mission of higher education. The goal was to provide an understanding of the issues related to public mission in higher education and to explore and promote new solutions at national and international levels.

Oravec argues that community engagement has played a central role in tertiary education, expanding the potentials for academic as well as civic enhancement. Such efforts are often undertaken in part with the use of metrics, as tertiary education institutions attempt to reach various community audiences with quantitatively-supported defenses of their missions, through research analyses and publications, and with their participation in formal institutional ranking systems. However, dramatic expansions of the use of metrics and the importance of publications for academics have fostered gaming and manipulation practices designed to enhance artificially both individual and institutional reputations, including predatory journal administration, coercive citation, forced joint authorship, paper mill and ghostwriting efforts, H-index manipulation, creation of bogus documents, development of fraudulent academic conferences and many others, as well as falsified research itself. As they emerge in the press or in watchdog reports, such questionable practices can disturb delicate negotiations concerning the respective roles of communities and academic institutions as well as be perceived by some community members as violations of trust. The practices can be especially harmful when associated with celebrity or “star” academics who often are granted substantial institutional leeway. Her study maps an assortment of these emerging practices from a community engagement perspective; the study also analyzes recent discourse as to the impacts which the normalization of these practices are having on community-academic interactions. Oravec discusses strategies toward making production and use of academic metrics and related research output less easily manipulated and more worthy of trust both by academic participants and the community as a whole.

Serna , relying on a multitude of studies from the college choice literature, proposes an updated model of college going and choice that draws on four conceptual, theoretical and analytic approaches. With guidance from the economic, sociological, information processing and combined theories of college choice, the author situates his proposed framework within this extant literature to provide some direction and formal conceptualization of the role that signalling and identity play with regard to college access. In addition to understanding students’ identities within typical utility models, this essay also attempts to carefully consider both the explicit and implicit assumptions about valued identity categories (insiders) and those that are less valued (outsiders) in the college going and choice process. Finally, through deliberate examination of how signals are sent to students and the acquisition of signals (credentials) by students, Serna considered how this relays information about which identities are valued by higher education socially, and by specific institutions in particular. In so doing, he has laid a foundation for future work that carefully ties philosophical and public good notions back to the college choice process and to higher education’s underlying ethos of service in the public interest.

Borkoski and Prosser examined a US Research 1 (research intensive) university faculty’s perception of community engagement in the form of service-learning, and implemented an online community of practice for faculty and community members to increase the faculty’s use of service learning. The findings revealed that, although faculty see many benefits in implementing service-learning and report interest in learning about and using this pedagogy, service-learning practices are still considered an addition to faculty workloads rather than an integrated and expected role. The faculty reported concerns about the mixed messages within the institution around the value of their investment in this practice, including the lack of recognition in promotion and their feelings around professional obligations particularly related to research publications. Although faculty described teaching as equally important to research, they also perceived that the institution valued teaching and service as less important than research. This research provides further evidence that community engagement activities need to be embedded in faculty roles and rewards to become institutionalized. Implications for practice and research are also discussed.

Berghaeuser and Hoelscher discuss the third mission of higher education in Germany. Higher education systems are changing due to trends of funding pressures, increasing social demands and growing numbers of students. Even though teaching and research are still considered as the pivotal functions of universities, other activities such as technology transfer, lifelong learning or social engagement have broadened the scope of their actions. These activities, labelled as third mission, are supposed to strengthen the impact of science in society and epitomize the changing role of universities. In Germany, the federal government and the states announced different programs aiming to foster these activities, e.g. the “Innovative Hochschule” or Real-world Laboratories. In this article, the authors first develop a definition framework of the third mission. In two further steps they analyze how politics and policies in Germany have framed the concept in the last few years and how public universities are responding to this in their formal structure. They use neo-institutional theory, according to which organizations such as universities create institutionalized structures and reflect institutional rules in order to maintain legitimacy. As an example of organizational formal structure the authors analyzed mission statements of public universities. Using computer-based qualitative content analysis, they assess to what extent these universities take up the third mission. Their results show that most universities mention the third mission in their mission statements. However, the focus is mainly limited to economic impact and (technical) knowledge transfer. Much less emphasis is put on civic engagement or further education issues.

Egorov, Leshukov and Froumin explore the incentive factors that serve to instigate university engagement in the third-mission agenda based on evidence drawn from the Russian system of higher education. They pay special attention to how the split of natural and externally induced drivers of the third mission has changed from the Soviet era. Their analysis has shown that the balance of these two types of incentives never remained flat over the course of history as the Russian university system encountered and had to address different challenges and imperatives at various points in time. The authors have also found that, while federal initiatives have been adopted by the Russian state that have created a distinctive cohort of universities entrusted with comprehensively contributing to the socio-economic and innovative potential of their host localities as a top-priority task, the third-mission agenda is by no means reduced solely to this very group of institutions, as there are many other universities that are not directly expected to focus on the third mission, but which still favor pursuing proactive and fruitful collaborations with regional stakeholders as arguably representing one of the crucial factors in long-term university sustainability.

Andreadakis’s study relyies upon the heuristic presuppositions of behavioral economics analysis, in order to offer an expanded analysis of the public mission mandate of the Greek higher education sector. The examination outlines and parses qualitative evidence issued from the Greek Ministry of Education, and in particular from the hitherto untranslated document A Strategy for Higher Education in Greece: 2016–2020, in conjunction with a growing body of scholarship on the challenges of cultivating public trust in the Greek social landscape. The discussion negotiates the position of the Greek higher education system as a system of sustainable social prosperity and argues that its operational conditions of financial scarcity may entail broader and inadvertent ramifications, namely, the depletion of cognitive resources and the propagation of narrow mental frames in the pursuit of a public mission.

Shawa argues that community engagement as a public mission of higher education is widely accepted in South Africa. This is articulated in White Paper 3 on the transformation of higher education and in institutional policies that promote different forms of community engagement. However, compared to the traditional roles of teaching and research, community engagement remains contested. It is most often viewed as voluntary and perhaps even peripheral. Given the serious social disparities in South Africa, community engagement needs to be invigorated and placed on par with the teaching and researching roles of universities. Furthermore, it should not only involve collaborative knowledge production, but should combine epistemological and ontological dimensions and involve holistic human development capable of dealing with social disparities. A combined epistemological-ontological conception of community engagement is developed in this study and interventions are proposed at three levels. First, university induction programs, which tend to prioritize the teaching and researching roles of faculty members, should consider community engagement as equally important. Second, just as the teaching and researching roles tend to be well planned and/or incentivized, so too should community engagement. Third, community engagement should adopt a mode 2 knowledge production lens where community members reflexively produce knowledge together with faculty members and contribute to holistic human development. Finally, strategies are suggested to embed an epistemological-ontological conception of community engagement.

Ndibuuza’s contribution is based on a study conducted to establish if academic practice in a university designated as Azania is aligning or diverting from the expectations of the rising knowledge society in South Africa. The study is motivated by the emerging national needs specific to the production, dissemination and application of knowledge as the country takes steps towards knowledge led development. The general assumption is that academic practice in universities is spontaneously responding to the needs of its changing environment. Thus, to establish the position of academic practice in Azania, institutional and national documents were examined from a neo-institutional perspective through qualitative discourse analysis. The results showed that research, teaching and outreach at the university were responding to national needs. Thus, academic practice in Azania is aligning more than diverting from the expectations of the rising knowledge society.

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Papadimitriou, A. Beyond rhetoric: reinventing the public mission of higher education. Tert Educ Manag 26 , 1–4 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-019-09046-9

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Received : 18 June 2019

Accepted : 26 July 2019

Published : 03 August 2019

Issue Date : March 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-019-09046-9

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