Mission, Vision, Values and Strategic Initiatives Approved by Local College Board

In its January 2008 meeting, the Germanna Community College Local Board approved the following final draft of the Mission, Vision, Values and Strategic Initiatives. The college is not developing the action steps to form the rest of the strategic plan.

Mission, Vision, Values and Strategic Objectives
for
Germanna Community College

Approved by the Local College Board
January 31, 2008

Who We Are

Germanna Community College is a public institution of higher education in the Virginia Community College System. As a comprehensive community college, Germanna provides quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities for the residents of the City of Fredericksburg and the counties of Caroline, Culpeper, King George, Madison, Orange, Spotsylvania and Stafford.

Mission:

As a public, comprehensive community college, Germanna provides accessible, quality educational and training opportunities that meet our communities’ changing learning needs.

This Mission is achieved through:

• courses, programs, and services that enable students to gain access to and succeed in higher education;
• associate degrees and courses that prepare students to advance to and succeed in four year colleges and universities;
• training and services to develop successful employees who meet employers’ specific needs;
• training, associate degrees, and certificates for students to enter and succeed in the workplace; and
• services and support for community and economic development.

Vision:

Germanna Community College is recognized as the region’s leader and preferred partner providing excellence in accessible educational opportunities and related services to our communities. Our quality learning experiences enable students to participate effectively in the social, economic, political, intellectual, and cultural life of their communities. Germanna, a dynamic learning organization, is the premiere gateway to personal and community development.

Values:

Our values influence our thoughts, guide our decisions, mold our policies, and help determine our course of action. Student learning and success are at the heart of all that we do and are demonstrated by:

• Passion for learning and teaching: We demonstrate our commitment to the belief that everyone can learn. Although at different rates and in different ways, all learners can learn if we challenge, support, and believe in them through everything we do and in every decision we make.
• Integrity: We are true to our mission, to our values, to our learners, to our communities, and to each other. We say what we mean and we do what we say. We admit our mistakes and take responsibility for our actions.
• Culture of service: We are dedicated to serving the educational and training needs of our students and communities. Our individual wants are secondary to the mission we serve.
• Excellence: We seek to achieve excellence and to foster and develop excellence in our learners. We continuously improve our teaching and organizational systems and processes. We embody a culture of evidence and make decisions using that evidence.
• Professionalism: We exhibit the skill, competence, and character expected of educational professionals.
• Stewardship: We practice servant leadership. We effectively manage and maintain the resources in our care. We uphold the responsibility placed on us as teachers and supporters of teachers of the current and future citizens of our service area, our commonwealth, and our nation.
• Respect: We treat our students, our stakeholders, our resources and each other with courtesy and respect. We respect each other enough to speak truths and have courageous conversations, and we do so with civility.

College Strategic Initiatives:

Germanna Community College has established strategic planning initiatives considered critical to achieving its Mission and realizing its Vision. These initiatives are:

• Become a learning-centered college, where teaching is the means and learning is the end.
• Develop outreach efforts, programs, and services that fulfill the promise of our Mission for all residents of the College’s service area.
• Develop the organizational culture and structure that support and invest in people to achieve the College’s Mission, Vision, and Values.
• Develop additional resources to better enable the College to achieve its Mission.
• Develop systems of continuous improvement and a culture of evidence.