Mission and Core Values
MISSION STATEMENT
Nebraska Wesleyan University is an academic community dedicated to intellectual and personal growth within the context of a liberal arts education and in an environment of Christian concern.
Nebraska Wesleyan was founded by Nebraska Methodists and actively maintains its relation to The United Methodist Church. The University reflects the Judeo Christian tradition in its efforts to integrate questions about meaning and value with the pursuit of learning and understanding.
The University is committed to excellence of academic endeavor and to learning as a lifelong process. The curricula and programs are designed to assist students in gaining and expanding knowledge and skills, in developing their competence in rational thought and communication, in broadening their perspectives on humanity and culture, and in enhancing their spiritual, physical, emotional, and aesthetic resources.
Nebraska Wesleyan intends that its students develop a sense of individual worth and become useful and serving members of the human community.
Approved by the Board of Governors – February 8, 1979
Reaffirmed by the Board of Governors – May 12, 2000
STATEMENT OF VISION
Nebraska Wesleyan University will be an outstanding national liberal arts university, where the educational experience transforms each student to lead a life of learning, service, leadership, and success in a diverse world.
CORE NWU VALUES
Excellence
Nebraska Wesleyan University is committed to excellence in all aspects of academic endeavor; in the curriculum, educational facilities, residence halls, and all programs available to students; in the hiring and professional development of faculty and staff; in all administrative policies and procedures; and in the processes which ensure the continuing renewal of the academic community.
Liberal Arts
Nebraska Wesleyan University is an academic community committed to the centrality of the liberal arts and to “those habits of the mind” which derive from the liberal arts: intellectual curiosity, critical and rational thinking, creative and artistic expression, respect for history and traditional values, independent analysis, and effective communication—in short, an academic community dedicated to the joy and freedom of intellectual inquiry and learning. Nebraska Wesleyan also affirms the importance of professional programs validated and enriched by the traditions of the liberal arts.
Personal Attention to Students
Recognizing that each student is a unique individual, a person of dignity and sacred worth, the faculty and staff of Nebraska Wesleyan University are committed to providing encouragement and opportunities for all students to develop maturity, personal responsibility, and a sense of values and to enhance their intellectual, spiritual, physical, emotional, and aesthetic resources.
Diversity
Nebraska Wesleyan University affirms its commitment to provide programs, resources, and policies that broaden perspectives on humanity and its diverse cultural expressions locally, nationally, and internationally.
Community
As an academic community that “cultivates the desire for learning and nurtures the growth of the whole person,” Nebraska Wesleyan University affirms its commitment to collegiality and to a community which unites students, faculty, staff, Board members, alumni, parents, and friends in an “environment of Christian concern;” a learning community whose members respect the dignity and worth of all members of the University and who seek opportunities to serve the wider human community.
Stewardship
Recognizing the University’s distinctive United Methodist heritage and the values which derive from that heritage, Nebraska Wesleyan is committed to the careful stewardship and wise use of the human and financial resources needed to accomplish the mission of the University; at the same time, wise stewardship of resources also requires creativity and boldness in addressing the challenges which face independent higher education.