Condensed from the JMU Undergraduate Catalog

JMU provides quality comprehensive educational, cultural and social experiences for students. The university offers outstanding undergraduate instruction and supports quality programs at the graduate level. JMU seeks to address the economic, social and cultural needs of the region.

The university is committed to maintaining and enhancing an environment conducive to the highest level of individual empowerment by fostering a community that values innovation, human dignity, public service and diversity.

The university is a selective institution committed to superlative teaching. JMU is composed of students who can contribute to and benefit from the university's programs. The university gives undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to develop broad skills and in-depth knowledge. Academic programs are designed to contribute to useful and satisfying lives for students by preparing them for professional and career success and giving them an appreciation for lifelong learning and community involvement.

The university recognizes the importance of raising expectations of students and of a proper balance between challenge and support. Talented and dedicated faculty and staff members present programs in an environment that facilitates the cognitive and affective development of a diverse student body.

In carrying out this mission, JMU is committed to the following interrelated goals:

• A liberal education for all students.
  
  
• The integration of liberal education into the university curriculum.
  
  
• A supportive environment for minority students, faculty and staff.
  
  
• An extensive student development program committed to affective learning through campus-centered programs.
  
  
• Learning experiences that provide students with a global consciousness in a rapidly changing and technologically-oriented world.
  
  
• A support system that presents an attractive campus environment, with prompt, personal responses to needs of the university community.
  
  
• A faculty committed to the effective transmission of knowledge, as well as to its creation, analysis, interpretation and preservation.
  
  
• Graduate programs designed to serve the diverse and growing needs of the individual, the commonwealth and the region.
  
  
• Providing professional growth for faculty and staff so they can realize their full potential and contribute to the university and the education of a diverse student body.
  
  
• Accountability for the proper and wise use of resources through the application of effective evaluation programs.
  
  
• A recognition that the university is composed of many constituencies who, as advocates, provide advice, support and financial assistance.

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