Test 1: Missions and visions are short and simple Both the vision and mission statements are simple and short, avoiding jargon or fancy language that would take away from the point. Grade: A
Test 2: visions capture a picture of a binary future state Explaining that the knowledge students are acquiring in this program will lead them to build a more just, sustainable, and productive planet creates a binary future state. This vision conveys that there is potential to improve on sustainability practices seen today, and that by participating in this program students will not only understand this potential more comprehensively, but also have the tools to act. Grade: A
Test 3: Visions are intrinsically motivating This vision statement motivates outsiders by explaining that they will have a better understanding of present-day problems, and will have the experience to go out into the world and make some serious positive change. I think it would beneficial to include some information about the connections that are created and maintained in this program as well.: Grade: A-
Test 4: Missions are simple rules that follow a formula This mission offers three main simple rules to create the formula for creating sustainable solutions: Educate students promoting a community of learning through engaged and interdisciplinary classes Offer real-world experience Grade: A
Test 5: Repeatedly doing your mission should bring about the vision In theory, repeating the rules discussed in test 4 should produce students who have a better understanding of sustainability challenges facing our society, and well as give them the tools and experience to make positive change. Grade: A
Test 6: Mission and visions must be measurable Given the large scope of this program, which allows students to pursue diverse career option, I think a mission statement with measurable goals would be challenging to create. While the mission and vision statements examined here give general goals, they give no suggestions on how to measure the change made by the program and MENV student. Grade: B-
Test 7: Mission moments are rare and precious I think the mission statement is neither rare nor precious. The goals explored here are admirable, but I am sure that very similar mission statements can be easily found at other environmental masters programs. Grade: C
Test 8: Missions and visions are mental models, not statements I think that the MENV vision is a statement that does not create a mental model. On the other hand, I think the mission statement does a satisfactory job of creating a mental model by, “ promoting a community of learning through engaged and interdisciplinary classes and real-world professional experience.” By promoting this mental model of community learning, engaged interdisciplinary classes and real-word experience, the program is showing how they intend to make changes. Grade: B-
Test 9: Culture is built on shared, core mental models While the MENV values seem great in practice, I do not wholly believe that they are necessarily shared core mental models among all stakeholders. For example, the second MENV value mentioned starts by saying, “we have moved beyond transitional instruction.” In addition to myself, I know many students who would disagree with this. I understand that these values were crafted before the program began, so little to no student input was considering since we were not yet a part of the program. That being said, I think the most import thing analyzed here that needs holistic revision are the MENV values. This should be completed with equal engagement from faculty and students in my opinion. Grade: D (needs some serious work, but mostly because it is the first year of the program and we are learning what works and what does not work)
Test 10: Learning constantly improves vision, mission, and culture In my opinion this is also an area that needs a lot of work. Considering that we are in the first year of a program, learning and changes should essentially be present every step of the way. From what I have observed, students seem to be crying out for changes, but are met with somewhat aggressive and defensive responses from faculty. Of course I am a student so my opinion on this topic is certainly subjective, but I nonetheless believe that listening to students more and working harder to implement their suggestions will create a better and more adaptive program. Students of course are the ones directly experiencing how accurate the mission, vision, and values are in reality, and therefore might have a better understanding than faculty do. Again I think learning and changing needs to be an inclusive and holistic process, avoiding only top-down decision making. Grade: C- (needs some work)
The most important thing that came from this class has been understanding that I have the ability to learn some really awesome skills that will make me an environmental superhero, and also that it is not what you know, but how quickly you can learn.
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