What are the best practices for developing a vision statement for your academic institution?

The wonderful thing about universities is that they share core values - truth seeking, innovative thinking, discovery etc. But this does make developing a distinctive vision and "brand" for a university extremely challenging - and it's why so many vision statements are so remarkably similar worldwide. I would start with the "three Rs" developed by Susannah Baker, former communications director at Cambridge University: ask yourself what is "real, relevant and rare" about your institution. "Real, because what you say is special about you must be true and authentic; rare, because if you can’t claim any difference, it’s hard to see why you would be chosen from among the competition; and relevant, because what sets you apart must matter."

Every institution would have it flaws but one thing I can surely say about? The University of the West Indies, it? one of the few Universities in the world that represents the aspirations of a region, not just a singular country state or county. It also more importantly represent the aspirations of a people coming out of a? colonial past and also simultaneously deal with the challenges faced by Small Island Developing states. That vision cannot be expressed in words? but it is a feeling that resonates with every English Speaking Caribbean person seeing what the University offers as a pathway out of poverty? and a catalyst to fulfil dreams. We have two institutions which unites us as one the University and Cricket.

The main objective of vision statement to foresee the present & long term Educational revolution including specifically digital transformation with advanced scientific research & fruitful deliverables that meets the future generation with sustainability of the World in healthy & wealthy ambience.

We must start with understanding whom we serve and what our students want to achieve with their education. Our vision must align with our students' needs, expectations, and dreams.

Votre vision est unique, elle doit appara?tre comme telle, à l'heure de l'AI et du copier/coller généralisé, l'originalité à pris cher. Votre vision est intimement liée à votre histoire, cette belle histoire que vous proposerez de raconter, et de partager avec vos apprenants, et intervenants, afin qu'ils/elles en deviennent de nouveaux protagonistes et en écrivent avec vous un nouveau chapitre.

Pour parler d'avenir, et de vision, il faut avoir recours à l'usage de la perspective, peut-être. En effet est-ce que ma vision est horizontale et mon avenir est en pointe de fuite, avec un parcours et des étapes? Est-il vertical de bas en haut, comme une montagne à gravir, ou au contraire de haut en bas, à l'image d'un oiseau survolant de vastes étendues et faisant escale sur la cimes des arbres? Ou bien un mélange de tout cela?

Your vision statement should describe the ideal future state of your organization. One way to generate ideas (both not necessarily include in your final language) is to brainstorm a) words that describe your desired impact as specifically as you can and b) metaphors that describe your role in achieving that impact. Note that in the statement, these might show up in the reverse order. One great example of this is the Brooklyn Academy of Music "...the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas...".

La vision, pour mon établissement d'enseignement, est un plongeon en profondeur, en apnée dans des eaux glaciales, avec des ressources et un temps très limités, en prenant beaucoup de risques, faisant des rencontres extraordinaires et découvrant des trésors, splendides oubliés, et bien cachés.

One of the most common challenges in creating a vision statement is confusing it with a mission statement. The mission is the fundamental purpose of the institution – why it exists. Mission statements tend to also include lists of the core functional activities –?what you exist to do. Whereas the vision is the description of an ideal future in which you fulfill that purpose. Clarify these at the onset!