Mission statement
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public, metropolitan, research university, supported by Virginia to serve the people of the state and the nation. The university provides a fertile and stimulating environment for learning, teaching, research, creative expression and public service. Essential to the life of the university is the faculty — actively engaged in scholarship and creative exploration activities that increase knowledge and understanding of the world and inspire and enrich teaching.
The university is dedicated to educating full-time and part-time students of all ages and backgrounds in an atmosphere of free inquiry and scholarship so they may realize their full potential as informed, productive citizens with a lifelong commitment to learning and service.
The university serves the local, state, national and international communities through its scholarly activities, its diverse educational programs and its public service activities. As an institution of higher learning in a metropolitan center that also is the state capital, the university enjoys unique resources that enrich its programs. The university also contributes its intellectual and creative expertise in the development of innovative approaches to meet the changing needs of our society.
The goals of VCU in carrying out its mission are:
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To provide undergraduate education that includes a broad and rigorous foundation in the arts, sciences and humanities, and explores the ideas and values of humankind.
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To offer nationally and internationally recognized professional and graduate programs leading to doctoral, master’s, and other terminal and advanced degrees in the professions, sciences, humanities and arts.
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To foster a scholarly climate that inspires creativity, a free and open exchange of ideas, critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, freedom of expression and intellectual integrity.
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To expand the boundaries of knowledge and understanding through research, scholarship and creative expression in the sciences, arts, humanities and professional disciplines.
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To value and promote racial and cultural diversity in its student body, faculty, administration and staff to enhance and enrich the university.
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To develop and sustain a faculty of the highest quality by providing an environment conducive to their achieving and maintaining national and international stature and by continuing to attract both recognized scholars and other outstanding individuals with a high potential for scholarly achievement and excellence in teaching.
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To provide an optimal environment for educating and training health care professionals, for conducting research to improve health care and delivery, and for meeting the needs of patients and the community in a comprehensive health care setting.
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To use the urban environment as a laboratory for studying and developing new approaches to problems pertaining to the public and private sectors.
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To support (through its commitment to public exhibitions, performances and other cultural activities) the imaginative power of the liberal, visual and performing arts to express the problems and aspirations of humanity and to enrich the lives of individuals.
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To develop innovative programs for continuing education that establish permanent intellectual connections between the university and its constituents, enhance professional competence and promote dialogue on public issues.
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To offer diverse opportunities for individuals to benefit from higher education through a variety of avenues including flexible scheduling for part-time undergraduate and graduate students, open admission for nondegree-seeking students with appropriate preparation, advanced-degree programs for working professionals, selected programs in diverse locales, admission of graduates with appropriate associate degrees in arts or sciences and support programs for specially admitted students.
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To promote interdisciplinary studies within the university to bring new perspectives to bear on complex problems and mobilize creative energies and expertise in meeting the needs of society and individuals through its unique role as Virginia’s major urban university.
VCU Medical Center
The VCU Medical Center is an integral part of VCU. The five academic schools and teaching hospital of the VCU Medical Center serve the needs of the citizens of Virginia for:
- Transmission of knowledge related to health services
- Continuity in the supply of health care professionals
- Accessibility to comprehensive and quality health care services
- Development and dissemination of new knowledge for the advancement of the health sciences
The VCU Medical Center is committed to educational programs directed toward meeting the state’s health needs. Programs are dedicated to maintaining and updating the competency of health professionals as well as preparing graduates to enter the health professions. Educational programs are supported by several academic disciplines, the teaching hospital, carefully selected off-campus health facilities and an institutional commitment to effective teaching.
The VCU Medical Center also is committed to a comprehensive program of patient care: to demonstrate excellence in practice as a model for students, to provide a base of study designed to improve patient care, to meet the needs of patients in its hospital’s service area and to offer highly specialized services in clinical areas of demonstrated expertise.
The VCU Medical Center’s research programs are designed to develop new knowledge in areas ranging from the molecular level through clinical procedures to health care delivery and outcomes. Their goal is to serve as a model for students in the spirit of inquiry and the application of the scientific process to patient care and to focus interdisciplinary effort on problems amenable to the scientific approach.
