Faculty Handbook

Statement of Mission

Middle Tennessee State University is a comprehensive university that embraces its role as the destination of choice for Tennessee undergraduates while expanding its reach nationally and internationally through signature programs and select master's and doctoral programs. The University generates, preserves, and disseminates knowledge and innovation and uses scholarship to enhance teaching and public service. The University is committed to preparing students to thrive in their chosen professions and a changing global society.

A major public institution of higher learning, MTSU is a member of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee.

Approved March 25, 2011, by the Tennessee Board of Regents

Purpose

To fulfill its mission, Middle Tennessee State University

• fosters a student-centered environment conducive to lifelong learning, personal development, and success;
• offers a broad array of high quality, affordable academic programs grounded in a common core of arts and sciences;
• enhances access and academic opportunity for a diverse student population, including distance learning and other special services and programs for first generation, non-traditional, high-achieving, and transfer students;
• challenges students through diverse teaching methods and media including educational technology, experiential learning, undergraduate and graduate research, and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities;
• recruits exceptional faculty and develops resources to support excellence in instruction, research, creative activity, and public and professional service;
• develops and sustains academic partnerships, entrepreneurial activities, outreach and public service that support instruction and research and that meet the needs of communities throughout the region; and
• serves as an emerging center for international study, understanding, and exchange.

Middle Tennessee State University educates students to

• think logically, critically, and creatively;
• make sound judgments with an awareness of ethical, moral, and aesthetic values;
• acquire a working knowledge of a discipline or a group of related disciplines;
• examine, analyze, and shape the contemporary world through scientific knowledge, creative undertakings, and an understanding of culture and history;
• communicate clearly and precisely and understand the proper role of free expression in our society; and
• demonstrate the effective and adaptive use of current and/or emerging technologies.

Vision

Middle Tennessee State University will be a vibrant hub for educating accomplished students who are civically engaged and globally responsible citizens; a seedbed for research and entrepreneurship; and an engine of cultural and economic development.

Community Standards

MTSU is committed to developing and nurturing a community devoted to learning, growth and service. Each person who joins or affiliates with the community does so freely and accepts and practices the following core values and expectations:

• Honesty and Integrity. The notions of personal and academic honesty and integrity are central to the existence of the MTSU community. All members of the community will strive to achieve and maintain the highest standards of academic achievement in the classroom and personal and social responsibility on- and off-campus.
• Respect for Diversity. The MTSU community is composed of individuals representing different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, cultures, and ways of thinking. We respect individual differences and unique perspectives and acknowledge our commonalities.
• Engagement in the Community. All members of the community are encouraged to participate in educationally purposeful activities that support and enhance the MTSU experience. Active involvement and personal investment in the classroom and throughout the community are hallmarks of an engaged citizen.
• Commitment to Non-violence. MTSU is committed to the principles of nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution. Community members will freely express their ideas and resolve differences using reason and persuasion.