The College has created an important new expression of its identity.

It's called the Statement of Purposes, and it came about as part of the College's self-study process for continuing accreditation.

At least once every 10 years, each college and university in America must be accredited, or approved by an outside agency that examines all facets of the institution, including its mission, policies, financial strength and physical plant. The agency that examines St. Scholastica for overall accreditation is the North Central Association's Higher Learning Commission.

North Central will make its accrediting visit to campus from Oct. 7 to 9. The College has been preparing for that important event by undergoing a self-study process designed to help the College strengthen itself. The Statement of Purposes is the work of many people involved in the self-study process, and has been approved by the Board of Trustees.

"The self study process we're going through has already had many good outcomes," said St. Scholastica President Larry Goodwin. "I am particularly pleased with our Statement of Purposes. This concise articulation of our institutional purposes, consistent with our Mission, guides our actions and helps us measure our results. I would like everyone in the St. Scholastica community to become aware of its contents, and take them to heart."

Patricia Hagen, an associate professor of English, leads the self-study project for the College. The Statement of Purposes is valuable beyond its immediate usefulness, she noted.

"This isn't just for the accrediting process," Hagen said. "This helps us as a college, to operationalize our mission. The Statement of Purposes makes our Mission Statement concrete; it translates it into the operational. Then we can take these points in the Statement of Purposes and transform them into goals and objectives. We were missing that part of the process that helped us focus our thinking about who we are."