Research in Higher Education, Vol. 32, No. 6, 1991 THE ROLE OF STATEMENTS OF INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE Daniel W. Lang and Rosanne Lopers-Sweetman This paper assesses the utility and role of institutional purpose statements. If they are as effective as one is led to believe, what intrinsic facts or elements make them so? Is there value in having a purpose statement, or is the value attributed to the exercise of creating and discussing it? If there is such a value, what forms and circumstances create the value? What forms do mission statements usually take? Do different forms have different attributes? In addressing these questions, two methods are employed. One is conventional in that literature documenting the theory and research of others has been carefully reviewed, but from the particular perspec- tives of form and effectiveness. The other is to examine a series of actual statements of institutional purpose, with particular regard to form, content, and context of plan- ning. To elucidate the context of planning, a series of master plans and mission statements for systems of higher education are also examined. In total, 32 institu- tional statements and 12 system plans or statements are examined. (The plans that are examined are listed in Appendixes A and B.) The paper observes that mission statements are effective in some situations, but not in all. In some situations they may be disadvantageous. Although planning theorists suggest that mission state- ments follow an approximately common form, the study of actual statements indi- cates several different types. , . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . ° . . . . . . , , , , . , . . , . . . . . . . . , ° . . , . ° , . , , . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . There are typically two views of the institutional mission, or purpose, state- ment. The first is a caricature: [It] is the foundation on which the House of Intellect stands. And lofty are the ut- terances that express the importance of our mission. Indeed, they float like puffy clouds over our solidly positioned edifice. Broad is the applicability assigned these statements; so broad that they are thought to cover every contingency. Yet, narrow is the gate to understanding them, and few there be that find it .... [It is treated] like the House of Lords--all sound and fury, signifying nothing. (Martin, 1985, pp. 40- 41) The second view is a defense of such statements: Daniel W. Lang, Assistant Vice President (Planning) and University Registrar, Simcoe Hall, 27 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, and Rosanne Lopers-Sweetman, University of Toronto. 599 0361-0365/91/1200-0599506.50/0 © I991 Human Sciences Press, Inc.