How to Create and Edit Mission Statements

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Overview

This article explains how to create, edit, revise, and restore mission statements within Planning & Self-Study, as well as guidelines regarding character limits and deletion rules[cite: 1].

Note: Read these important rules before modifying mission statements[cite: 1]:

  • Active Reporting Year Required: A system must have a current reporting year active before updates can be saved to a mission statement, as program reviews rely on reporting years[cite: 1].
  • Permanent Retention: Once saved, existing mission statements cannot be deleted entirely[cite: 1]. To clear an unwanted statement, edit the text field to a placeholder value such as "Mission to be added."[cite: 1]

Create a New Mission Statement

  1. Navigate to the home page and select "Add Mission" for the desired organization[cite: 1].

    Program dashboard for Demo Program with a red arrow pointing to the Add Mission link under the Profile Progress section.

  2. Under the "Information" tab of the "Organization Profile", enter text directly into the "Mission Statement" text field or paste text from another source[cite: 1]. A real-time character tracker enforces a 2,000-character limit[cite: 1].

    Program Information tab displaying an empty Mission Statement text box highlighted with a red arrow.

  3. Select "Save" (checkmark icon) to apply changes, or select "Cancel" (X icon) to discard them[cite: 1].

    Mission Statement text box populated with text, highlighting the checkmark Save button and X Cancel button with a red arrow.

After saving, the "Mission Statement" section updates with the new text and displays a "Last Updated" timestamp[cite: 1].

Saved Mission Statement section showing the updated text alongside a highlighted Last Updated date timestamp.

Edit or Revise an Existing Mission Statement

  1. Select "View Mission" on the organization dashboard to access the statement[cite: 1].

    Demo Program dashboard with a red arrow pointing to the View Mission link.

  2. Select "Options" (three dots menu icon) to the right of the "Mission Statement" section[cite: 1].

    Mission Statement section displaying active statement text with a red arrow highlighting the options menu icon on the far right.

  3. Select either "Edit" or "Revise" from the dropdown menu[cite: 1]:

    • "Edit": Use for minor adjustments to the current statement[cite: 1].
    • "Revise": Use when entering a new mission statement[cite: 1]. This archives older versions for historical reference[cite: 1].

    Mission Statement section showing the options dropdown menu expanded with choices for Edit and Revise.

Edit a Mission Statement

  1. Select "Edit" to open the text box containing the existing mission statement[cite: 1].
  2. Type updates directly into the field or paste new text[cite: 1].

  3. Select "Save" (checkmark icon) to confirm changes, or select "Cancel" (X icon) to undo modifications[cite: 1].

    Editable Mission Statement text field with red arrows highlighting the checkmark Save and X Cancel buttons.

Saving updates the statement area on the "Information" tab and displays a new "Last Updated" timestamp[cite: 1].

Mission Statement section showing updated text content along with a refreshed Last Updated timestamp.

Revise a Mission Statement

  1. Select "Revise" to open the revision side panel[cite: 1].

  2. Enter the updated text into the "New Mission Statement" field[cite: 1].

    Create Revision panel featuring fields for New Mission Statement, Effective Academic Year, and Notes.

  3. Select the appropriate year from the "Effective Academic Year" drop-down menu[cite: 1]. 
    Note: If the required academic year is missing, contact an institutional administrator[cite: 1].

    Effective Academic Year dropdown menu expanded showing available academic years.

  4. Add optional context into the "Notes" text field[cite: 1].
  5. Select "Create" in the upper right corner to save the revision, or select "Cancel" to discard[cite: 1].

Review and Restore Historical Revisions

  1. Select "View all revisions" beneath the mission statement to review previous versions[cite: 1].

    Mission Statement section with a red arrow pointing to the View all revisions link.

  2. Locate the desired revision in the historical panel[cite: 1].

    Mission Statement Revisions side panel listing historical versions by date, notes, and user, with a highlighted Restore button next to a previous entry.

  3. Select "Restore" next to the desired version[cite: 1].

  4. Choose an "Effective Academic Year", enter any optional "Notes", and select "Restore" to confirm[cite: 1].

    Restore Revision page showing statement details to be restored, effective academic year drop-down, notes box, and a highlighted Restore button.

Institution Information page depicting an empty Mission Statement field displaying a validation error that the statement cannot be blank.

Error dialog box indicating that no current reporting year exists and must be created before updating the mission statement.

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