STATEMENT OF CORE VALUES

Founded by Iowa's first legislature in 1847, and entrusted with a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service, The University of Iowa is rooted in a culture that values education. In planning, setting priorities, and making decisions the university is guided by five interdependent commitments.

Learning

The University of Iowa is dedicated to discovering, disseminating, and preserving knowledge and to the development of an educated citizenry. Through teaching, research, scholarship, creative endeavor, clinical practice, and public outreach, the university develops ideas, enlarges understanding, and extends its resources to society. Recognizing the need for constant inquiry and continuous reinterpretation of knowledge, the university vigilantly protects free expression of thought, respects difference and diversity, and fosters opportunities for all members of the community to generate and discuss ideas and contribute to the vitality of the educational environment.

Community

The University of Iowa recognizes that its students, faculty, staff, and alumni are the source of its strength: collectively, they determine the institution's character, quality, and effectiveness. On a safe and well-maintained campus, the university offers a supportive and humane environment in which people from a wide variety of backgrounds and traditions may encounter each other in a spirit of cooperation, openness, and mutual respect, to form a richly diverse and intellectually stimulating community.

Responsibility

The University of Iowa is obligated to exercise responsible stewardship over the intellectual and material resources entrusted to it. As a public institution, the university aims for accessibility, affordability, and quality, so that a broad array of qualified students from Iowa and elsewhere may obtain an excellent education at reasonable cost. The university recognizes the responsibility of its faculty to determine what students should learn and to shape the body of knowledge that will be passed on to future generations. It is also the university's obligation to engage all members of its community in collective reflection on their responsibilities not only to their disciplines and professions but also to the institution and to society.

Integrity

In fulfilling all areas of the university's mission, members of the University of Iowa community hold themselves to the highest criteria of honesty, fairness, and professional and scholarly ethics.

Quality

As a center of learning, the University of Iowa measures itself by exacting standards, honors high aspiration and achievement, and expects all persons associated with the university to strive for excellence.