Chapter 1 Mission Statement & Institutional History
mission statement
The University of Mary Washington is committed to being a premier public
institution of higher education, cultivating an environment of academic
excellence, fostering lifelong learning, pursuing knowledge, and providing
service to its constituent communities. The University provides the
framework within which multiple colleges, schools, and affiliated organizations
can accomplish their distinctive purposes. The University will be responsive
to the changing needs of the student populations and the communities
in which it thrives. All members of the University community—students,
faculty, and staff—are expected to participate in service to the
institution and encouraged to engage in service to the larger community
and to society.
The University’s undergraduate, residential college of arts and
sciences, Mary Washington College on the Fredericksburg campus, emphasizes
excellence in liberal learning through freedom of inquiry, personal
responsibility, and intellectual integrity. Instructional and experiential
programs provide students a strong general education, an understanding
of their responsibilities as citizens in the broader, diverse community,
and the skills necessary for creative and productive lives. To achieve
these goals the college requires its undergraduates to pursue broad
studies in the arts, the humanities, and the sciences as a necessary
supplement to a concentration in a particular field. The college regards
the provision of high-quality instruction as its most important function.
Through an active and professionally engaged faculty, the college supports
ongoing research appropriate to the development of student abilities
and faculty interests. It especially encourages the participation of
undergraduates in research.
The University’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies
on the Stafford campus supports lifelong learning, professional advancement,
and regional economic development by providing accessible, quality education
tailored to the needs of adult learners, professionals, and members
of the business community. The College values integrity, open-mindedness,
and fairness and has excellence in teaching as its highest priority.
The faculty actively participate in the applied, intellectual, and scholarly
developments of their academic disciplines and emphasize the integration
of theory and practice in the classroom.
History and Development of the Institution
The institution was founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial
School for Women in Fredericksburg. The name was changed in 1924 to
the State Teachers College at Fredericksburg, and again in 1938 to Mary
Washington College, having transformed over the years to Virginia’s
public liberal arts college for women. Then in 1944, Mary Washington
College became affiliated with the University of Virginia as its women’s
undergraduate arts and sciences division. In 1970 the entire University
became coeducational and in 1972, by action of the General Assembly
of Virginia, the College became an independent, state-supported institution
for women and men, with its own governing board. On July 1, 2004, the
General Assembly named the institution University of Mary Washington.
The University Mission Statement, adopted on July 17, 2004 by the Rector
and Visitors of the University of Mary Washington, identifies Mary Washington
College on the Fredericksburg campus as the University’s undergraduate,
residential college of arts and sciences.
Through an emphasis on quality, the University attracts students from
all areas of Virginia, particularly the urban areas of Northern Virginia,
Richmond, and Tidewater. Approximately twenty-five percent of its on-campus
resident students are from other states and foreign countries, with
the largest population coming from Southern, Middle Atlantic, and New
England states. Located in the middle of a rapidly growing Washington-Richmond
“urban corridor,” Mary Washington serves the educational
needs of both full-time and part-time, commuting students.
To meet the diverse academic goals sought by students in today’s
society, the college of arts and sciences, Mary Washington College,
is organized into academic departments of one or more disciplines and
offers more than thirty undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and
sciences. Five degrees are awarded at the Fredericksburg campus: Bachelor
of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science in Elementary Education,
Bachelor of Liberal Studies, and Master of Arts in Liberal Studies,
which will be discontinued as soon as all students remaining in the
program have either graduated or have left the program. Emphasis upon
excellence in the pursuit of liberal learning has traditionally been
at the core of the College’s educational philosophy, and commitment
to this concept will continue.
In 1999, responding to accelerating demographic changes that increased the demand for educational services within the region, the University opened the Center for Graduate and Professional Studies (formerly called James Monroe Center), located at a new campus in nearby Stafford County. In 2004, this became the University’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies. With its own distinctive mission, this College offers programs appropriate to the region’s economic development needs and provides educational opportunities for the personal lifelong learning and professional advancement objectives of the citizens of the region.
As the University evaluates its offerings, it will build upon its high-quality liberal arts and sciences programs and propose curricular additions and adjustments specifically designed to meet new and increased demands.