University General Course Catalog 2015-2016 
    
    Apr 19, 2024  
University General Course Catalog 2015-2016 ARCHIVED CATALOG: LINKS AND CONTENT ARE OUT OF DATE. CHECK WITH YOUR ADVISOR.

The University: Missions and Core Themes


The University of Nevada, Reno is a constitutionally established, land-grant  university. The university served the state of Nevada as its only state-supported institution of higher education for almost 75 years. In that historical role, it has emerged as a doctoral-granting university which focuses its resources on doing a select number of things well. The University of Nevada, Reno offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, including selected doctoral and professional studies, which emphasize those programs and activities which best serve the needs of the state, region and nation. By fostering creative and scholarly activity, it encourages and supports faculty research and application of that research to state and national problems.

Mission Statement:

The university’s mission statement explicitly reflects its institutional purpose, its mandate, and its values, as approved by the Board of Regents for the Nevada System of Higher Education:

The University of Nevada, Reno a) prepares graduates to compete in a global environment through teaching and learning in high-quality undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in the liberal arts, sciences, and selected professions in agriculture, medicine, engineering, health care, education, journalism, and business, b) creates new knowledge through basic and applied research, scholarship, and artistry, in strategically selected fields relevant to Nevada and the wider world, c) improves economic and social development by engaging Nevada’s citizens, communities, and governments, and d) respects and seeks to reflect the gender, ethnic, cultural, and ability/disability diversity of the citizens of Nevada in its academic and support programs, and in the composition of its faculty, administration, staff, and student body.

The University of Nevada, Reno Mission Statement was approved in its current form by the NSHE Board of Regents on December 3, 2009. It is consistent with the NSHE Mission Statement (Board of Regents Handbook, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 1.)

Core Themes

The university’s Core Themes derive from the Mission Statement approved by the Board of Regents. Individually, they articulate the university’s central mandates in teaching, research, outreach. The mission statement also articulates the University’s commitment to diversity. In fact, our commitment to diversity is a “Core Value” of the University that infuses each of the Core Themes. Thus, each theme acknowledges the university’s distinct obligations as a land-grant institution committed to respecting and reflecting the gender, ethnic, cultural, and ability/disability diversity of the citizens of Nevada. Together, these themes encompass the university’s mission.

  • Core Theme 1: Prepare graduates to compete globally through high-quality undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the liberal arts, sciences, and selected professional programs.
  • Core Theme 2: Create new knowledge through basic and applied research, scholarship and artistry in strategically selected fields relevant to Nevada and the wider world.
  • Core Theme 3: Improve economic and social development by engaging Nevada’s citizens, communities, and governments.

Goals of the University of Nevada, Reno

Goal 1: Serve as an accessible, comprehensive, doctoral-granting, research university with characteristics of a high-quality liberal arts university and Nevada’s land grant university, combining undergraduate and graduate education, fundamental and applied research, and engagement with Nevada’s citizens, industry, and governments.

Goal 2: Serve Nevada’s traditional mining, agricultural, gaming, manufacturing, news, and logistics industries, and the emerging renewable energy resource industries, with professional workforce preparation, modernizing research, and involvement in innovation.

Goal 3: Prepare Nevada and Nevadans for the diversified knowledge economy.

Goal 4: Cooperate to prepare Nevada youth to participate in the world economy through education.

Goal 5: Improve the physical and mental health of Nevadans.

Goal 6: Enhance sustainable environmental quality in Nevada.

Goal 7: Participate in Intercollegiate Athletics with success in sports competition and success in graduation and character-building of student athletes.

Goal 8: Build the University’s infrastructure to provide facilities, operations, and policies which enhance the productivity of students and personnel in the fulfillment of the University’s missions.