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Mission and Values Statement

The Department of Biological Sciences (BSCI) at Â鶹´«Ã½ is committed to providing a welcoming learning environment to support education and discovery for all. As an academic unit at a public university, our core mission is to provide education, research and innovation in service to our community. As biologists, we strive to understand living systems and enhance quality of life for humans and other organisms with which we share this planet. We are committed to a sustainable future and to improving the social, economic, and environmental well-being of the local, regional, and global community. Our core goals are to: 

• educate through teaching and fostering intellectual flexibility and critical thinking of all our members; 

• mentor new scholars and leaders in our field; 

• build fundamental and applied understanding to both advance knowledge and to solve complex problems in biological systems; 

• support curiosity-driven endeavors as well as collaborations that integrate  across disciplines to maximize impact; 

• and create an environment to support all individuals in reaching their fullest potential. 

We value academic freedom as a foundation leading to academic excellence and the common good; this implies that pedagogy, research, and intellectual debate can be conducted without fear of bias, censorship, or retaliation. We recognize that learning and teaching about the science of life is, fundamentally, a human pursuit. Thus, including a wide variety of viewpoints, experiences and knowledge in our work is critical to equity (in participation and application), and to gaining a holistic understanding of living systems. The department recognizes and values the contributions of all faculty, staff, and students towards meeting this mission.

Guided by our mission and values, BSCI is committed to building and maintaining a community that recognizes and values the inherent worth and dignity of every person; fosters sensitivity, understanding, and mutual respect among its members; views the diversity of thought and experience as a strength and a benefit; and supports all individuals in reaching their potential. In pursuit of our goal of academic excellence, we seek to develop and nurture diversity, believing that it enriches individual lives and campus life, expands opportunity, stimulates creativity, strengthens our programs, and promotes the exchange of ideas. We are dedicated to providing an environment free from discrimination on the basis of identity, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, color, national origin or ancestry, immigration or citizenship status, primary language, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital or parental status, socio-economic status, dis/ability status, appearance or body size, veteran status, political ideology, or any other variables based on an individual’s self-identification.