On 11/16/06, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote: [snip]
Adding the adjective "educational" somewhere doesn't help because opinions on just what is educational are likely to open a whole new round of debate.
[snip]
Although it is difficult to say what is educational, there are many cases where it is not difficult to obtain broad consensus that a particular item is not.
[snip]
The mission statement is a big picture document. It is about wishes and possibilities, not about restrictions. Where needed those restrictions can come later.
I'd prefer to say that a mission statement should not attempt to micromanage.
It should fully define the destination, but not every footstep along the path.
The question of a statement about 'educational' being too close to micromanagement is one I can not answer with certainty. However, "educational", in a broad sense, is an actual and important aspect of our implemented mission, and it would be unfortunate if we couldn't find a clear way to express that in the written expression of our mission.