LEARNING COMMUNITY
will need appropriate training to continue to offer efficient student services and effective systems of communication, data collection and budget oversight. Such an enhanced commitment to professional development will necessitate adequate funding and opportunities for all staff. Further, as the student body continues to diversify, both staff and faculty will need to be wellequipped to recognize and meet the various needs of an increasingly heterogeneous student body.
Community Collaboration The university’s mission charges us to provide leadership and care for our communities. Just as this is a call to each individual to serve local, regional and global communities, it is also a call to those of us living and working on campus to be good neighbors in Parkland and surrounding areas. The campus community has a long tradition of working as a positive force in our local community for diversity, justice and a sustainable future. In short, the university strives to be a good, sustainable neighbor.
higher education system in Washington state. To this end, there are several steps that the university should take. The long-range facilities and grounds master plan for the university should be updated and open for discussion with surrounding neighbors. As we make selected capital investments in the area, the university should strive to partner with local developers to rejuvenate and renovate the neighborhood and business district. Our ability to support our neighbors through financial, social and cultural means will benefit the community and increase opportunities for community engagement for students, staff and faculty. For the health and wellness of our community, and through collaboration with our neighbors in Parkland and nearby, we should continue to strive to maintain a healthy community environment through the expansion of knowledge and learning, through increased safety measures, through the reduction of our carbon footprint, and through care for the natural environment.
In our most local community PLU has been an open resource for learning, recreation, rest and relaxation. The university also has been a positive, progressive neighbor in the wider Puget Sound area, offering its resources and talents to projects and programs that benefit those who live here. Building strong relations with our neighbors is a service to them and to us, as the university clearly benefits from the gifts and talents of its neighbors. In the coming decade, PLU should continue to nurture partnerships between campus and community members as a good neighbor, a major employer and a key part of the
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