Charting the Verbiage of Institutional Vision: Implications for Academic Advising

Abstract

Whether and to what extent a college or university vision is embraced, transformed into action, and dispersed to the campus community by academic advisors is largely dependent on the rhetoric of the vision statement. Through a content analysis of a nation-wide sample of vision and mission statements from NACADA-membership institutions, we isolated key linguistic components that constitute a well-conceived, effective, and easily diffused institutional vision. The prevalence of these components and the types of academic institutions most likely to possess them are discussed. Ways in which this information can be used by advising supervisors to evaluate their own institution's vision and the vision of their advising operation are presented.Relative Emphasis: theory, research, practice