UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — After gathering input from across the Penn State community for more than four years, the University is finalizing the proposed Values that highlight shared Penn State aspirations and ethics. The final version of the Penn State Values — integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence and community — is scheduled to be released later this summer.
From February through April, University Ethics Officer Tim Balliett conducted presentations at each campus, most academic colleges and several administrative units to encourage discussion of the Penn State Values, including their definition and application within the Penn State community. The Town Hall meetings were open to all students, faculty and staff, and most included breakout groups to discuss refinements to the definitions, ways in which the values can be personally applied to daily life on campus and areas in which the University could further develop its commitment to the values. Forty-six meetings were conducted over a period of eight weeks, reaching a total of 2,205 attendees.
Feedback gathered from the meetings was used to make refinements to the Values statements themselves, as well as to generate examples for use in socializing the Values throughout the University community. Feedback also will be used to foster further unit and work-group discussion and identify areas where the University can strengthen its commitment to the Values.
“Among the lessons learned from the small group discussions was the widespread desire for greater accountability,” said Balliett. “This wasn’t limited to holding the University and its leadership more accountable, but also included holding each other accountable within the Penn State community for our words, actions and values. There was also an expressed need to better articulate the relationship between our three-fold mission of teaching, research and service and the Penn State Values, especially in light of our unique structure as one university spread throughout the Commonwealth and World Campus.”
The revamped Values were approved by President’s Council on June 15, and will be shared with the Board of Trustees at its July meeting. The board was briefed on the development of the Values, including the Town Halls, at its May meeting. The finalized Values statements will be incorporated into the University Strategic Plan, to be released in August.