UGPTI Adopts New Mission and Vision Statements

Adopting new mission and vision statements at the summer UGPTI Advisory Council meeting was not a change in direction for the UGPTI, but an opportunity for council members to endorse the current activities of the institute and its future direction, according to board chairman David Sprynczynatyk.

"A year ago, the council held a strategic planning session to evaluate our mission and work and how it relates to North Dakota, NDSU and the students. The new mission and vision statements are an outgrowth of that process," Sprynczynatyk says. "As we looked back at our history, we realized that the council had never officially endorsed or adopted the mission and vision statements of the institute."

A strategic planning committee included council members Bob Kjelland, Curt Peterson and Jim Boyd and was chaired by Sprynczynatyk. That group worked with UGPTI director Gene Griffin, associate director Denver Tolliver and advanced research fellow Ayman Smadi to draft new mission and vision statements. Those statements were amended and adopted by the board at its summer meeting July 12.

Griffin says the new statements more clearly and completely reflect activities within the organization and encourage staff members to broaden their ideas and efforts to address emerging needs and challenges in the region.

"To be an effective organization that continues to meet the needs of our state and region, we need to periodically look at where we are and where we need to go," he says.

Mission:

The UGPTI educates people, conducts research, and provides outreach in the areas of small urban and rural transportation and logistics to enhance the mobility of people, goods, and agricultural commodities.

Vision:

Excel as one of the premiere university transportation centers in the United States.