"Its [Goddard's] mission is to advance the theory and practice of learning by undertaking new experiments based upon the ideals of democracy, and the principles of progressive education first asserted by John Dewey. At Goddard, students are regarded as unique individuals who will take charge of their learning and collaborate with other students, staff and faculty to build a strong community." -- excerpted from Goddard's Mission Statement

Within the "operating" Goddard Governance Document the mission and structure of Goddard's

Striving for Democracy, Self and Group Self-Governance, Collaboration, Open Access to Information, Distributed Decision-Making, Small Working Groups, Balancing Power, Efficiency and Productivity

governance is defined as being under girded by eight core values. These values should be highlighted within the context that they are crucial to the growth of democracy: These are the eight core values: The priorities plan which many of you have heard about charts out the intention and direction of the college.

This plan was developed by the previous president, Jackson Kytle. Jack solicited participation and input from the community to arrive at a completed document. I have listed below the priorities from the Five Year Plan of Ten Priorities that are directly supportive of the

1. Increase the quality and vitality of the campus residential program and its sense of community.
2. Strengthen college governance so that there are high levels of participation, strong indications of community satisfaction, and a renewed sense of community.
3. Strengthen the quality of the low?residence programs.
4. Improve employee morale and satisfaction, and provide recreational and growth opportunities for staff, faculty, and administrators.

Current Democratic Objectives

I have pulled together a list of objectives that are the President's responsibilities in regards to strengthen democracy at Goddard via increasing democratic participation and evaluation as defined in the Goddard Priorities Plan - 3/14/94:

Priority II --
    Objective 10.2: Offer training for all community members in collaborative, democratic governance.
    Objective 10.3: Conduct annual social and environmental audits to evaluate campus governance, morale, etc.