Purpose

A mission statement is the central axis of any organization and the cornerstone of its strategic planning. Universities have implemented this tool to define, among other things, its identity; however, the legal nature and functions of the mission statement have not been determined. In this article, the authors analyze the differences in the university mission statements of public and private higher education institutions in relation to the mission functions proposed by the 1992 legislation on higher education in Colombia – Law 30 – involving teaching, research, extension and social projection and internationalization.

Design/methodology/approach

Through content analysis, the authors analyze the mission statements of two groups of institutions that make up the totality of universities in Colombia – 32 public and 53 private universities. The analysis is conducted along the four dimensions defined by the law as comprising the higher education mission, i.e. teaching, research, extension and social projection, and internationalization, due to its importance in the high-quality institutional accreditation process.

Findings

Based on the differences identified in the mission statements, the authors establish the university functions and determine how they give back to society in their legal capacity as public or private institutions.

Research limitations/implications

This research scenario is appropriate for answering research questions related to whether there are differences in the strategies of Colombian public and private universities based on their mission statements. Although the Colombian higher education system includes various types of tertiary institutions, only universities are included in the study.

Practical implications

Research has shown that regardless of their legal nature, based on their mission statements, Colombian universities are mainly geared towards teaching. However, when comparing additional dimensions, private universities are less involved in research processes and more focused on activities related to social impact than are public universities. Additionally, private universities are more engaged in internationalization than are public institutions, with mission statements focused on both national and international accreditation processes.

Social implications

The results of this research are intended to help society comprehend the differences between public and private universities in Colombia based on mission statements, which can contribute to understanding, among other factors, the academic programs offered by universities and how they should guide their activities.

Originality/value

This is the first such study in Colombia, a country that provides higher education through public and private institutions in very similar proportions, that analyses the differences in university mission statements and whose findings contribute to understanding whether universities are strategically oriented towards their own established policies or to contributing to the development of new public policies aimed at supporting the country's development process.

中文翻译：

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哥伦比亚大学使命宣言的差异化

目的

使命宣言是任何组织的中心轴，也是其战略规划的基石。大学已经实施了这个工具来定义它的身份；然而，任务说明的法律性质和职能尚未确定。在这篇文章中，作者分析了公立和私立高等教育机构的大学使命陈述与 1992 年哥伦比亚高等教育立法（第 30 号法律）所提出的使命职能的差异，涉及教学、研究、推广和社会投射和国际化。

设计/方法/方法

通过内容分析，作者分析了构成哥伦比亚大学总体的两组机构的使命宣言——32 所公立大学和 53 所私立大学。由于高等教育在高质量机构认证过程中的重要性，该分析按照法律定义的四个维度进行，这些维度包括高等教育使命，即教学、研究、推广和社会投射以及国际化。

发现

根据使命陈述中确定的差异，作者确定了大学的职能，并确定了它们如何以公共或私人机构的合法身份回馈社会。

研究限制/影响

该研究方案适用于回答与哥伦比亚公立和私立大学根据其使命陈述的战略是否存在差异相关的研究问题。尽管哥伦比亚高等教育系统包括各种类型的高等教育机构，但研究中只包括大学。

实际影响

研究表明，无论其法律性质如何，根据其使命宣言，哥伦比亚大学主要面向教学。然而，在比较其他维度时，私立大学比公立大学更少参与研究过程，更关注与社会影响相关的活动。此外，私立大学比公共机构更多地参与国际化，其使命宣言侧重于国家和国际认证过程。

社会影响

这项研究的结果旨在帮助社会根据使命陈述理解哥伦比亚公立大学和私立大学之间的差异，这有助于理解大学提供的学术课程以及它们应如何指导其活动等因素。

原创性/价值

这是哥伦比亚首次进行此类研究，该国通过公共和私立机构以非常相似的比例提供高等教育，分析了大学使命陈述的差异，其研究结果有助于了解大学是否在战略上面向自己的既定政策或促进旨在支持国家发展进程的新公共政策的制定。