In an effort to strengthen understanding and action at Park University, officials have been working since July to “revamp” the institution’s core values.

The core values list is designed to lead faculty, staff and students in decision-making on campus.

“We have had those for several years, as it was part of our strategic planning,” said Rita Weighill, vice president for university marketing and communications. “President Fowler was looking at them and suggested that maybe we take a look at those to expand on them, to make them more concise with the intent of what we’re trying to accomplish with those particular words.”

In the past, Park’s core values have been single words, leaving many people with the university unsure of what they really meant, according to David Fowler, interim president.

“The concept was there but it was just one word and it was open to too much interpretation that might be inconsistent to other interpretations,” Fowler said.

Rather than continue with the current core values, Fowler, Weighill and other members of the university decided it was time to turn the core values into more “actionable verbs with more descriptive phrases” that help define what each core value is about and stands for.

Park’s core values are “Accountability,” “Civility,” “Respect,” “Excellence,” “Global Citizenship,” “Inclusivity” and “Integrity.”

These core values differ from Park University’s Promise in that the Promise is more of a document for the strategic plan.

“While serving the community is a really important part in what we’re doing, the core values are more of an internal look of how we want and how we expect faculty, staff and students to really operate and engage with each other at the university level,” Weighill said.

To help spread the word and core values around campus, posters and wallet-size cards will be displayed, upon request, in offices and other locations on campus.

Campus centers will also receive posters to display for their students, faculty and staff.

“We’re all Park University,” said Weighill, “and we want everyone, no matter where they’re located, to still be demonstrating and exhibiting these core values.”

Fowler said these core values are the behavior the university expects from everyone.

“It’s who we are, it’s what we do, it’s how we do things,” he said. “We want that embedded in our fabric in every way.”

Aside from those who have been working on strengthening the core values, students, faculty and staff are already showing enthusiasm to what these new values will bring to the university.

“Values are what bind an organization together,” said Rachel Bruning, a senior organizational communication major. “Hopefully all the different departments at Park can now be unified by these shared values and some true leadership will emerge.”

Adam Potthast, assistant professor of philosophy, said revamping the core values is a good move by the university.

“The university has had these core values for quite some time and I think it’s great they are putting more emphasis on them,” he said.

“Park University is a great community and our core values are all good values everyone should embrace.”

Fowler stressed the importance of the wording of core values for the future of the university.

“If you have a well-articulated set of core values, then that can really be the guiding light of the university,” he said.

With these revamped core values, the university can work to move forward in making a more solid foundation for itself and its students, faculty and staff, according to Weighill.

“I really hope this becomes the foundation on which Park University exhibits behavior and exhibits enthusiasm and vision because these are the things that are going to be shaping our future,” she said. “It’s not only shaping our future, but it’s also embracing our past.”