Policies and Procedures

The mission of the Department of Landscape Architecture can best be achieved through cooperation, collaboration, and consultation among the membership of the entire department community. Achievement of our mission requires an understanding and commitment to the formal and informal decision processes by which the department conducts its work and maintains its standards. It also requires recognition by the department community that the department of landscape architecture must ultimately respond to legitimate external entities and forces that shape policy and render decisions.

Members of the department community need to understand the department's mission and their part in its achievement. They need to understand how formal authority is shared, the scope and form of their involvement in governance, and the need for those in authority to achieve balance between codification and discretion. This understanding enhances each member's ability to sustain and strengthen the essential nature of the department and facilitates effective department governance and responsiveness to the needs of the people of Mississippi.

Central to effective and efficient department governance is open consultation, communication, and participation in decisions and decision-making bodies, and understanding of the responsibilities and limitations of authority by all members of the department community. Success of the department depends on collegial relationships and mutual respect among the faculty, professional and support staff, students, administrative officers, and representatives of external entities.

All members of the department community must be accountable for their roles and responsibilities. Policies and procedures to measure performance in these roles and responsibilities are essential to achieving the mission and goals of the department.

Mississippi State and the Department of Landscape Architecture recognize the value of diverse opinions in decision-making and pursue its mission in an atmosphere of shared governance and open communication. Faculty and staff are involved in policy formulation and in implementing the learning, research and service missions of the department. Faculty and staff also recognize their shared accountability for the performance of the department in carrying out its mission.

In the spirit of promoting effective governance of the department, the following statements of policy relative to members of the department community are adopted. The policies are designed to generate and promote understanding, candor, trust, accountability, and participation in the processes that accomplish the mission and goals of the department.