Mission
The Citadel’s mission is to educate and develop our students to become principled leaders in all walks of life. As a higher education institution, the core values of honor, duty, and respect are instilled in a disciplined and intellectually challenging environment. A unique feature of this environment for the South Carolina Corps of Cadets is the sense of camaraderie. This is produced through teamwork and service to others while following a military lifestyle.
Producing graduates who have insight into issues, ideas, and values that are of importance to society is a key part of The Citadel’s mission. It’s equally important that Citadel graduates are capable of both critical and creative thinking. This includes having effective communication skills, understanding abstract concepts to concrete situations, and possessing the methodological skills needed to gather and analyze information.
The Citadel’s primary purpose that is part of the mission is to educate undergraduates as members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets and to prepare them for post-graduate positions of leadership. This is done through academic programs of recognized excellence, enhanced by the best features of a military environment. The cadet lifestyle provides a structured environment supporting growth and development of each student’s intellect, discipline, physical fitness, and character values. The four pillars which define The Citadel experience for cadets consist of these four developmental dimensions.
Another purpose of The Citadel is to provide the citizens the opportunities for professional development. The Citadel offers a broad range of educational programs of recognized excellence to support this. These programs include both graduate and undergraduate levels. These programs are designed to accommodate the needs of non-traditional students seeking traditional and demanding academic challenges.
Statement of Vision
Achieving excellence in the education and development of principled leaders.
Core Values
The core values at The Citadel are honor, duty, and respect.
Honor
First and foremost honor includes adherence to the Honor Code of The Citadel. A cadet “will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.” The commitment to honor extends beyond the gates of The Citadel. It’s a life-long obligation to moral and ethical behavior. In addition, honor includes integrity; “doing the right thing when no one is watching.” Finally, honorable behavior includes exercising the moral courage to “do the right thing when everyone is watching.” The Honor Code is the foundation of our academic enterprise.
Duty
First and foremost duty means to accept and accomplish the responsibilities assigned to me. At The Citadel, student’s primary duty is to perform academically and then to perform as a member of the Corps of Cadets and the campus community. I accept the consequences associated with my performance and actions. Once I have held myself accountable for my actions, then I will hold others accountable for their actions. Finally, duty means that others can depend on me to complete my assignments and to assist them with their assignments. Duty is also a call to serve others before self.
Respect
First and foremost, respect means to treat other people with dignity and worth. To treat people the way you want others to treat you. Respect for others eliminates any form of prejudice, discrimination, or harassment. This includes but is not limited to rank, position, age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, physical attributes, etc. In addition, respect for others means to respect the positions of those in authority. This includes faculty, staff, administrators, active duty personnel and the leadership of the Corps of Cadets. Finally, respect includes a healthy respect for one’s self.
Institutional Characteristics
The Citadel is a coeducational, comprehensive, public, four-year institution whose primary undergraduate student body comprises approximately 2,300 members of the Corps of Cadets, all of whom reside on campus. The primary service area for these students is regional, with approximately half of each freshman class coming from South Carolina. The Citadel, however, does draw undergraduate students from all parts of the United States and many foreign countries.
The college offers a wide range of baccalaureate degree programs, including Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, and Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. These programs prepare graduates of the Corps of Cadets for a variety of careers. About half of these graduates enter business and the professions, a third or more enter the military and government service and the remainder go directly into graduate and professional study. Many graduates choose to pursue professional or graduate degrees later in their careers.
The primary service area of The Citadel is the South Carolina Lowcountry. The Citadel Graduate College offers over 25 graduate degree programs with over 30 concentration options, 24 graduate certificates, and over 10 baccalaureate degree programs. Meeting the needs of the South Carolina Lowcountry in terms of instruction, public service, and research, including such initiatives as cooperative programs with other educational institutions, is an important part of The Citadel’s mission.
In its educational programs, The Citadel acknowledges and endorses the teacher-scholar ideal. That the excellence of all of its academic programs is dependent upon the quality of its faculty. Teaching and lecturing, researching, writing, publishing, and public service support this. The Citadel’s faculty also addresses audiences beyond the college by sharing their knowledge with other scholars and the public.
Links
Vision and Core Values
BOV Commitment to Excellence and Ethics
Statement of Ethical Principles for Citadel Employees
Statement of Ethical Principles for Citadel Faculty
