Mission

Kentucky State University is a public; comprehensive, historically black land-grant university committed to advancing the Commonwealth of Kentucky, enhancing society, and impacting individuals by providing quality teaching with a foundation in liberal studies, scholarly research, and public service to enable productive lives within the diverse global economy.

Vision

Kentucky State University prepares today’s students as global citizens, lifelong learners, and problem solvers. To accomplish this, Kentucky State University must challenge itself and its students to be the best. It must recognize its strengths, expand, and excel. Notwithstanding, it must also welcome change and quality improvement. By doing so, KSU will gain widespread recognition as one of the region’s strongest universities. As a university of distinction, Kentucky State University will create an environment where:

• Students are first.
• Diversity is valued, understood, and respected.
• Diverse, motivated, and talented students, staff and faculty are actively recruited and retained.
• An intellectual environment conducive to leadership in teaching, research and community service is encouraged and supported.
• Effective teaching integrating active learning, experimental research, and critical thinking methods.
• Students are taught how to obtain, evaluate, and use information.
• Learning is lifelong.
• Effective and efficient fiscal management by the administration is the norm.
• Collegiality is the norm, not the exception.
• Each person is a change agent.
• Excellence starts with me.

Core Values

Through the core values, we- the faculty, staff, administration, and students at Kentucky State University – communicate to all our stakeholders and constituents the way in which we choose to do business. The following values that we hold are essential to achieving the University’s mission:

Student Centered Philosophy

In everything we do, our students come first. We strive to create an environment that values the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and talents of all our students and provide them with the academic, leadership and social tools to help them grow as responsible, knowledgeable, and creative global citizens. We encourage attitudes and behaviors that lead to a desire to learn, a commitment to goals and respect for the dignity of others. Ultimately, we encourage attitudes and behaviors that build success.

Excellence and Innovation

We believe in student’s potential to learn and to connect what they learn inside and outside the classroom to solving problems for productive changes. We strive to offer excellent academic programs; to encourage exploration and discovery through providing outstanding instruction, technology, and facilities; and to ignite a curiosity toward the world and a passion for lifelong learning. We seek to reward the pursuit and achievement of excellence and innovation in an environment where freedom of thought and expression are valued. We want all members of our campus community to leave a mark through their creativity, curiosity, discovery, exploration, and ingenuity.

Ethical Conduct

We encourage the sharing of information in an open and responsible manner while maintaining the highest ethical and moral standards. The standards are reflected in our commitment to accountability and to personal responsibility for our choices and actions. We encourage respect for the dignity, diversity and right of individuals. We welcome all students who commit themselves to learning, knowing that students and faculty with diverse perspective enhance our classroom experience.

Social Responsibility

We share responsibility for each other and are committed to providing opportunities for the participation in the economic, political, and cultural life of our local, state, regional, national, and global communities. We are sensitive to our surrounding community; therefore, we recognize the value of integrating classroom learning with the community experience. Our commitment is to provide leadership and to establish partnerships for addressing community and workforce needs and to make a positive difference in the city of Frankfort, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the world.