The mission statement for the College of Arts and Sciences clearly expresses fundamental and important goals - goals shared by many similar colleges in numerous comprehensive, urban, and metropolitan institutions. Yet, our College has a more explicit vision of itself as a premier institution that accomplishes those fundamental educational and scholarly goals in a manner that differentiates and distinguishes our College from others in the North Texas region. Pursuit of our vision elevates CAS, and UNT, to a position of national recognition among research universities. Increasing the quality and excellence in our endeavors, against a backdrop of maintaining "excellence, unity and diversity," will require the setting and meeting of loftier goals for faculty and students alike, placing a premium on "quality" over "quantity," and emphasizing an academic culture that understands learning and scholarship to be mutually supportive and sustaining endeavors.

The Vision for our College, which will form its major distinguishing features, is formed from several key articles:

The Departments, Institutes, Centers, and Programs are the functional units of the College of Arts and Sciences and will be the College’s primary focus. It is through their advancement that the students and faculty of CAS will flourish, and the reputation of UNT be advanced. The College of Arts and Sciences is an umbrella organization to serve its constituent units. CAS will only be as good as its individual programs. Moreover, CAS’s reputation will advance only by the advancement of each of its academic units. Our vision is to have at least one of our programs in each of CAS’s four divisions advance into a top 20 ranking during the coming decade.

Enhancing the quality of our Undergraduate and Graduate Programs will eventually lead to an even more accomplished student body. Our College sees enhancing the quality of our existing endeavors -- which are diverse and of great promise -- as the primary and most immediate route for enhancing our mission. Our College is already UNT’s largest, and our vision emerges from concentrating increasingly on the quality of our learning and research environment.

The College of Arts and Sciences will lead UNT’s drive towards higher national recognition for its scholarly efforts. We envisage a College in which a large proportion of the departments has achieved national recognition for the quality and quantity of scholarship and artistry. CAS will be the focal point for sustained efforts at increasing grant writing for extramural support of scholarly efforts that generate original knowledge in both "basic" and "applied" arenas.

Enhance opportunities for advancing the College's international outreach and reputation. The College of Arts and Sciences already has numerous programs involving such geographical areas as England, Israel, Latin America, and Africa. These international connections should be broadened and improved to allow our faculty and students greater opportunities for multinational and multicultural education and research.

The University Honors Program will become a nationally recognized and acclaimed honors program and a symbol of quality education at UNT. Through the CAS-administered University Honors Program, undergraduate students will receive the kind of intellectual environment usually found only in small, liberal arts colleges. Because this program is offered at a large public university, students have access to a wide variety of resources not typically found in small colleges.