In 2005 Bates will celebrate its sesquicentennial. The College has made the commemoration of this milestone an opportunity to think critically about Bates' future in a process known as "Goals 2005." A committee of faculty, students, and administrators has set strategic priorities for Bates, identified resources to achieve those goals, and developed ways to measure progress toward attaining them. Defining Bates as a learning community of distinction and excellence that provides leadership as one of the nation's finest undergraduate colleges, the "Vision for Bates" affirms the following goals for the College:

Dimension 1:

Bates will emphasize academic rigor and achievement, an active faculty of teacher/scholars, superb programs, high expectations of those who participate, the centrality of individual responsibility for learning, and the dignity and value of difference.

Dimension 2:

Bates will strengthen and build on its persisting ethos and culture of engagement as it encourages actions that will further civility, trust, responsibility, and service.

Dimension 3:

The College will develop the connections and integrating cohesion that give flexibility and vitality to the educational opportunities that it provides—local, global, academic, cocurricular, and life-enduring.

Dimension 4:

Bates will be organized as a flexible, principled residential community, valuing individuals and their interactions while celebrating their common purpose and the connections of the College community to the local area and to the world beyond.