The University's mission, unique in higher education in Alabama, is "to provide to students from throughout the state an affordable, geographically accessible, 'small college' public higher educational experience of high quality, with a strong emphasis on undergraduate liberal studies and with professional programs supported by a broad base of arts and sciences, designed for their intellectual and personal growth in the pursuit of meaningful employment and responsible, informed citizenship." Affirmed by the Board of Trustees in 1978, 1989 and again in 1996 in conjunction with the Report of the Second Century Commission, the mission statement is incorporated into state statutes. Through its planning processes, the University regularly adopts goals which are the basis for evaluating the institution's activities.