Green River’s Equity-Centered Strategic Plan serves as the guiding document for the College’s work over the next five years.

This Plan lays out a vision, mission, and set of values which define the work and future pathways for the College toward building and acting within a more equitable community. And it provides a framework to address key challenges and opportunities for our work, incorporating the ideas that have emerged from the Green River community throughout our planning process.

View Green River College's Equity-Centered Strategic Visioning and Planning

Equity Statement

The Green River College Promise:

We commit to be an anti-racist institution where all students, faculty, and staff receive the access, resources, and services needed to achieve their educational, career, and personal goals. Green River College makes social and economic justice, equity, and inclusion our highest priorities.

The Green River College definition of equity encompasses all identities, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, economic status, gender identity, sexual identity, disability, religion/spirituality, immigration status, age, and culture. We understand individual needs vary widely, and the effects of discrimination and historical oppression must be taken into account while aiming for equitable opportunities and outcomes for all.

Let this be a call to action to all members of the Green River College Community: everyone must contribute to this on-going effort to achieve equity for all.

Mission Statement

Green River College welcomes our diverse local and global communities and is committed to meeting students where they are by providing inclusive, equitable access to innovative and comprehensive educational programs, and individualized support that empowers and prepares students to achieve their personal, educational, and career goals.

Vision Statement

Green River College will be an equity-centered leader in higher education committed to excellence in teaching and learning, to being an anti-racist college, and to advancing social and economic justice.

All members of the college community will feel a strong sense of belonging and, together, build a culture of care. The racial and ethnic diversity of staff, faculty, and leadership will reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

Green River will be:

  • The destination of choice for post-secondary education.
  • First choice in partnership with our community, its business and industry.
  • Ranked among the best nationally in student achievement, closing all opportunity gaps.
  • Recognized for its preparation of students for the global workforce and for civic engagement in an increasingly diverse, interdependent world.

Core Values

  • Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We are committed to becoming an anti-racist college. We examine our own and others’ identities (race, ethnicity, economic status, gender identity, sexual identity, disability, religion/spirituality, immigration status, age, and culture), institutional roles, behaviors, and cultural perspectives, as these relate to power and privilege in the advancement of equity and social justice.
  • Belonging: We respect difference and make intentional space for the needs, experiences, ways of communicating, expertise, and leadership of those who are most impacted by systemic and structural inequities. We promote a culture of care including love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness in our interactions with students, staff, faculty, and community partners in recognition of the human condition.
  • Accessibility: We recognize, respect, and celebrate people with disabilities, including physical, cognitive, sensory, intellectual, developmental, and non-apparent disabilities. We commit to equitable opportunities, including the provision of accommodations, and the creation of welcoming, inclusive, and accessible classrooms, curricula, campus spaces, and virtual environments. We recognize disabilities have no social and economic boundaries.
  • Accountability: We develop and implement mechanisms for accountability in the hiring process, teaching, student support services, employee relations, financial stewardship, and governance, in order to ensure the meaningful participation of all constituents, anchored in transparency and respectful interactions.
  • Community Engagement: Our multiple campuses in our service areas collaborate to contribute to the educational, economic, and social development of our communities through responsive programs, continuing education, and community and library partnerships.
  • Growth and Development: We allocate the required resources towards equitable lifelong learning, professional development, and career advancement of our staff, faculty, and students.
  • Global Responsibility: We foster civic responsibility by understanding the critical issues and challenges affecting the diverse communities on our campuses, regionally, nationally, and around the world. We cultivate respect and empathy for cultural difference, honoring the dignity of multiple languages and being mindful of cultural biases.
  • Acknowledgement and Stewardship of the Natural Environment: We acknowledge the land on which Green River College sits as the ancestral home of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. We commit to the beautification, preservation, and sustainability of our campuses’ natural resources.
  • Innovation: We develop innovative programs, policies, practices, operations, and infrastructure that respond to evolving needs and opportunities.