University of Rochester Provost Ralph W. Kuncl wanted something else in 2009 when he began the process of creating the first universitywide mission statement in Rochester's almost 160-year history. He wanted something creative that would stick in people's minds, that they would think about every day at work. What he ended up with in May after a long vetting process was a 10-word statement that he thinks encapsulates everything the university stands for: "Learn, Discover, Heal, Create — And Make the World Ever Better." It has its own t-shirt now.

There are upsides and downsides to brevity. A short statement can be ubiquitous, which can help it become ingrained in the university's day-to-day action. It can be placed on t-shirts, stationery, and other university documents. But that brevity also makes specific goals, definitions, and means impossible, leaving room for interpretation, misunderstanding, and debate.

The amount of activity on the site, particularly in the first half of the semester, produced more content than I’d ever seen in one of my course web spaces. Not all of it was of equal value, of course, but sorting through it became a part of my day akin to checking Facebook or Twitter.

When the semester came to an end, I asked students to reflect on what they thought of this experiment: Are points really motivating? Achievements? Or is social interaction and knowledge motivating in itself? The answers on that varied wildly, but I learned that many of the students appreciated the greater sense of collaboration.