Aaron Meis

Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success
Xavier University

Project Title:

Why the Numbers Really Matter

Overview:

The goal of this project is to instill the Enrollment Management and Student Success (EMSS) team with a ‘preference for the group’; a strong sense of teamwork between and collaboration with each other as well as a positive attitude about working with others; flexibility and intentional optimism. I also hope to instill the EMSS team with a strong sense that our work is aligned with our mission as a Jesuit institution – that team members feel their work supports and is directly connected to the mission.

Rational:

To improve the sense of teamwork, ownership, self-awareness and emotional well-being of our team members to a) retain more of them b) to empower them to be more effective at serving students, working with each other and achieving our enrollment goals; to improve staff work-satisfaction levels in EMSS.

Project Details:

1. Design online survey to be deployed to all EMSS staff measuring levels of staff satisfaction, awareness of
elements of Jesuit mission, group decision-making and connection to meaning at work.
2. Train Divisional Leadership in principles of both Discernment and Group-Decision making.
3. Each Function in EMSS division will hold a one-day retreat focusing on all elements of Mission Based
Ignatian Leadership including Group-Decision making process. All staff will also participate in common
reading and reflection– ‘Management Lessons from the Mayo Clinic’.
4. Survey will be redeployed in 6 months to measure change, if any, in staff responses and attitudes.

Indications of Success:

1. Improved rates of staff satisfaction at work and stronger sense of connection to something meaningful
at work.
2. Improved rates of staff awareness of connections between work and key elements of our Jesuit mission.
3. Increased use of, participation in and awareness of group decision-making at work.
4. Increase use of discernment among staff as a regular practice at work.

Challenges:

1. Difficulty measuring rates of staff satisfaction, awareness and sense of connection
2. Clearly defining ‘discernment’ and ‘group decision-making’ as well as other elements of Ignatian
Spirituality for staff.
3. Creating tensions among non-Christian or non-religious staff