Mission Enhancements

Xavier is committed to deepening the Jesuit Catholic mission in the five ways outlined in Part 1 of the University Strategic Plan:

Strengthening Our Jesuit Mission, Vision, and Values

In the last decade, Xavier University has moved to the forefront of Jesuit higher education as a university where faculty, staff and students are knowledgeable about and act in light of the fundamental animating spirit at the heart of the University. Now, Xavier is poised to become even better recognized as a mission-driven organization acting upon and embodying its fundamental Jesuit identity-and enabling others to act upon Jesuit values as well. We will:

1. Successfully launch and develop the Institute for Spirituality and Social Justice through the Department of Theology.
   The Institute was formalized in academic year 2014-2015 to provide a university context for personal and social renewal, ethical analysis, a deeper social imagination, and the spiritual resources of our wisdom traditions to prepare people to contribute effectively to a more just, more humane world. The Institute offers Master's degrees in theology with specializations in three tracks:
   • Ethics, Spirituality and Professional Practice.
   • Solidarity and Sustainability in a Global Context .
   • Applied Spirituality and Pastoral Care
   as well as Certificates and Programs, Workshops and Retreats .
   Since the launch, graduate enrollment has increased 300%.
   
   
2. Endow an Institute for Ignatian Spirituality and Leadership through the Center for Mission and Identity.
   Seed funding from a quasi-endowment was designated by President Graham to begin advancing the goals and purposes of the proposed Institute modeled after the Conway Institute for Jesuit Education. Initial new activities include engaging the advisors to the Center for International Business in the Trustee Seminar, developing resources on Ignatian communal discernment and offering the Women's Ignatian Leadership Salon, adapted for leaders in the Midwest Province, for Xavier faculty and staff, and for Xavier graduate students. The overarching goal is to have a fully endowed operating budget for the Center to sustain, in perpetuity, the vital work that supports Xavier's Jesuit Catholic charism.
   
   
3. Devise fresh ways to integrate mission and identity into staff and faculty hiring, development and evaluation.
   See University's 2015-2016 Goals for first steps. Staff and administrators have been invited to identify activities that support "the appropriation of Xavier's Jesuit identity at the individual...level" when making this year's
   performance goals to align with the University's 2015-2016 Goals.
   
   
4. More intentionally connect such sectors of University work as diversity, sustainability, community engagement, interfaith dialogue, local and global solidarity, etc., to the core Jesuit mission of the University.
   See University's 2015-2016 Goals for first steps. The "Mission Animators" are meeting regularly to identify collaborations and further the direct points of contact with the University's Jesuit mission and identity.
   
   
5. Hire a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, constitute the President's Diversity Advisory and Action Council, and create a strategic plan for diversity and inclusion that proceeds from our Jesuit identity and supports the Xavier Way.
   See University's 2015-2016 Goals for first steps.
   In summer 2016, Dr. Janice Walker is completing a 17-year term as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. At that time, she will assume the position of CDIO and join the work of the Mission Animators. At the beginning of this academic year, 14 representative members of the campus community were convened for the renewed "President's Diversity and Inclusion Action and Advisory Council" which 'will design, coordinate the implementation of, and assess the University's diversity and inclusion strategy." The Director of the Center for Mission and Identity is serving as the convener through the year.