How We Practice the Gifts of Our Ignatian Heritage

The Office of the Provost and the Provost Area Leadership group engage in ongoing conversation about the ways we put the Gifts of Our Ignatian Heritage into practice. When we are at our best, we follow these practices. We invite others on campus to reflect upon these practices as well.

REFLECTION invites us to pause and consider the world around us and our place within it.

• We start our meetings by offering a reflection or prayer.
• We take perspective on our challenges—recognizing that what seems big to us now may be small, and what seems small to us may seem big to others—and accordingly communicate with humility and compassion.

DISCERNMENT invites us to be open to God’s spirit as we consider our feelings and rational thought in order to make decisions and take action that will contribute good to our lives and the world around us.

• We engage in Ignatian communal discernment.
• We focus on students, asking how our decisions will affect and support them.
• We make decisions that are data-informed, based in the best available information, and driven by our mission.
• We seek out cross-functional groups in order to help us seek the best path forward.
• We are rigorous in following the written policies that support Shared Governance, and we seek input from staff and faculty beyond the written policies as practicable and possible.
• We recognize our limited time and energy, including the need to sometimes stop doing certain activities so that we create room for the new.

SOLIDARITY and KINSHIP invites us to walk alongside and learn from our companions, both local and afar, as we journey through life.

• We bring groups together from across the Provost Area to build community.
• We are humble in our ways of seeking out the perspectives and experiences of those who are underrepresented in the Provost Area or in our institution.
• We make a practice of considering how our decisions impact neighbors near and far beyond campus.

SERVICE ROOTED IN JUSTICE AND LOVE invites us to invest our lives into the well-being of our neighbors, particularly those who suffer injustice.

• We seek out ways to project and communicate our commitments to justice.
• We are mindful of how our decisions impact those whose voices aren’t as loud or who are the most vulnerable in our community.

CURA PERSONALIS invites us to care for others recognizing the uniqueness and wholeness of each person.

• We treat each other with respect.
• We welcome new hires into our community and care for those who leave our community.
• We care for our staff and faculty, and set them up for success within and beyond our community.
• We find ways to celebrate accomplishments and express gratitude to each other, in intentional and built-in ways.
• We take care to have hard conversations well in a way that recognizes the humanity of the other person.

MAGIS invites us to ask, "Where is the more universal good?" when making decisions; it relates to the Jesuit motto, For the Greater Glory of God.

• We ask, “where is the more universal good?” when making decisions about our offerings and programs.
• We seek continuous improvement in our programs, offerings, systems, policies, and processes, so that we do not become complacent.
• We show how our decisions best help us to realize the Mission of Xavier, in alignment with our Values.
• We make decisions that are strategic and smart, even when they are difficult.