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John Carroll University

Mission Statement

Structure

The Mission Coordinating Committee was established by the President in April of 2006 as a replacement structure for the Office of Mission and Identity. The committee was charged to carry on the many programs that were initiated and strengthened by the former Assistant to the President for Mission and Identity. The President envisioned a collaborative approach to sustaining and enhancing John Carroll's commitment to mission and identity. Therefore he appointed a cross-institutional team consisting of the Vice President for Student Affairs (chair), the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, the Director for the Institute of Catholic Studies, the Associate Director of Campus Ministry, the Director of the Center of Community Service and Learning, the Executive Assistant to the President, a Jesuit faculty member in Religious Studies, and a student representative.

The committee meets monthly to both plan programs and discuss campus mission and identity questions. The President has requested a report due in spring 2008 that recommends a structure for the future of mission and identity work at John Carroll University.

Orientation Programs

John Carroll University provides a year-long program for new faculty and administrators during which there are two extensive presentations on Jesuit education and on the contemporary Jesuit mission. Divisional orientations are also offered by request. For instance, University Advancement has had a transitional year with a new Vice President and upper-level management. The division will have four lunchtime (1 1/2 hr.) workshops on the Catholic intellectual tradition, Ignatian spirituality, and university mission and identity. A session on mission is built into every Board of Director Meeting and at the New Board Member Orientation led by Fr. Howard Gray, S.J. Undergraduate students are exposed to the Jesuit mission in various ways including skits at freshman orientation and a plenary session on mission for all freshmen at Fall Orientation.

Ongoing Educational Programs

"Bagging Ignatius" is a monthly lunchtime presentation on the Ignatian tradition and Ignatian spirituality and is open to the entire John Carroll University community. The 2006-2007 series featured the four weeks of the Exercises and experiencing the Spiritual Exercises through literature and the arts. The program generally draws 30-40 community members per session.

John Carroll University sends faculty delegates to the annual Heartland-Delta Conversations program that provides and opportunity for faculty to share their apostolic views with peers from other Jesuit universities. In May 2007, John Carroll University hosted the Heartland-Delta V Conference bringing together nearly 500 delegates from the 12 Heartland-Delta region Jesuit colleges and universities. The conference is an essential venue for dialogue and learning about Jesuit education, collaboration and Ignatian spirituality and for sharing the experience of mission with peers.

In addition to the Heartland-Delta activities, John Carroll University sponsors university delegates to attend the annual AJCU Leadership Seminar.

The Mission Coordinating Committee has worked more closely with the Executive Committee of the Faculty Forum to identify opportunities to engage the faculty more fully in understanding the mission. In '06-'07, the Faculty Forum and the Mission Coordinating Committee co-sponsored a workshop with Harry Lewis author of "Excellence without a Soul" fall semester and June Ellis spring semester.

Ignatian Day is held on the Friday before second-semester classes resume. It is an opportunity for faculty and staff to hear an outside speaker, e.g. Dr. John DeGioia, Georgetown's President or Greg Boyle, S.J., Homeboy Industries, to discuss among themselves the ramifications of what has been presented for John Carroll University. These events draw about 300-350 faculty and staff. The program in January 2007 featured John Neafsey, Psy.D. a practicing clinical psychologist and an adjunct faculty member of  the Theology Department at Loyola University Chicago and author of "A Sacred Voice is Calling:  Personal Vocation and Social Conscience."

Over and above these scheduled events, individual departments, schools, or staff divisions frequently ask for a day of reflection or a presentation on the Ignatian dimensions of their work.

Integration of Mission and Identity into the Curriculum and Academic Programs

The emphasis on faith and justice has become important as an explicit dimension in many programs. The Iraq War triggered a set of campus-wide, faculty-led discussions on war, peace, justice, and the role of a Jesuit and Catholic university.

The Institute of Catholic Studies directly fosters education in faith and discerning out of faith. The Institute provides opportunities for encounter with and formation in the Catholic intellectual tradition as expressed in many scholarly disciplines from philosophy to science. It focuses on impacting the campus itself through the undergraduate concentration in Catholic Studies, provides scholarship support to students in Catholic Studies and hosts an on-campus speaker series that is open to the public.

The Cardinal Suenens Center explores themes that include but are not limited to the Church and co-responsibility of the people of God, ecumenism, the gifts of the laity, and spirituality through various venues including a book series, a lecture series, pilgrimages and international conferences.

The university has endowed chairs-the Touhy Chair, Visiting Jesuit Scholar, The Miller Chair-that are all faculty appointments geared towards fostering both Jesuit presence and Catholic and Jesuit intellectual and ethical traditions.

The community has provided a substantial scholarship to support minority student undergraduate education at John Carroll University and recently instituted the Ohio Access Initiative providing financial assistance for students of families earning less than $40,000 per year.

The Arrupe Scholars Program recognizes John Carroll students for their significant commitment to two interrelated values of John Carroll's mission: intellectual inquiry that demands critical thinking and engaging in social justice and community service that leads to social action.

The Leadership and Social Justice Learning Community is an interdisciplinary curricular and co-curricular four year program. Students participate in block scheduled courses during freshman year. Co-curricular activities are led by a resident assistant committed to developing students' leadership skills and awareness of social justice issues.

The Poverty and Solidarity program seeks to enhance student learning about poverty and to foster recognition among students that they have a social responsibility to work toward the alleviation of poverty through the development of an interdisciplinary course and summer internship sequence for students seeking a deeper understanding of poverty,   the creation of interdisciplinary and discipline-based courses that will embed the study of poverty throughout the curriculum, and the establishment of a public lecture series to educate both the university and Greater Cleveland communities on poverty.

Finally, the Ignatian Spirituality Institute (ISI) is a university program established to train spiritual directors in the Ignatian tradition. It is a two-year program, which has a JCU Religious Studies professor as its director and which incorporates a strong academic component with supervised practica.

Spiritual Exercises/Retreats

Campus Ministry organizes several retreats that introduce or deepen students' experience of the vision, values and dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises.  Each January approximately 20 students participate in an 8-Day Silent Retreat which is based on the Exercises.  In addition, first year students are introduced to Jesuit education and a "faith that does justice" at the First Year Retreat.  Approximately 100 students per year participate in the Manresa Retreat which explores college life and Ignatian themes through an extended reflection on the First Principle and Foundation (Sp Ex #23).

In recent years several faculty, staff and students have experienced the Spiritual Exercises through individual spiritual direction in an 8-week or 30-week program coordinated by the ISI. 

Publications, Audio-Visual Materials Developed and/or Used

Father Howard Gray established an Ignatian Resource Library located on the first floor of the Administration building prior to his departure to Georgetown University.

The Bagging Ignatius series has been video taped since its inception and those recordings are available through the Ignatian Resource Library.

Recognition Awards

There are awards given at graduation for students who embody the values of Jesuit faith and justice.

Evaluation of Effectiveness

The Mission Coordinating Committee continues to evaluate and discuss the most effective structure for Mission and Identity at John Carroll University going forward and will make recommendations to the President in the spring 2008. The strength of a committee is the potential it has to assist leaders to take ownership for the appropriation of the mission and identity within their own units. A committee also is a highly effective structure for cross-campus conversations and communications.

Miscellaneous

The university underwent two comprehensive processes in 2006-2007.

The President took the entire university community through the development of the Vision, Mission, Core Values and Strategic Initiatives Statement for the university in direct response to create a sharper statement detailing the distinctive character John Carroll University from the May 2006 Board Retreat and the June 2006 Planning Retreat. The statement was finalized and approved by the Board of Directors at their May 2007 Board Meeting.

Father Howard Gray, S.J. engaged in a process to develop a statement on the Catholic and Jesuit character of John Carroll University. He began with focus groups of various constituencies on campus including, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the Jesuit community. These same groups were then asked to review the draft document and make suggested corrections and additions. There will be further conversations led by Father Gray surrounding the report that will continue throughout the '07-'08 academic year ultimately seeking Board approval.