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Return to About AJCU > Resources and Publications > Mission and Identity Activity at Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States > Table of Contents
University of San Francisco
Contact: Mike Duffy, Institutional Representative for Mission and Identity
Director, Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought
Phone: (415) 422-2404 Email: duffy@usfca.edu
Contact: Rev. Donal Godfrey, SJ, Executive Director of University Ministry
Contact: Julia Dowd, Associate Director, Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought
(415) 422-2531 dowd@usfca.edu
At the University of San Francisco (USF), mission and identity activities are coordinated by the Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought. The Lane Center offers mission and identity programs and resources for the USF community to foster a rich and full understanding of the Jesuit Catholic tradition. We serve faculty, staff, administrators, alumni/ae, trustees and students to enhance mission effectiveness across the University.
USF Mission Statement
Vision
The University of San Francisco will be internationally recognized as a premier Jesuit Catholic, urban University with a global perspective that educates leaders who will fashion a more humane and just world.
Mission
The core mission of the University is to promote learning in the Jesuit Catholic tradition. The University offers undergraduate, graduate and professional students the knowledge and skills needed to succeed as persons and professionals, and the values and sensitivity necessary to be men and women for others.
The University will distinguish itself as a diverse, socially responsible learning community of high quality scholarship and academic rigor sustained by a faith that does justice. The University will draw from the cultural, intellectual and economic resources of the San Francisco Bay Area and its location on the Pacific Rim to enrich and strengthen its educational programs.
Core Values
The University's core values include a belief in and a commitment to advancing:
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The Jesuit Catholic tradition that views faith and reason as complementary resources in the search for truth and authentic human development, and that welcomes persons of all faiths or no religious beliefs as fully contributing partners to the University;
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The freedom and the responsibility to pursue truth and follow evidence to its conclusion;
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Learning as a humanizing, social activity rather than a competitive exercise;
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A common good that transcends the interests of particular individuals or groups; and reasoned discourse rather than coercion as the norm for decision making;
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Diversity of perspectives, experiences and traditions as essential components of a quality education in our global context;
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Excellence as the standard for teaching, scholarship, creative expression and service to the University community;
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Social responsibility in fulfilling the University's mission to create, communicate and apply knowledge to a world shared by all people and held in trust for future generations;
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The moral dimension of every significant human choice: taking seriously how and who we choose to be in the world;
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The full, integral development of each person and all persons, with the belief that no individual or group may rightfully prosper at the expense of others;
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A culture of service that respects and promotes the dignity of every person.
Programs, Events and Resources
Western Conversations
An annual gathering of faculty and staff representatives of the Western region Jesuit colleges and universities (Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Regis, Santa Clara, Seattle, and San Francisco) for an extensive and frank discussion of faculty experiences, expectations, and contributions to the identity and mission of Jesuit Catholic higher education; a heightened sense of inter-collegiate community; a shared and deepened appreciation of the Jesuit educational tradition; and a commitment to take the necessary steps to make that tradition effective in areas of teaching, counseling of students, and curriculum development. Support for this project comes from the presidents and Jesuit communities of the respective institutions. USF faculty and staff who have attended Western Conversations are invited to gather periodically to share ways in which the mission of USF impacts their teaching, research and service. USF last hosted Western Conversations in 2001. Ten people from USF attended the 2006 conference at Loyola Marymount University. Follow up programs have included Soup and Substance (1998-99) and The Heart of the Matter (2001), monthly discussion opportunities for faculty and staff on some aspect of Jesuit education.
Events
The Lane Center sponsors and promotes mission-based events on campus and in the community.
USF Jesuit Foundation
The USF Jesuit Foundation, established by a gift from the USF Jesuit Community, seeks to engage and foster the Catholic identity of USF by awarding grants semiannually to full time faculty and staff for the development of programs and structures that sustain the character and life of the University, including conferences, public events, curriculum development and research in the area of Jesuit mission and Ignatian spirituality.
University Ministry
Throughout the academic year, USF's University Ministry sponsors retreats, adult faith formation, community action programs, immersion programs, and the Justice Lecture Series that highlight the institution's mission and identity.
Commitment to Justice Conference
USF has sent a faculty and staff delegation, some of whom have presented papers, to the last two Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Education conferences at Santa Clara University (2000) and John Carroll University (2005).
Mission and Identity in the Curriculum
USF's schools and colleges, departments, and institutes sponsor programs that underscore the institution's Jesuit and Catholic identity. In the recent past, some of the more prominent USF agencies that have engaged in such programming include the:
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Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought
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Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership in the School of Education
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St. Ignatius Institute
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Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good
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Center for Law and Global Justice
The Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought, founded in 2004, enriches and enlivens the Jesuit, Catholic character of USF and engages and develops Catholic social thought for the church, the city and the world. The Center advances the scholarship and application of the Catholic intellectual tradition in the church and society with an emphasis on social concerns through academic programs, research and public praxis. The Lane Center administrates an undergraduate interdisciplinary minor in Catholic Studies and Social Thought. The Center also provides resources on Jesuit, Catholic mission and identity, coordinating programs, events and resources to the University community to enhance mission effectiveness.
The Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership (ICEL) coordinates academic offerings and community service programming for educators in Catholic and private education from throughout the nation. The program meets the needs of Catholic and private school administrators, religious and secular, and draws some of its students from the ranks of non-Catholic private school administrators. The institute offers a doctorate in education with a concentration in private education leadership, a master of arts in private school administration, community service symposia and conferences, workshops for diocesan teachers and administrators, and various research initiatives. ICEL also offers Summer West, a special six-week summer session of academic courses and workshops for master's and doctoral students from throughout the nation and the world who are preparing to assume leadership roles in Catholic and private schools.
The Saint Ignatius Institute, founded in 1976, is designed to provide an integrated curriculum based on the great books and authors of Western Civilization, with an emphasis upon works in the Catholic tradition. Students in the Saint Ignatius Institute live together in the same residence hall, engage in off-campus outings and spiritual retreats, and have opportunities to study abroad during their junior year in Rome, Budapest, and Oxford, England. The main curricular areas in the program are literature, philosophy, theology, fine arts, and history, and are offered in a seminar/lecture format.
The Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, founded in 2001, seeks to inspire and equip students for lives and careers of ethical public service and serving others. The Center sponsors academic programs, public events, service learning opportunities, conferences and faculty and student research that encourage civic engagement and ethical public leadership.
The Center for Law and Global Justice at the School of Law develops and implements international rule of law projects. Students may participate in research projects, Center sponsored internships in numerous countries, and the student published Journal of Law and Social Challenges. Center work focuses on migration and forced displacement; human rights protection; peace and democracy building; and economic development, with an emphasis on corporate responsibility. The Center has send law students and faculty all over the world including Cambodia, China, the Dominican Republic, India, Vietnam, the United States.
Mission and Identity in Research
The USF Office of Institutional Research in the Office of the Provost is responsible for the development and dissemination of institutional research and analytical studies relative to academic planning, policy formulation, administrative decision-making, and the fulfillment of the university mission. The Office places a special emphasis on research projects that support the university vision, mission, and values.
Mission and Identity in University Leadership
Orientation Programs
USF provides an overview of the Vision, Mission, and Values Statement to new students, trustees, faculty, and staff. An orientation is given to all incoming freshman and transfer students before the beginning of the fall semester. The president and the chairman of the board of trustees provide an orientation to new trustees the day before the full board meeting every September. An orientation for new faculty and staff is offered every three months, and is usually led by the president, though on occasion, another executive officer may lead the discussion of the Vision, Mission, and Values Statement.
Board of Trustees Committee on Catholic Identity and Jesuit Mission
This committee consists of the chairs of the different core committees of the board of trustees (academic affairs, university life, business and finance, and development). The primary goal of the committee is to ensure that USF's Catholic identity and Jesuit mission are incorporated into all facets of the board's work. The president, provost, and chief student affairs officer also participate in committee meetings. The committee meets after each full-board meeting to evaluate how well deliberations reflect the university's Jesuit Catholic mission. The committee led the full board on periodic retreats which focus on USF's Catholic identity and Jesuit mission.
Leadership Team Immersion Trips
Fr. Stephen Privett, S.J., president of USF, takes the sixteen members of his leadership team, including the deans, vice presidents, and the chief information officer on immersion experiences to El Salvador, Tijuana and Nicaragua since 2003. The purpose of the trips is to experience first hand that country's social, political, and economic challenges, to enhance the leadership team's understanding of what it means to be involved in Jesuit Catholic education and to fulfill USF's mission to educate leaders with a global perspective who will work for social justice.
Trustee and Alumni Immersion Trips
In June 2008, USF President Fr. Stephen Privett, SJ will lead the first immersion trip for members of the USF Board of Trustees and Alumni Board of Governors. The group will travel to El Salvador to learn firsthand how their experiences and struggle for justice inform the mission of USF.
Updated: 09/10/2009
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