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November 2008 Connections

Ignatian Colleagues Program Launches in January

Dr. Edward Peck, Executive Director

Ignatian Colleagues Program

On Sunday January 4, 2009, fifty administrators from 25 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States and Belize will gather as the inaugural cohort of The Ignatian Colleagues Program (ICP) at the White House--the White House Retreat Center in St. Louis, that is. The ICP is an 18-month program designed to deepen participants’ ability to understand, articulate and advance the Jesuit, Catholic mission on their campuses, across AJCU, and beyond. 

The need for this innovative new program arises not only from concerns about the declining number of Jesuits in higher education but also and perhaps more importantly from the shared belief that tomorrow’s challenges call for a critical mass of well-formed professionals who understand and can advance the Jesuit educational heritage.  In support of this program, the sponsoring Jesuit colleges, universities, and provinces have pooled their resources —both human and financial—to establish an office and appoint a full-time director to coordinate the national development and implementation of the program.

After a three-day Orientation Experience in St. Louis, participants will return to their campuses and, over the ensuing 18 months, participate in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola (or another form of sustained spiritual reflection for non-Christians), an international immersion trip, and a series of six interactive online workshops. The workshops cover a variety of topics, including: Ignatius and his first companions; the character of Jesuit, Catholic education; Ignatian views of faith; forming a well-educated solidarity, catholicity in Catholic higher education; and Ignatian pedagogy and discernment.

Like the ICP as a whole, the development of the online workshops is a model of collaboration among Jesuits, their professional colleagues, and other Jesuit organizations, including the AJCU. Each online workshop is developed by a series of content experts from different schools who consult with JesuitNET to develop and produce transformative learning experiences according to the Competency Assessment in Distributed Education (CADE) course design methodology.  Once developed, these workshop modules may be used by Jesuit colleges and universities to support their professional development efforts. The willingness of people to help develop and launch this program is inspiring and speaks well of the network-wide commitment to advance the mission of Jesuit higher education.

To personalize their online learning and integrate it into the rest of the program, participants will meet regularly with a campus mentor.  During these meetings, the participants will discuss the ongoing development of a “Mission Action Plan” (MAP).  The MAP will serve as a record of how participants are learning to articulate and implement what they appropriate in the program. 

In June 2010, at the conclusion of the first cohort, participants will gather for a three-day Capstone Experience in which they practice Ignatian discernment by applying what they have learned to practical leadership challenges and actual mission-based case studies. The cases will be presented, discussed, and reviewed by one of the presidents. Upon completion of the program, the alumni/ae will return to their campuses where they will implement what they have learned and mentor others for mission, including future ICP participants who are selected by their campus presidents. 

A new cohort of 50-60 people will launch in August 2009 and in each August thereafter.   For more information, please visit the ICP website at www.ignatiancolleagues.orgor contact the Executive Director Edward Peck (epeck@icolleagues.orgor 216-397-1594) at the ICP office on the campus of John Carroll University.