In the spirit of reflection, we pose these questions as an opportunity to extend the conversation. We hope that by offering these ideas, the discussion continues on your campus – with colleagues, with students, and with your community.
If ours were the only Jesuit university/college remaining of the 28 in the United States, and students’ ability to receive a Jesuit education depended wholly on my choices, what decisions would I make regarding curriculum? Research? Our department or division? Our university/college? How would the urgency of the situation affect the way I relate to colleagues in a common purpose?
What do I notice in my own reactions to the ideas of cura personalis and cura apostolica? What animates those reactions? What kinds of care does our common work require right now, and what might I contribute to it?
Who are my colleagues and I for each other? What metaphors inform how we relate to the work of our school and our place in it?
How might we grow in our ability to exercise cura apostolica? (See Stephanie Russell’s article)
Has your university/college taken part in the Mission Priority Examen? How do we weigh external accreditation in decision-making processes? Do the goals for your institution match the priorities for Jesuit Catholic mission and identity?
How do you personally model the mission with students?
What policies and procedures are in place (or need to be in place) to make decisions where mission is considered transparently (e.g., hiring, budget)?
What kinds of opportunities are available for students, staff, faculty, and administration to engage with mission and to learn more deeply about the mission. Does your institution have a vigorous Formation for Leadership in Mission for faculty and staff?
Does your institution take a mission-centered approach to contracts for labor, construction, food in such a way that it upholds the dignity of contracted laborers?
How does shared governance promote the idea of cura apostolica? In what ways do you see mission applied in your university/college’s ways of proceeding, particularly utilizing the concepts of cura apostolica and cura personalis?