While this article is not about women's colleges or exclusively women presidents, the author notes, it is women's colleges that have experienced the greatest challenges, due primarily to financial constraints and competition. As operational costs escalated and choices for students increased, many small struggling colleges with little or…

This article describes the processes and procedures the University of Saint Joseph used to conduct a systematic assessment of mission-related student-learning outcomes found in the General Education curriculum, and thus assess how well the institution was fulfilling its Mercy mission. The assessment showed student learning strengths and gaps and…

The University of St. Joseph, a Mercy institution, was founded during the Great Depression to provide women a gateway to higher education for careers in fields that would serve the well-being of society. Recently, the institution has undergone changes to modernize its organizational structure. Consistent with its commitment to educate people of…

This article explores the current and historical importance of business to the Mercy ministries, and the ways in which business programs at Mercy colleges and universities exemplify and promote their charism. Mission statements, faculty and staff development activities, research, curricular and extracurricular initiatives, community service, and…

The "DePaul Mission and Values Inventory" ("DMV") was validated based on the mission, identity, and values of a large, urban, Catholic, Vincentian institution. We examined the suitability of the "DMV" at a small, suburban, Catholic, Franciscan university. A sample of 275 undergraduates (218 women, 57 men:…

"Born from the heart of the church," a Catholic university that educates nurses is engaged in the "formation of the heart"; that is, in forming students who have a heart that "sees where love is needed and acts accordingly." Precisely because the identity and mission of the Catholic university make public its…

The powerful and complex mandates arising from reports such as "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health" and "Health Professionals for a New Century: Transforming Education to Strengthen Health Systems in an Interdependent World" challenge colleges and universities to reconsider how they deliver nursing…

The phrase "Catholic intellectual tradition" appears in many self-descriptions of Catholic colleges and universities. It communicates the identity of these institutions to the broader Catholic community, to members of the particular college or university community, and to the broader academic world. The phrase "Catholic intellectual…

This article builds on an essay the author published twenty years ago in "Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education" that examined the viability of John Henry Newman's "Idea of a University" against Catholic campus life and the just-released "Ex corde Ecclesiae". The current essay briefly notes those earlier key points made in the first article,…

Catholic universities need to develop strong Catholic identities. Yet, equally pressing is the need to welcome and value non-Catholic scholars, including their contributions to the university's Catholic mission and their critical assessments of the Catholic tradition. Blessed John Henry Newman embodies both Catholic faithfulness and exemplary…

This article uses the work of Anthony J. Gittins to reframe our understanding of Catholic higher education as mission. The broad adoption of this framework would require a common intellectual foundation, the possibility of which is dismissed by many. An accessible ontology is implied, however, in the existential analysis and theology of Karl…

Building on "Vocation of the Business Leader," the recently released document from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, along with input from Catholic business and educational leaders from around the world, this essay examines five pillars on which a Catholic business school should build its mission: foundations; the purpose of…

Although Catholic universities face a number of challenges in an increasingly unsettled economy, the situation also provides significant opportunities for Catholic universities to highlight the central importance of their Catholic identity in order both to recover their deepest commitments and to realize an advantage in an increasingly competitive…

By virtue of its divine vocation, Catholic business education must be mission driven. In reality, however, mission drift and failure to maintain distinctiveness are widespread among Catholic business schools (CBS). Many believe that a trade-off between academic quality and Catholicity is unavoidable, and opt for accommodating the expectations of…

The challenge for faculty teaching in Catholic business schools is how to integrate the University's mission and identity as well as the principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) into business school courses. Such integration is necessary if Catholic business schools are to provide students with a unique educational experience. This…