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SJU and the Future: Measured Steps Forward by Myroslaw Tataryn, Interim President and Vice-Chancellor photo: Bryn Gladding University life, and especially university life in a small, Catholic liberal arts institution, is no longer simply about "what I do in my classroom." The recently published book Catholic Higher Education: A Culture in Crisis, by Melanie Morey and John Piderit, examines the views of senior administrators of Catholic universities and colleges and draws this conclusion: "If there is to be a future for Catholic culture in Catholic colleges and universities, those concerned and involved must be able to do three things. First, they must differentiate the elements that constitute a rich, coherent Catholic culture from those that dissipate it. Second, they must be adept at identifying new actions or strategies that will strengthen the Catholic culture. And third, they must be capable and willing to promote these new actions and strategies over a long period of time within their own institutions." Fortunately, we are assisted in these endeavours by the changing interests and values of our students. Research into the attitudes of university students today suggests that they are searching for venues in which they can engage life's big questions, holistically grounding themselves in our increasingly pluralistic society. Morey and Piderit characterize institutions which respond successfully to these expectations as "transformational in nature, not just transactional... [teaching] people not only how to earn a living but how to live a life in a moral sense, an ethical sense, in a value sense." They identify two conditions necessary for the existence and continuance of a Catholic university: "distinguishability and inheritability." How does St. Jerome's perform using measures of this kind and how can we build on the achievements of the past? We have inherited an academic regime that includes a professoriate known for strong teaching, classes that remain relatively small, innovative interdisciplinary programs, and superb students who go on to be significant contributors to society in many fields. Using the standard of "inheritability," St. Jerome's is strong and able to hold its own in the highly competitive post-secondary environment in Ontario. To meet the measure of "distinguishability," we need to give real substance to the four words which characterize what we call "the St. Jerome's advantage": "tradition," "wonder," "reason" and "passion." Living our mission, living up to the claims made by these four words, would foster our distinguishability and help make us the transformational and life-giving institution that we wish to be. We embellish our tradition in the newly launched Master of Catholic Thought program, in our partnership with Wilfrid Laurier University's new Faculty of Education and local Catholic school boards to supply pre-service instruction for Catholic teachers, and in our agreements with a number of international Catholic universities. We encourage wonder when we provide opportunities for more holistic human interaction than is usually possible in the classroom environment. Our pilot uPod project creating relationships and contexts for students outside the classroom--is just one example. But we also need to facilitate the vocations of our younger faculty and staff, and create venues which will allow us to engage each other in our own big questions, our questions of vocation, our questions of life. We engage reason--that watchword of the academy--when we commit to planning for the foreseeable future, recognizing our strengths, our potential and our limits. Reason compels us to measure and assess our students' experience and the way our graduates perceive their SJU experience in retrospect. Recent enhancements in support for faculty research must be augmented by innovations in our approach to teaching. The scholarship of both teaching and learning must be nurtured at St. Jerome's. We spark passion when we demonstrate what we all know to be true: the measurable benefits of a liberal arts education in creating future leaders; the importance of service learning as an expression of social justice through international placement programs like Intercordia-Beyond Borders; the critical need for student engagement, creating an environment for our students that models the kind of society which we would like to build; the fostering of a true spirit of collegiality by selecting and developing the right faculty and staff for the SJU community; and the embracing of our position as a leader in Catholic higher education in Canada. These are the measures by which our mission is extended beyond the academy to become a living image of our foundational values. „ 2