Mercy, The Principal Path Mission Officers and Boards: Development for Mission October 3, 2016 Catherine McMahon, RSM – Special Assistant to the President for Mission and Planning Gwynedd Mercy University

Elements of Mission Formation for Trustees at one Mercy University Mission introduced as priority during initial conversations with potential trustees, president and current Board members Orientation program incorporates a segment on sponsorship, heritage, mission and core values Ongoing formation includes a yearly half day mission retreat and specially created meeting prayers which incorporate mission/mercy themes Mission Officer participates with Board Committee on Governance and Trustees to keep Board apprised of Mission activity and concerns on campus.

Orientation The Sisters of Mercy invite and encourage their ministries to respond to the call of the gospel and to address the critical concerns of our day as part of the mission of each sponsored institution. This may be in direct service or it may be to promote systemic change through influence and through prayer. Make explicit the relationship and accountablity to the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and the agenda and Critical Concerns of the order.

Orientation Stewarding the Vision(GMercyU) preserving spiritual meaning in the face of opposing paradigms – once spiritual dimension is lost, it would be hard to make a case for Catholic education maintaining an ethic of service in the midst of market forces developing new structures to ensure continuity of founding vision and accountability for ministry in the name of the Church fostering personal and corporate commitment to the institutional mission and values promoting Catholic/Mercy identity in a pluralistic environment Stewardship of Mission and Identity is a primary fiduciary responsibility of trustees

Annual Retreat Outcomes Trustees will be conversant with the basic concepts of Ex Corde and principles of Catholic Intellectual and Social Teaching as they relate to the fundamental stewardship of the Catholic identity of the University. Trustees will be able to articulate the basic story of the foundation of Mercy in Catherine McAuley and to understand the current governance, concerns and direction of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Trustees will experience firsthand interaction with faculty, staff and students to ascertain mission integration in various aspects of the teaching leaning environment.

Annual Retreat Design Each year will have a content portion on one or more topics alternating between the Catholic Foundation and the Mercy Charism. Each year will include an application/process piece including conversations with faculty, staff and students aligned with content presentations.

Content Examples Catholic (Stewarding the Foundation) Ex Corde, CST, CIT, Issues in CHEducation Resources: ACCU, Sister of Mercy, Theologians Mercy (Stewarding the Charism) Catherine/Legacy, Critical Concerns Resources: CMHE, ILT, Justice Teams, Sisters of Mercy, MIA website

Application/Process Examples Curricular General Education, Service Learning, FYE, Assessment Resources: Internal faculty/staff, External experts Co-curricular activities Community Service (ASB, Intercollegiate immersion experiences (Dublin, UN, DC, Ireland, Peru, etc.) Resources: Internal staff, students, CMHE Faculty/staff Mission Leadership Academy Members Carlow Roundtable Participants ASB/Immersion experiences with students Resources: Internal faculty/staff/ External experts  

Sample Plan Year Content Application/process Presenters 2014 The Story or Mercy then and Now including Circle of Mercy video and presentations by Young Mercy Pilgrims Engage faculty, staff and students in conversation around preparing Distinctive Mercy Graduates Pilgrims, Gen Ed Task Force Members 2015 Issues in Catholic Higher Education Conversation with Deans and VP’s about area specific challenges related to CHE ACCU, Deans, DoS, VP’s 2016 CMHE/ Sponsorship Conversations about sponsorship CMHE Director, Tina, RSM’s 2017 CST and Critical Concerns of Mercy Engage with MLA scholars about application of program in their work Marie Michele, John Collins, Raph/Heather or CST Scholar 2018 Ex Corde Engage Campus Ministry and CM students in conversation about Catholic identity challenges Barbara McCrabb, Campus Ministers, Students 2019 CIT Conversations about assessment of new Gen ED CIT Scholar TBD, Assessment Director, Faculty

Prayer Prayer for the opening of all meetings is designed to incorporate themes of Mercy, heritage, social justice, Critical Concerns, etc.

Structure In order to provide ongoing attention to mission related activity and issues for the full Board, the mission officer who is a member of the President’s Executive Council sits on the Board Committee on Governance and Trustees, makes a quarterly report on current activity and designs processes to engage trustees in mission critical conversations and activities (currently those related to the CMHE Peer Review and the MSCHE self- study).

Thank you Table Conversations Q&A