Dear Loyola Community:
I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately. We’ve had a leadership transition in our national government. We’ve had leadership crises in our financial and corporate industries. We’ve seen inspiring leaders, frightening leaders, strong leaders, weak leaders, effective leaders and unethical leaders. I’ve been reading Stephen Covey’s newest book, The Speed of Trust, one of the best of the hundreds of books that have been written about the qualities needed to be a leader, scholarly analyses of the characteristics shared by leaders or case studies of the behaviors exhibited in routine and crisis situations.
A student of leadership my entire career, I’ll keep reading and reflecting on what it takes to be a trusting leader. I do know that above all, leaders are grounded in the knowledge that they have a mission to achieve, the vision to see opportunities and challenges in the pursuit of that mission, and the values to guide every decision of every day.
I believe that leaders have some innate qualities of leadership and that as an educator, I work with my colleagues to help your students become tomorrow’s leaders. Some Loyola students will be CEO, president, superintendent, or assume one of the numerous other titles we bestow upon our leaders. All Loyola students will be asked to show courage, integrity, energy, tenacity, initiative, and self-confidence, be they members of a work team, a community volunteer group, or a family.
To teach leadership, Loyola must model leadership. And we do.
Loyola is a leader in Catholic higher education. From our Mission Statement, we know that “Inspired by Ignatius of Loyola’s vision of finding God in all things, the University is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, while also offering opportunities for professional studies in undergraduate and selected graduate programs. Through teaching, research, creative activities, and service, the faculty, in cooperation with the staff, strives to educate the whole student and to benefit the larger community.” As a leader, Loyola has a Vision Statement to inspire its mission: “As a Catholic, Jesuit University, Loyola University New Orleans is an academic community dedicated to the education of the whole person. By thinking critically, acting justly students are to embody the Ignatian ideals of faith, truth, justice, and service. To meet these goals, the University will strive to become an increasingly selective university with outstanding liberal arts and sciences, professional, and graduate programs grounded in intellectual rigor and reflecting the more than 450 year Ignatian tradition.”
Now, the third element of the leadership equation is in place. Under the leadership of our president, Rev. Kevin W. Wildes, S.J., the Loyola Board of Trustees has approved a new strategic plan, Loyola 2012. This plan was the result of a very collaborative process involving faculty, staff and student leaders to develop a shared vision. Central to the process was the crafting of a Values Statement, informed by our Mission Statement and our Vision Statement, but going beyond those two to help us understand the fundamental reasons we make program and budgetary decisions here on campus. Let me share the Values Statement with you in full:
Values Statement
The Society of Jesus founded Loyola University New Orleans in 1912, after establishing schools in Louisiana starting in 1831. Inspired by their Ignatian and Catholic commitment to higher learning, our core values are the quality education of the whole person, intellectual rigor, creativity and expression, an appreciation for diversity, and a promise to foster critical thinking and just action among our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and in and for the community of New Orleans. We value responsible stewardship, service, and engagement with the world, and preparing our graduates to live ethical and productive lives. As we embrace our second century, Loyola is steadfast in its commitment to these principles, recognizing that living our values is essential to our identity, reputation and success. (Adopted May 15, 2009)
We value:
Our community
The world is our classroom and New Orleans is our home.
Acting justly
Our commitment to social justice changes lives and enhances learning.
Thinking critically
As a learning community, we prepare the mind, soul, and spirit through academic rigor.
Dignity and Respect for All
We welcome and celebrate diversity, the individual, and all creation.
Excellence
We hold ourselves to the highest standards in our study, service and the impact we have on the individual and the broader community.
About what you’d expect from Loyola, yes? Perhaps not in so many words, you have been familiar with these concepts from your earliest interactions with us, and when your student enrolled, you had a sense that these values were inherent in the campus culture. I hope this values statement is as assuring to you as it is to me.
Now, what does this mean for your student’s experience by 2012? We will be working hard to enhance our Jesuit values, improve student retention, and enhance reputation and stature. Let me give you some examples.
Enhance Jesuit Values
We will establish a Center for Volunteer and Public Service for a renewed focus on quality, on reflection, and in coordinating Loyola’s outreach into the community. Service will be more accessible to students, faculty-staff and alumni and there will be more support for all service-related entities and organizations at Loyola. We will advocate for growth in the overall number of such academic and co-curricular service experiences available to students.
We will increase collaboration with Jesuit Network to expand academic and non-academic collaborations with Jesuit colleges and universities across the U.S. and world-wide. Unique collaborative and cooperative programs and initiatives will be developed between Loyola and other Jesuit schools.
Improve Student Retention
We will develop a First-Year Experience grounded in academic first-year seminars and supported by learning communities – both residential and non-residential through Student Affairs and linkages with the Office of Mission and Ministry.
We will enhance the Athletic Program by increasing the number of intercollegiate athletic sports in which student-athletes may be recruited and participate. Women’s tennis will be added this fall.
We will introduce a Student-Parent Engagement and Communications Flow targeting especially students who are at a higher risk not to persist at Loyola.
We will create iLive (Ignatius Loyola Institute for Values Education) as a springboard for best practices in preparing students for civic-minded lives of purpose. To this end, the Institute would encompass first-year, sophomore, and capstone experiences; learning communities; wellness initiatives (substance abuse prevention & decision-making); student leadership; honor code; civic engagement (service learning & community service); and spirituality.
We will create an Academic Success Center with services designed to help all students succeed academically, take full advantage of curricular options such as internships and directed research, obtain on-time graduation, and secure post graduate employment or graduate school admission.
Enhance Reputation and Stature
We will enhance the Common Curriculum with a new core curriculum built on the current Common Curriculum, including discipline-specific courses in a wide variety of areas and a series of seminars that are intended to cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, in the process providing students with a broadly liberal education rooted in Jesuit values.
We will raise funds to support Faculty-Student Undergraduate Research across colleges and across disciplines for both undergraduate and graduate students.
We will improve the internationalization of the University, increasing the number of Loyola students who graduate with a study abroad experience. Internationalization will be part of the university culture with study abroad integrated into every major, with faculty working with colleagues abroad, doing research, and developing new study abroad programs, and with a diverse population of international students.
Now, clearly these goals are University-wide, and the Office of Student Affairs will have a central role over the next three years. Families of our first-year and sophomore students will see most of these goals implemented, and families of junior students will recognize great progress. What about next year, 2009-2010? Every good plan has to have a firm foundation, and next year will be that foundation. Our senior students will be important voices in the process.
All students returning to Loyola in the fall will experience immediate improvements. We are creating 30 learning communities to complement the First-Year seminars, and we are developing and implementing specific sophomore year experiences grounded in career development. A new bookstore provider, Follett Corporation, is making renovations to the bookstore. We hope you’ll check out the formerly vacant space in Carrollton Hall, which is undergoing renovations this summer as a “late-night” pizza hang-out. Also in the works are renovations to Carrollton Hall’s main lounge. In fact, renovations to residence hall lounges, and furniture/carpet replacements will be on-going over the next several years, yes…including Cabra!
Courage, integrity, energy, tenacity, initiative, and self-confidence: remember those words? They describe a leader. They describe Loyola. I have every faith in our ability to fulfill on our mission, with clear vision and strong values. I trust you feel the same, and invite you to send your questions and ideas to me anytime.
