Mission Priority Examen
October 23, 2024
Dear Members of the Saint Louis University Community:
As you may be aware, the Society of Jesus has established a cooperative self-study and peer review process for advancing the Catholic and Jesuit identity of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States and Belize, and with our Canadian partners. Administered collaboratively with the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), this Mission Priority Examen (MPE) has renewed enthusiasm for our common mission and provided a structure for setting practical goals for the future.
An important element of the MPE process is the on-site peer visit by a small group of colleagues from other Jesuit colleges and universities. As the chair of the visiting team for Saint Louis University, I want to express how grateful we are for your generous participation in the Mission Priority Examen, over recent months. Whether through in-person meetings or other forms of input, we will most definitely benefit from your insights. It is our hope to journey with you during this visit, learn with you about the mission commitments and potential of Saint Louis University, and offer you feedback designed to help you refine your mission priorities going forward.
Our intention is to ground the MPE visit in the style and spirit of the Ignatian Examen, adapted to shared, community conversations. The choice of the term “Examen,” both for our visit and for your own reflection, is intentional. It grounds our process in the gratitude that is inherent in our Jesuit character and emphasizes that the MPE is a prayerful and collegial exercise, in which dialogue plays a major part.
During the visit, which is scheduled for October 29-31, 2024 you can expect members of the Peer Visitor Team to engage in a series of listening sessions, asking questions such as:
- What are you grateful for, as you consider the ways in which the Saint Louis University community lives out its Jesuit, Catholic identity and mission values?
- What aspirations and hopes do you have to enhance the understanding and expression of these mission values in the future?
- Where do you see yourself and your work in the Mission Priorities advanced in the self[1]study?
- In what ways might you work toward the Magis (i.e., the greater or more universal good) for Saint Louis University’s students and those who guide and work with them?
Our MPE visiting team is comprised of colleagues active in various dimensions of the mission at other Jesuit institutions:
- Mardell A. Wilson, EdD, RDN (Chair) – Provost – Creighton University
- Daniel R. J. Joyce, S.J. – Vice President of Mission& Ministry – Saint Joseph’s University
- Michael Serazio, PhD - Professor – Department of Communication – Boston College
We look forward to learning from and with you during our visit. SLU's self-study report can be read in full at https://www.slu.edu/mission-identity/-pdf/mission-examen-report-2024.pdf.
If I can assist you or respond to any questions or suggestions you may have, please let me know. Additional information on the Mission Priority Examen can be found at https://ajcunet.edu/ mission-and-identity/mission- priority-examen/.
On behalf of our entire team let me express my gratitude for your time and attention to this important exercise. We are very much looking forward to our visit and engagement with the SLU community.
Sincerely,
Mardell A. Wilson, EdD, RDNMPE Visiting Team Chair
mardellwilson@creighton.edu