This progam is not currently in effect.
The Mentor for Mission Program for New Faculty helps the University build “a community of scholars who engage in an academic environment that is nourished by our Catholic mission and Marianist identity in order to form people in faith and justice.” (Characteristics of Marianist Universities, 2019, 19)
The program:
- welcomes and provides collegial support for our new faculty
- builds a foundational understanding of Catholic and Marianist thought processes
- explores the impact of Catholic and Marianist values and spirituality on teaching
- provides resources for continued faculty engagement
St. Mary’s University Mission Statement
St. Mary’s University, as a Catholic Marianist University, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence.
St. Mary’s mission reflects the Characteristics of a Marianist University, which includes five elements that characterize the Marianist approach to education:
- Educate for formation in faith
- Provide an integral, quality education
- Educate in family spirit
- Educate for service, justice, and peace, and integrity of creation
- Educate for adaptation and change
Through this program, St. Mary’s University reflects its welcoming community, one open to all people. As a Catholic Marianist university, we feel it is essential to our mission to embrace the diversity of each member, showing and communicating respect for one another as equals.
Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, the founder of the Society of Mary (the Marianists), brought people of all ages and stations of life together, to dedicate themselves to service through education and formation in faith. We at St. Mary’s University continue his legacy by fulfilling our own mission to foster the development of each community member, their gifts and their talents, and is committed to building a community where each of its members feels support and encouragement.
At St. Mary’s, we “acknowledge the value of inclusivity and the dignity of every member cultivating the ground in which genuine relationships can take root and flourish.” (Characteristics of A Marianist University, 17-19)
The Mentor for Mission Program for New Faculty has faculty consider in a more intentional and engaged manner the following questions:
- Who is St. Mary’s University?
- What is distinctive about St. Mary’s University?
- Why are we here?
- Where are we in the history of the institution and where are we going as a Catholic Marianist University?
- When did St. Mary’s start and is now as significant as then for the University to who it is and what it stands for?
- How does St. Mary’s University Catholic Marianist mission connect with each faculty member, in pedagogy, scholarship, service, and spirit?
Each new faculty member is paired with a senior faculty member. Each mentor helps the new faculty member with developing an awareness of available campus resources; serves as an exemplar, modeling the small, welcoming community atmosphere at St. Mary’s, as was so important to the founder of the Society of Mary, Blessed William Joseph Chaminade; introduces the new faculty member to the distinctiveness of our Core Curriculum, the Characteristics of a Marianist Education, and the Catholic identity of the University while together they attend program events, meet one-on-one, and, when possible, support each other’s development as educators.
New Faculty Mentor for Mission Program: Program Review and Next Steps
April 16, 2021
Opening Prayer:
- Jessica Uhlig, EdD, Executive Director, Marianist Educational Associates (MEA) Program
Facilitators:
- Alicia Cordoba Tait, DMA, Beirne Director of the Center for Catholic Studies, Professor of Oboe
- Jessica Uhlig, EdD, Executive Director, Marianist Educational Associates (MEA) Program
- Rev. William Myer, SM, Associate Vice President for Mission and Rector