A Message from President Aceves

Campus Conversations: To think and imagine together toward the future

In early January, I highlighted selecting the pillars that will support and sustain our strategic plan as a significant milestone in the planning process. Last week we shared that between March 6 and April 6, there are six conversations scheduled with faculty and staff to build on important input collected during the Mission Priority Examen process. In preparation for our time together, I asked Dr. Christopher Pramuk, Regis University Chair of Ignatian Thought and Imagination, and an Associate Professor of Theology to please summarize the Mission Priority Examen (MPE) process, share the MPE documents, and frame our discussions.

Dr. Pramuk writes:

“During the 2021-2022 academic year, the Regis University community engaged in our second Mission Priority Examen (MPE) process, a rigorous self-study that the Society of Jesus has asked all Jesuit universities to complete every five years (our first MPE was conducted in 2016-2017). Stakeholders from across the university (staff, faculty, students, Board of Trustees), as well as leaders from other Jesuit apostolates in the Denver area, were invited to participate in listening sessions centered around the following question: What are we doing now so that in 20 years Regis will thrive as a vibrant Jesuit Catholic University? Participants were invited to name their joys (or consolations) and their yearnings (or desolations) in three areas of focus: (1) Formation on in the Ignatian Tradition; (2) Education Towards a Faith that Does Justice; and (3) Engagement with Companion Institutions. 

The resulting 2021-2022 MPE Self-Study Report, now available to the Regis community here details Regis Leadership’s commitment to mission in the last five years (Part I); the progress we have made and shortfalls since the 2017 MPE (Part II); results of the 2021-2022 MPE (Part III); and summary “Conclusions and Resolutions” looking to the future (Part IV, available by itself here. While a Peer Visiting Team will help us complete the MPE process in the fall, the completion of the Self-Study is a major step forward that provides an opportunity to discern together with President Aceves toward the development of a Strategic Plan for Regis University.

The Campus Conversations seek to open a space for shared discernment regarding the Jesuit Catholic University of the future. If you could imagine one or more key “pillars” of the Strategic Plan that are informed by the Mission Statement and the MPE Resolutions, what would they be? Additionally, given that the MPE Self-Study focused on three specific areas and did not attempt to cover everything, what have we not yet considered in looking toward the Strategic Plan? What is not addressed by the MPE that ought to be part of the Jesuit Catholic University of the future? We invite you to review as much of the report as you can before participating in the Conversations, or at least Part IV, its Conclusions and Resolutions, and reflect on the questions above as you are able.”

I am grateful to Dr. Pramuk for crafting this wonderful and helpful summary. I am equally grateful to Fr. Burke, Vice President for Mission and the Mission team for being companions on our journey to ensure Regis thrives as a vibrant Jesuit Catholic University.

Kindly,

Salvador D. Aceves, Ed.D
President