Strategic plan

OUR VISION

To become institutions that promote peace and reconciliation, justice and faith through research and the formation of students, in order to transform society and culture.

OUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

1. Create a vibrant network of regional associations of Jesuit higher education institutions in order to assist them with collaboration, both within and among the Conferences.
2. Implement the calls of General Congregations 35 and 36: that all our institutions should promote a faith that does justice and become communities of discernment and reconciliation.
3. Better serve the mission of the Church by advancing Catholic Social Thought through teaching, research and advocacy.
4. Foster collaboration and research among and between scholars and institutions within the IAJU on priority issues and challenges.

OUR STRATEGIES

• Establish a formal network, the International Association of Jesuit Universities (IAJU) to link institutions and serve as the vehicle for advancing the implementation of a strategic agenda. The IAJU will serve as a vehicle for communication from and to the Society of Jesus and Jesuit institutions.
• Create a platform for communications, such as a Jesuit Digital Network, to link our institutions for the sharing of resources—archival, pedagogical, research, etc.—in order to facilitate creative collaborations and effective distribution of our resources, especially linking those rich in resources with those without such resources.
• Support the creation of effective conference associations in each of the six conferences of the Society in order to encourage planning and collaboration within the region, and between and among regions.
• Create effective research and development program(s) that will assist the regions and the collaboration efforts, to promote effective implementation of the priority issues and help measure success.
• Collaborate with all our Jesuit apostolates (schools, parishes, spirituality centers, communications and media, etc.), in order to be of mutual assistance in the promotion of the following priority issues.

OUR PRIORITIES

IAJU seeks to promote collaboration, research and programming within and among our institutions to advance the following priorities:

• Expand our efforts to bring higher education to the marginalized and the disadvantaged through access to our institutions and through collaboration with groups such as Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) that seek to bring quality education and degree programs to those who are displaced and lack access to quality education.
• Promote programs of formation of civic and political leaders to better serve the common good, stressing the responsibility of the political class to build sustainable, humane and just societies, using Catholic Social Teaching as our “curriculum.”
• Promote awareness and a sense of urgency for an integrated economic and environmental justice through education and advocacy in all our schools—secondary and tertiary.
• Increase our efforts to better preserve and develop the Ignatian character of our schools through the formation of lay and Jesuit leadership.
• Promote interfaith dialogue and collaboration on our campuses, and address the challenge of secularism and materialism that negates the importance of faith for full human and social development.
• Promote the study and practice of peace and reconciliation through programs that build bridges and teach critical skills, and through all of our social justice projects in the wider university.

MEASUREMENT OF OUTCOMES

Every three years, the IAJU will conduct an assessment, through surveys and institutional self-reports, of progress toward these priorities and review its own success in attaining the stated goals of this plan, and report back to the full assembly

CORE VALUES

COLLABORATION

Our plan and priorities are guided and conditioned by our values of collaboration between and among Jesuits and Laity, between and among different disciplines, and between and among institutions.

DEPTH

We seek depth in understanding for both research and pedagogical purposes in order to avoid superficial interpretation of the truth or of motives and intentions of others.

DISCERNMENT

We believe that the process of Ignatian discernment can assist our communities in understanding and assessing the challenges and opportunities of our times. Through the process of discernment, we prepare the ground for the transformation of both ourselves and our communities.

A PREFERENTIAL OPTION FOR THE POOR

Taking our lead from the Gospels (and heeding the call of the previous General Congregations and the teachings of the Church), we recognize the privileged place occupied by the poor and marginalized, and the claim they have on our talents and our time.