Illuminate Our Mission and Charism
Both within St. Thomas’ campuses and in our broader community, we will further illuminate the charism of St. Thomas and fully embrace our Catholic mission to educate for the common good.
Through new and existing collaborations with global Catholic organizations such as Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Healthcare and the Global Catholic Climate Movement, we will strengthen our global identity as a Catholic institution dedicated to mitigating global problems. In our classrooms and throughout our campuses, we will further illuminate the gift of our charism and help our students adopt a lifelong commitment to solving challenges and serving others as principled leaders. Continued and expanded mission and charism conversations and dialogue with faculty, staff, alumni and the Board of Trustees will deepen our community’s understanding and appreciation of our unique tradition.
We will serve students of all faiths and engage alumni and other community members by offering ways to deepen their spirituality and understanding of faith. Campus Ministry will offer rich and diverse opportunities for the spiritual development of all students, no matter where they are on their faith journey.
Related Themes
| 2025 Strategic Plan | Lean In to Our Catholic Mission | Strengthen Culture as We Embrace Change |
|---|---|---|
| Illuminate Our Mission and Charism | Priority | Priority |
See how the Themes and Priorities of the 2025 Strategic Plan interweave.
Measuring Progress
Success Metrics
- Strengthen connections to our mission within the St. Thomas community.
- Expand opportunities for faculty and develop opportunities to staff to experience our Catholic mission. Measure expansion by the number of Office of Mission offerings for faculty and staff and the number of faculty and staff who participate in these offerings. Deepen connection to the Mission for all new employees through intentional and continual programming.
- For students, increase welcoming and belonging in mission programming through inviting and engaging programming for all. Broaden outreach to all students and expand the number of students who participate in Campus Ministry and Office of Mission programs, including student participation in interfaith offerings.
- Continue to develop the Board of Trustees’ formation around mission.
- With faculty, develop a mission inventory to track engagement of the mission across the university and measure the program’s impact on sense of belonging, meaning, purpose and engagement with the St. Thomas mission.
- Increase Office of Mission community engagement opportunities throughout campus, including events hosted at the Iversen Center for Faith (organ concerts, art gallery showings, etc.).
- Engage alumni with our mission through programming and service opportunities.
- Establish and maintain partnerships with local and national Catholic organizations.
- Build and maintain strong relationship with Archdiocesan partners and Catholic schools, parishes and local nonprofit organizations.
- Convene conversations and provide education and understanding to the broader Catholic community on Catholic Social Teaching, including social justice and racial justice.
- Establish and maintain connections with the Catholic Health Association.
- Deepen connections to the global Church.
- Build on our relationships with the Vatican Congregation for Education and the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development through regular interactions and communication.
Progress Update, February 2022
The St. Thomas 2025 Strategic Plan debuted in February 2021. We continually track and report on our progress; here are key developments from the past year, as of February 2024:
To further embed the importance of our mission to our internal community, the Office of Mission has expanded mission formation programs to units across campus, including to Student Affairs staff. We are now in conversation with the Morrison College of Health for a similarly tailored experience for their faculty and staff. Outreach to the community has expanded through very well-attended Sacred Arts concerts in the chapel and exhibitions that feature our collection of sacred arts.
We are implementing a new initiative to provide mission assessment to outside entities. This will begin with Christus Health, a Catholic hospital network based in Texas. St. Thomas faculty and staff will assess their internal mission work and offer guidance.
Key Leaders
- Fr. Christopher Collins, Vice President for Mission
Success Metrics
Success Metrics
- Strengthen connections to our mission within the St. Thomas community.
- Expand opportunities for faculty and develop opportunities to staff to experience our Catholic mission. Measure expansion by the number of Office of Mission offerings for faculty and staff and the number of faculty and staff who participate in these offerings. Deepen connection to the Mission for all new employees through intentional and continual programming.
- For students, increase welcoming and belonging in mission programming through inviting and engaging programming for all. Broaden outreach to all students and expand the number of students who participate in Campus Ministry and Office of Mission programs, including student participation in interfaith offerings.
- Continue to develop the Board of Trustees’ formation around mission.
- With faculty, develop a mission inventory to track engagement of the mission across the university and measure the program’s impact on sense of belonging, meaning, purpose and engagement with the St. Thomas mission.
- Increase Office of Mission community engagement opportunities throughout campus, including events hosted at the Iversen Center for Faith (organ concerts, art gallery showings, etc.).
- Engage alumni with our mission through programming and service opportunities.
- Establish and maintain partnerships with local and national Catholic organizations.
- Build and maintain strong relationship with Archdiocesan partners and Catholic schools, parishes and local nonprofit organizations.
- Convene conversations and provide education and understanding to the broader Catholic community on Catholic Social Teaching, including social justice and racial justice.
- Establish and maintain connections with the Catholic Health Association.
- Deepen connections to the global Church.
- Build on our relationships with the Vatican Congregation for Education and the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development through regular interactions and communication.
Progress Update
Progress Update, February 2022
The St. Thomas 2025 Strategic Plan debuted in February 2021. We continually track and report on our progress; here are key developments from the past year, as of February 2024:
To further embed the importance of our mission to our internal community, the Office of Mission has expanded mission formation programs to units across campus, including to Student Affairs staff. We are now in conversation with the Morrison College of Health for a similarly tailored experience for their faculty and staff. Outreach to the community has expanded through very well-attended Sacred Arts concerts in the chapel and exhibitions that feature our collection of sacred arts.
We are implementing a new initiative to provide mission assessment to outside entities. This will begin with Christus Health, a Catholic hospital network based in Texas. St. Thomas faculty and staff will assess their internal mission work and offer guidance.
Key Leaders
Key Leaders
- Fr. Christopher Collins, Vice President for Mission