CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION IN
EAST ASIA/OCEANIA, May 26-27, 2006, Philippines

 SECOND CONVERSATION:

What do you consider as positive elements in the relationship: between the Jesuits (as a community and as individuals) and your school; between yourself as head of school and the Provincial? What are the challenges that you experience in the relationship: between the Jesuits (as a community and as individuals) and your school; between yourself as head of school and the Provincial?

1.  POSITIVE ELEMENTS IN THE RELATIONSHIP

1.1. As a corporate body in the university, Jesuits (and the residence) provide consistency, continuity, constant presence, and symbol of the Society and its value system.

1.2. Jesuits are icons or carriers of university core values; they bring into focus the religious and spiritual dimensions of the university. This role is fulfilled through the following: demanding of excellence; commitment to teaching; cura personalis (being a spiritual companion and pastoral agent); total dedication and commitment to the school, students, families.

1.3. The Jesuit President has a role as one of the main promoters of the intellectual apostolate preference in the Province. He provides the Province with a whole array of specialized learning resources.

1.4. We benefit from good communication systems: regular meetings, informal interactions (e.g. lunch, Jesuit residence community access to President), regular discussion with the Provincial.

1.5. The university also benefits when the Provincial and the President work together like on the following areas: leadership selection and development, making positions on the political situation, giving talks. This close working relationship shows Jesuit concern and involvement in university, and fosters coherence and clarity in direction of the university.

2.  CHALLENGING ELEMENTS IN THE RELATIONSHIP

2.1. THE PRESENCE AND IMPACT OF JESUITS AS INDIVIDUALS

2.1.1. We are challenged by the following: dwindling number of Jesuits in the university, Jesuits’ lack of understanding of university work, low research and teaching performance, passive attitude, weakness in evangelizing work, and isolation from the main lifeline of the university upon reaching a certain age, upon retirement.

2.1.2. Jesuits can learn more how to work within university structures, e.g. departmental meetings, school council, school forums. This includes the following: respecting institutional processes and mechanisms; sensitivity to their role within university structures (e.g. leadership, negative impact, etc.); working under lay administrators and leaders; understanding that leadership as can be in unofficial and animating ways.

2.1.3. We can develop a greater appreciation of our ministry or apostolate of presence. Jesuit presence and participation in community events are important to the university.

2.1.4. We can help the next generation of Jesuits understand their roles and responsibilities, both the narrower scope and the bigger, deeper roles of witnessing to core values and presence.

2.2. THE PRESENCE AND IMPACT OF THE JESUIT COMMUNITY

2.2.1. The impact of the Jesuit community is weakened by current realities like aging membership, culture, basic attitudes and dispositions, perception as an exclusive group.

2.2.2. There are structural problems that lessen the impact of the Jesuit community like the following: the basic composition of the main Jesuit community residence, the presence of different Jesuit houses in campus, the non-presence of Jesuits active in the university, the difficulty to engage other Jesuits in conversation on university life due to their non-involvement.

2.3. OUR STRUCTURES OF GOVERNANCE

2.3.1. The relationship of the President and the Provincial

a. The Provincial has a crucial role to challenge the President to constantly strive to embody Jesuit values in the university structure; and to commit capable men for this.

b. We need to create the best structure to work together, including working with the Board and with the lay leadership.

c. This relationship can attend to longer-term planning and missioning of Jesuit manpower for the university. This includes the creation and formation of Jesuit-lay leadership teams for the university.

2.3.2. The relationship between the Director of Work (the President) and the Jesuit Community

a. We need to foster better collaboration and consensus, in view of the vision and future direction of the university, e.g. more lay leadership.

b. The superior of the community can play a crucial role in nurturing and promoting the mission and identity of the university.

2.4. OUR COMMON MISSION IN THE EDUCATIONAL APOSTOLATE

2.4.1. We need to define our mission more sharply given our respective contexts. We need to see our universities vis-à-vis standards like the Carnegie classification of universities (e.g. research). We seek to integrate our concerns for innovation and creativity, reputation and recognition, our continuing presence and impact, the diversity of our Catholic populations.

2.4.2. We need to define our mission considering the different norms (academic excellence, research, reputation and ranking, competitive and market factors) and the Jesuit norms (faith, justice, culture, inter-faith dialogue). We are struggling through all these, and attempting for balance and integration. Our schools straddle two worlds: the world of the market and the world of mission.

2.4.3. We can appreciate more deeply our academic mission and tradition vis-à-vis the different intellectual culture and currents defined in John O’Malley’s book, Four Cultures of the West (prophetic, virtue, research, arts). This can help us understand the diversity of perspectives and stances that co-exist in our university.

2.4.4. We live with the tension of institution values vis-à-vis discipline values and priorities that affects our mission and work like research. Many teachers have primary identification with their disciplines rather than with the university itself and its mission. Many studied in foreign contexts. As leaders we can push them toward a greater identification with university, and engage them in projects and questions that are more relevant to the bigger social context. We can help them achieve a balance between their career and our mission.

2.4.5. The schools are not ends in themselves. They are in the service of the greater mission of the Society. It helps to put our school mission in the bigger context of other apostolic missions.

2.4.6. Leaders have a role to transform the culture amid the difficulty and constraints in our contexts, e.g. competition pressures, unresponsive people.

2.4.7. We desire to recover our Ignatian and Christian character and identity. We seek greater clarification and proactiveness and assertion of our core values: who we are, what we stand for, why we do things.

2.4.8. We can search, define, and build the common identity and culture that govern our institutions, beyond cultural boundaries and differences. Examples are excellence, discipline, Jesuit presence, friendship. We can do this by telling stories, which make values and themes like excellence more embodied and alive in people’s hearts and minds. Telling stories builds common consciousness and community.

2.4.8. We need to decide who defines this mission and norms for our university: the role of Jesuits, the Provincial, the community, the governance structures, Province vis-à-vis Assistancy, lay partners, etc. We seek greater alignment of our university mission with Province directions. Through what means and structures can Jesuits contribute toward defining this mission?

3.  LEADING TO OUR NEXT CONVERSATION: OUR COLLABORATION

3.1. As universities which are Jesuit, we are called to appropriate the mission of the overall Society, as defined in the General Congregation documents, in particular: Faith and Justice, Inter-religious Dialogue, Culture. As individual institutions in the Assistancy, we can pursue these common directions, this “four-in-one” mission together. How can we effectively communicate this mission to a broad audience as possible, as much as possible without the Jesuit jargon. We can complement each others’ efforts knowing that we cannot implement all aspects of the mission as individual institutions. We can therefore work on a global mission through our local works.

3.2. Collaboration with Western institutions is perceived to happen more easily than among ourselves. We need to acknowledge our cultural, academic, financial and legal differences that can make our collaboration difficult. A good mutual knowledge and respect is a normal first step.

3.3. Initiatives in collaboration have been done in the areas of religious education, training of teachers, sharing of expertise.

3.4. We need to address the basic challenges of communication.

3.5. To build structures of collaboration, we need structures of conversation that deal with different concerns. These build us as community and co-workers in mission, nurturing our common spirit, a common culture of conversation, which we need for collaboration.           

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