Answers to Questions of
Fr. Thomas Roach, S.J.
Based on Conversations on JHEAO
held in Antipolo on May 2006

In line with the questions posed by the Secretary for Education for the Society of Jesus, Fr. Thomas Roach, S.J., in preparation for the World Meeting of University Rectors/Presidents, the following are answers based on the Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education in East Asia and Oceania (JHEAO): 

What are the five main challenges/priorities facing our Jesuit universities in the next decade?

 1. The presence of Jesuits as individuals and as a community in the university

• Jesuit universities are challenged by the dwindling number of Jesuits active in the university and the difficulty to engage other Jesuits in conversation on university life due to their non-involvement.
• The impact of the Jesuit community is weakened by current realities like aging membership, culture, basic attitudes and dispositions, perception as an exclusive group.
• There are structural problems that lessen the impact of the Jesuit community like the basic composition of the main Jesuit community residence and the presence of different Jesuit houses in campus.

2. The impact of Jesuits and their individual roles in the university

• Jesuit universities are challenged by their 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 or upon retirement.
• The need of Jesuits to learn more on how to work within university structures such as respecting institutional processes and mechanisms and sensitivity to their role within university structures.
• The need to develop a greater appreciation of Jesuit ministry or apostolate presence and participation in community events which are important to the university.
• The need to help the next generation of Jesuits to better understand their roles and responsibilities of witnessing to core values and presence.

3. The Jesuit structure of governance and its impact to the universities

• The crucial role of the Provincial to challenge the President to constantly strive to embody Jesuit values in the university structure and to commit capable men for this.
• The need to create the best structure to work together in order to foster better collaboration and consensus in view of the vision and future direction of the university.
• The need to attend to longer-term planning and missioning of Jesuit manpower for the university.
• The crucial role of the superior of the community to nurture and promote the mission and identity of the university.

4. The Jesuit common mission in the educational apostolate

• The need to sharply define the Jesuit mission in order to set university standards and to integrate university concerns for innovation, creativity, reputation and recognition.
• The need to define the Jesuit mission considering the different norms like academic norms (e.g. academic excellence, research, reputation and ranking, competitive marketing factors) Jesuit norms (faith, justice, culture, inter-faith dialogue) in order to create a balance and integrate the world of market and the world of mission.
• The need to deeply appreciate the Jesuit academic mission and tradition vis-à-vis the different intellectual culture and currents (prophetic, virtue, research, arts) in order to better understand the diversity of perspectives and stances that co-exist in the university.
• The challenge to push teachers toward a greater identification with university mission and to engage them in projects that are more relevant to the bigger social context,
• The need to recover the Ignatian and Christian character and identity.
• The need to seek, define and build common identity and culture that govern Jesuit institutions, beyond cultural boundaries and differences.
• The need to decide who defines the mission and norms for the universities: the role of Jesuits, the Provincial, the community, the governance structures and lay partners.

5. The collaboration among Jesuits and its institutions

• The need to appropriate the Jesuit mission of the overall society and to effectively communicate this mission to a broad audience without the Jesuit jargon.
• The need to pursue the “four-in-one” mission (Faith, Justice, Inter-religious Dialogue, Culture) together.
• The need to acknowledge the cultural, academic, financial and legal differences that can make collaboration difficult.
• The need to build structures of collaboration by building structures of conversation that deal with different concerns.

What are the current practices of collaboration among ourselves across apostolic lines?

• Networking and working both among ourselves and beyond (intra and extra) to leverage with international Jesuit connections.
• Exploring possible practical entry points and opportunities at the ground level like concrete initiatives of individual schools (e.g.) Japanese programs, Chinese programs, leadership training programs, student exchange programs, online courses.
• Building linkages and working toward building Asian Identity and the identity of the Society in Asia.
• Assistance in the training of younger generation of Jesuit professors in order to bridge the gap between the young and old generation of Jesuits.
• Training of agents of transformation at the Asian level toward the formation of Asian identity like the experience of EAPI and SEARSOLIN and collaboration on specific technology and development projects.
• Focusing on leadership formation, particularly investing in those who will be carriers of values.
• Sharing of human resources among different Jesuit centers and institutions.
• Maximizing the benefits of information and communication technology in our collaborative efforts.
• The continuation of regular conversation among ourselves.