The University is making sure its heart and head are well connected. The Division of Mission and Identity hired professor of theology Gillian Ahlgren as its director for faculty programming, a three-year assignment designed to create programming to help faculty integrate the University’s Ignatian principles into their thinking and teaching. A number of programs have been installed to date, including a one-year program for mid-level faculty called “Time to Think.” The program uses funds from a Lilly Fellow Program grant to provide a stipend to faculty who have been at Xavier at least five years, allowing them to pause in their pursuit of tenure, review their professional dossier and think about what they might need from an Ignatian context to improve their work. Other programs instituted include:
- Creating a spiritual companionship program in which the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are shared daily.
- Developing a series of DVDs focusing on Ignatian concepts for use in internal programs.
- Creating a two-year training program for faculty and staff that teaches them how to be companions and give the Spiritual Exercises.
