Visions And Values In Catholic Higher Education

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In Realizing the Distinctive University: Vision and Values, Strategy and Culture, Mark William Roche changes the terms of the debate about American higher education. A former dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame, Roche argues for the importance of an institutional vision, not simply a brand, and while he extols the value of entrepreneurship, he defines it in contrast to the corporate drive toward commercialization and demands for business management models. Using the history of the German university to assess the need for, and implementation of, distinctive visions at American colleges and universities, Roche's own vision benefits from his deep connection to both systems as well as his experience in the trenches working to realize the special mission of an American Catholic university. Roche makes a significant contribution by delineating means for moving such an institution from vision to implementation. Roche provides a road map to creating a superb arts and sciences college within a major research university and offers a rich analysis of five principles that have shaped the modern American university: flexibility, competition, incentives, accountability, and community. He notes the challenges and problems that surface with these categories and includes ample illustration of both best practices and personal missteps. The book makes clear that even a compelling intellectual vision must always be linked to its embodiment in rhetoric, support structures, and community. Throughout this unique and appealing contribution to the literature on higher education, Roche avoids polemic and remains optimistic about the ways in which a faculty member serving in administration can make a positive difference. Realizing the Distinctive University is a must read for academic administrators, faculty members interested in the inner workings of the university, and graduate students and scholars of higher education.

The Handbook of Research of Catholic Higher Education provides an important and timely overview for scholars and students interested in understanding this important sector of private higher education. More importantly, it is an important resource for those faculty, staff, and administrators interested in shaping the distinctiveness of Catholic colleges and universities. The Handbook provides chapters presenting a thematic overview of a particular element of Catholic higher education and in addition provides an extensive bibliography resource of further reading. While some of the chapters will appeal to those with specialized interests, e.g. legal affairs, finance, and community relations, the chapters on mission and religious identity, history, and the documents on Catholic higher education provide an important perspective on the challenges facing Catholic higher education and should be read by everyone involved in Catholic colleges and universities. The Handbook of Research of Catholic Higher Education is an important resource for understanding and shaping the distinctiveness of Catholic higher education.

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. This timely look at the state of Christian higher education in America contains descriptive, historical narratives that explore how fourteen Christian colleges and universities are successfully integrating faith and learning on their campuses despite the challenges posed by the increasingly pluralistic nature of modern culture. Written by respected representatives from seven major faith traditions -- Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Mennonite, Evangelical, Wesleyan/Holiness, and Baptist/Restorationist -- these narratives are also preceded by introductory essays that define the worldview and theological heritage of each given tradition and ask what that tradition can contribute to the task of higher education.

Catholic Higher Education in the 1960s is a series of cases that describes and analyzes the transitions made by representative Catholic institutions in their attempts to update their governance structures and maintain their Catholic identity in the midst of the post-Vatican II era. This book will be of interest to historians of education and Catholic education; to administrators and faculty in Catholic schools and in other religious-based institutions that seek to understand the dynamic of balancing their religious identity with their attempts at “reading the signs of the times.”

Drawing on research conducted at 17 Catholic universities in the United States, making it the largest study of its kind, this volume explores effective practice in improving institutional policy relating to issues of sexuality. The text calls attention to campus cultures of fear, shame, or denial around sexuality and highlights possible points of institutional resistance to changes in policy. Discussing topics such as sexual identity, sexuality education in the curriculum, Title IX, employee termination, and morality clauses, the book shows how staff and faculty are crucial in effecting change across Catholic campuses, providing valuable insight into the “unspoken rules” around sexuality within the shadow culture at Catholic institutions. Moreover, the text illustrates how institutions can maintain fidelity to Church teachings and even embrace notions of human dignity, solidarity, and the common good to achieve sexual inclusivity. A unique study demonstrating how Catholic teaching can help support inclusive change around issues of sexuality and gender in higher education, it ultimately puts forward a practical framework for effecting change and improving student and staff support structures in Catholic institutions. It will thus appeal to researchers and academics working in the fields of Higher Education Management, Gender and Sexuality in Education, Religion, Gender and Sexuality, and the Sociology of Religion.

Originally published as a special issue of Christian Higher Education, this volume showcases diverse forms of community engagement work carried out by faith-based colleges and universities throughout the US. Acknowledging the rise of community engagement as a contemporary expression of a longstanding civic impulse, Community Engagement in Christian Higher Education explores how religious mission and identity animate institutional practice across various forms of Catholic and Protestant Higher Education. Offering perspectives from faculty members, administrators, and community partners at nine different US institutions, chapters highlight effective initiatives that have been actively implemented in rural, urban, and suburban contexts to meet local needs and serve the public good. With a focus on practical community work, the text demonstrates the very concrete ways in which Christian values can inform and foster community engagement. This volume will be of interest to scholar-practitioners, researchers, and academics in the fields of higher education, sociology of education, religious education, and practical theology. More broadly, the text offers important insights for faith leaders and the faculty of faith-based institutions exploring issues of community, identity, and shared purpose.

The risk-taking and creative thought inaugurated here by editors Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber and Denise Leckenby will undoubtedly serve as a model for other scholars fully engaged, both as professionals and as social individuals, in careers and lives on Catholic campuses."--BOOK JACKET.