(Photo by Jeff Carrion/DePaul University)
In December, the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Educator awarded DePaul a $40,000 grant to begin a process of “refounding” the university’s institutional and educational mission. The grant was awarded as part of NetVUE’s Reframing the Institutional Saga initiative, and the award comes just as DePaul looks ahead to its next 125 years. “We are at a pivotal moment regarding our Catholic and Vincentian mission and identity, how we understand it and how to position ourselves in our current reality and the emerging context we face for our future,” says Mark Laboe, interim vice president for Mission and Ministry. “Given the rapid shifts in higher education and society, this is a ripe and important time for us to recommit to our mission together with our sponsors, the Congregation of the Mission. We will use this grant to cast a renewed vision for our mission going forward while remaining rooted in our heritage as a Catholic and Vincentian institution. This is what we mean by the idea of ’refounding.’ It is a renewal of our commitment to our founding mission and heritage in and for a new context.”
Set to begin in February, this process will involve an examination of the evolution of DePaul’s mission and the pressing social realities facing the higher education landscape and the world today. The process will result in a hard copy booklet and digital website articulating the deeper roots of DePaul’s Catholic and Vincentian identity and the educational vision it evokes.
“The processes of renewal and reimagining are built into the bedrock of Designing DePaul, which is the overarching project of designing our future,” Laboe says. “Mission and Ministry is spearheading this process, with a diverse committee of about 15 members. Throughout the two years of this project, we will gradually broaden the opportunities for input, engagement and feedback from the campus community.”
NetVUE’s Reframing the Institutional Saga initiative is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges with support from Lilly Endowment Inc. This is DePaul’s second grant from NetVUE; the university received funding in 2016 for its Explore Your Purpose initiative.
More information about the university’s forthcoming process will be shared when it becomes available.