News from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
ACCU Highlights | Upcoming Programming & Announcements | Additional ACCU Updates
ACCU Highlights
Uniservitate Service-Learning Awards
The III Global Symposium Uniservitate, held in Rome, Italy this past October, was an invitation to make the Global Education Pact and universal fraternity a reality through service-learning. Students, teachers, researchers and leaders from the five continents shared experiences and reflections that show how to bring about the dream of being brothers and sisters and institutionalise the pedagogy of service-learning. This meeting also allowed Uniservitate Award 2022 winners to share their experiences.
Below are pictures taken at the Uniservitate session featuring the award winners from the University of St. Thomas. They are Taylor Fox (student) and Dustin Killpack, Associate Director for the Common Good. Additionally, a special audience with Pope Francis was held for students from award winning schools from all over the world who received a Uniservitate Service Learning Award. Taylor Fox from University of St. Thomas is among them.
ACCU offers our campus leaders through a variety of programs and events.
Please see our upcoming events below and check out our full list of future events and programs...
2023 Annual Meeting: Registration closes TODAY, January 18!!
History is written of times like these.
Catholic institutions are being called to adjust and even transform in many ways given our present challenges. We will discuss urgent matters and innovative strategies to achieve - for this time and place - our noble and perennial mission to assist students on their journeys to become educated, skilled, faith-filled and determined actors for our world.
February 3-6, 2023
The Capital Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC
Take a virtual tour of our venue and book your hotel.
Annual Meeting Pre-conferences
In addition to the larger Annual Meeting program, our focused pre-conferences are held immediately before the Annual Meeting at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. These pre-conferences provide tailored professional development specific to leadership roles on our members' campuses.
Institute for New Presidents of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Friday, February 3, 2023 | 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (Eastern)
The 2023 In
stitute for New Presidents at Catholic Colleges and Universities remains open to all new and interim presidents of Catholic colleges and universities in their first two years of office. It is an opportunity to network with peers and learn from experienced leaders in Catholic higher education. Several virtual sessions are included in this year's program, including an in-person, full day program immediately before the 2023 Annual Meeting.
Women Executive Leaders at Catholic Colleges and Universities
Rising
Friday, February 3, 2023 | 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern)
The history of Catholic higher education is marked by strong women leaders and the congregations of women religious that founded many of our institutions. Today, Catholic colleges and universities continue to boast a higher percentage of women presidents than any other higher education sector. We are now at a pivotal moment in history, as lay and religious women are being called to carry forth the rich legacy of our colleges and universities as senior leaders and presidents. ACCU seeks to support women to meet current leadership demands and thrive in Catholic higher education executive positions.
Campus Ministry Leaders
Disaffiliation on Campus: What Are We Learning?
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern)
Join Campus Ministry leaders as we gather to focus on our unique role for our campuses. Topically, we will focus on student disaffiliation and the impact it has on our ministries. Our discussion will be informed by current research and the unique challenge and blessings we have in serving diverse student bodies on campus through Catholic Higher Education. We’ll dive into challenging topics that impact students’ sense of belief and belonging – reflective of the issues identified in the recent USCCB synodal synopsis. Relationally, we’ll cultivate a space to be authentic with peers who share a common mission in ministry and who navigate similar challenges and joys.
Chief Academic Officers
The University of Today: Rising to Our Times
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Eastern)
Universities are very different than they were in March 2020. Enrollment trends, the quality of on-line instruction, remote work for faculty, and tighter budgets have shaped the university of today. The Chief Academic Officer needs agility, openness to change, and creative flexibility to lead during this post-COVID time. How do we become an agile campus? How do we think differently, do differently, and move forward? How are we being creatively flexible? How do we define shared governance and how do we operationalize it for these times?
Come join your colleagues from Catholic institutions across the nation as we tackle these questions together at this conference designed specifically for Chief Academic Officers and their key staff.
Community Engaged Scholar-Practitioner Network (CESPN)
Hope Rising: Building Research, Scholarship, and Practice in a Catholic Context
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern)
In these times, hope can alter the ways we approach our work and the communities with whom we partner. Join service-learning community engagement colleagues from Catholic colleges and universities as we network, share promising practices, and build a research agenda based on the hope Catholic institutions have to offer community engagement scholarship.
Through our continued partnership with Uniservitate, ACCU supports our communities of scholar-practitioners involved in service-learning and community engagement, bringing together a network of colleagues from Catholic colleges and universities, the ACCU Community Engaged Scholar-Practioner Network (CESPN), as part of our Annual Meeting.
Mission Officers
Social Friendships: Daring to Befriend
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern)
This preconference will investigate the intersecton of Pope Francis' most recent encyclical Fratelli Tutti (On Social Friendship) with some of the challenges and opportunities facing Catholic higher education as they relate to advancing the mission. Through the see-act-judge methodology frequently employed by the pope, mission officers will have the opportunity to reflect on their role in forming, building and solidifying social friendships on our Catholic campuses, especially in response to various vexing and urgent issues. The pope's call to social friendships will serve as the lens and resource to understand and approach matters that call mission officers to lead dialogue, formation experiences, healing and community building.
Senior Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officers
Now Is The Time
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern)
This Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Institute will provide a forum for senior diversity leaders to develop an equity-mindedness framework combining faith, reason, and eliminating systemic and structural barriers to access and opportunity in Catholic higher education and in the broader society. The conference is structured to be participatory and interactive, featuring keynote speakers, panels, and small group work. We will discuss Catholic Social Tradition and DEI work with a focus on justice and promising practice. Panel presentations will discuss current DEI issues leading to transformative action and will also focus on self-care for those doing our challenging work.
Senior Student Affairs Officers
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Senior Student Affairs Officers Reception
Friday, February 3, 2023 | 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. (Eastern)
All Senior Student Affairs Officers registered for the February 4th conference are invited to attend a reception the evening before the conference. Sponsored by Risk Strategies.
Still We Rise
Saturday, February 4, 2023 | 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern)
As Catholic higher education senior student affairs officers, our lived mission is to seek and provide opportunities to inform and equip students to advance their personal, intellectual, and spiritual growth within a framework of Catholic values. We rise to answer the call to bridge disparities and nurture the student experience. We rise despite challenges and obstacles, both personal and professional, that have impacted and modified our “new world”. And STILL WE RISE to meet the need and support the advancement of our profession, our students’ holistic well-being, and innovatively reconfiguring the student experience for today’s student in today’s world.
Convene in Washington, DC with your colleagues at this year’s ACCU SSAO pre-conference as we share and receive practical advice on leading student life in light of today’s headwinds of higher education: workforce, mental health, diversity, mission identity on our campuses.
ACCU Presidential Spouses Track
Registered spouses of ACCU member presidents are welcome to attend all scheduled events of the Annual Meeting, including receptions, meals, and program sessions (excluding the Presidents-Only Meeting on Monday morning). Additional activities are also available and designed specifically for ACCU Presidential Spouses.