University looks at future priorities

By Betsy Baertlein
News Editor

During the week of Nov. 17-21, Saint Mary’s University President Brother William Mann held roundtable discussions and townhall-style meetings for the SMU community, including faculty, joint staff and administrators, alumni, graduate students, parents and undergraduate students, in order to discuss emerging priorities for the future of the university. The roundtable discussions were conducted on an invite-only basis, whereas the town hall-style meetings were open to the entire university community.
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The priorities presented during these meetings were “based on ... documents that had been created by past presidents and the Cabinet (of vice presidents),” said Molly Jewison, a junior who participated in a roundtable discussion.

The eight priorities presented by Brother William are as follows: Lasallian Catholic identity; teaching and learning environment; qualified and diverse student body and appropriate faculty and staff; financial stability and growth; modern facilities and technology; internal and external communication; excellence and well-being of all; and student success in a shrinking world.

During the roundtable discussion, not only was Brother William present to speak with students, but the Cabinet was present as well.

“I do believe that the voice of the students was heard,” Jewison said. “We came to the conclusion that there are many ‘walls’ on campus, such as between majors or years; for example, seniors don’t know freshmen. This discussion was very useful because the students make the university, and if we aren’t enjoying our time here ... then we aren’t going to enjoy the SMU family.”

During the campus town-hall meeting held on Thursday, Nov. 20, students, faculty, staff and other members of the university community completely filled Salvi Lecture Hall. Brother William remained silent during most of the meeting, allowing for the majority of the time to be devoted to participants voicing their opinions. The viewpoints expressed at this meeting varied drastically, including students concerned with the university’s curriculum requirements, recruiting and supporting diverse students and faculty concerned about the liberal arts versus vocational identity of the university.

“There is significant engagement here,” said Brother William. “…it means a lot to me as president ... It is a very powerful thing when people get to speak their truth publicly.”