Canisius College's Mission Priorities
During 2018 Canisius College prepared a self-study on the ways that it had met and planned to nurture its Catholic Jesuit mission during the next five years. Part of this process included an on-site visit by a team from other Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States. The team’s final report along with Canisius’ self-study were subsequently submitted to the Jesuit Superior General, Fr. Arturo Sosa, who then affirmed in 2019 Canisius’ Jesuit Catholic identity.
Priority 1
Canisius faces the reality of being a Jesuit university without Jesuits working at the college and perhaps without a resident Jesuit Community. Understanding and addressing all of the implications of this reality will be the most important mission priority.
Canisius will discern--in partnership with the Province, it hopes--how it will remain an authentic and committed Catholic Jesuit university and will make the institutional changes needed to implement this new vision. Canisius will support current and implement new structures and experiences needed for the lay formation necessary at all levels of the institution for the college to carry on its mission as a Catholic Jesuit university such as hiring for mission, and board, faculty and staff formation. But it will need the support and encouragement of the Province.
Priority 2
The Examen self-study confirmed the centrality of the academic curriculum as where the majority of students experience the college’s Catholic Jesuit mission; however, the self-study also confirmed that this statement is less true of the college’s graduate and online populations.
Canisius will be more intentional about expanding the experience of mission in its academic programs so that all students, including traditional undergraduate, graduate, and online, can experience the Catholic Jesuit mission of Canisius through the curriculum.=
Priority 3
The Examen self-study also confirmed the importance of service as a primary way that the Catholic Jesuit mission is lived and understood at Canisius. Canisius students and staff contribute thousands of hours of service hours annually. Service activities are initiated by offices, departments, and individuals across the college without an integrated approach.
Canisius will support a more integrated approach to service and learning within the context of Catholic Social Teaching and priorities of the worldwide Society of Jesus as the Society’s discernment of apostolic preferences proceeds. The college takes seriously its responsibility to become a project for social transformation (proyector social) in the world and in its hometown of Buffalo and western New York This will necessitate a rethinking of how service is incorporated into the curriculum and how the college’s impact in the world can be enhanced through better-coordinated approaches as envisioned in the proposed New Buffalo Institute.
Priority 4
Canisius will continue to commit itself to understanding and embracing inclusion in its many aspects in its policies, programs, and practices across the institution. This includes, but is not limited to, hiring, curriculum, programming, services, and addressing issues surfaced in the college’s 2018 Campus Racial Climate Study.