About FSI

CSS Mission

Shaped by the Catholic Benedictine heritage, The College of St. Scholastica provides intellectual and moral preparation for responsible living and meaningful work.

Vision and Goals of the Saints' Institute

The Saints' Institute is the CSS Community’s annual kick-off for faculty and staff, providing mission-driven and student-focused professional development and community building.

Mission-centered. At CSS, our mission and values are integral to our every word, thought, and deed. The Saints' Institute will be a time to introduce the Value of the Year and some ways to integrate that into the work and life of faculty, staff, and students for the upcoming year.

Student-focused. At CSS, providing our students with a high-quality, mission-driven experience is the focus of our decision-making. The Saints' Institute provides an opportunity for faculty and staff to learn new ways to support our students.

Professional development for all. At CSS, we believe lifelong learning is imperative to humans achieving their full potential. The Saints' Institute will provide meaningful, mission-centered professional development for faculty and staff from around the college.

Community-driven. At CSS, we believe that living in community is integral to health and wellbeing. The Saints' Institute will serve as a high-energy and meaningful kick-off to the new academic year, creating a sense of strong community around our mission and values.

I Love CSS

Love of Learning

New Faculty and Staff

From the Archives

Heidi Johnson, College Archivist, notes the following: Records of the Fall Faculty Institutes are in Faculty Meeting Minutes [7/05]. The institute in September 1950, was announced as “The Ninth Annual…” but there is no record or mention of institutes before October 1944. It is possible that the opening faculty meeting of each new school year was called an “institute” because of the introduction/initiation of new faculty members, special business to be covered, etc. Some of them were designed around themes.

1942 to 1943: No Mention of an Institute

1944 (10/2): Mentioned with short report; includes “clubs”

1945: No Mention of an Institute

1946 (8/22): Address by Dr. Roy Deferrreri of The Catholic University of America summarized (9/15-17): Persistent Needs of College Students

1947 (9/3-4): Personalizing Education

1948 (9/15-16): Christianizing Instruction

1949 (9/7-8): The Challenge: To Translate Goals to Practice

1950 (9/6-7): The Valiant Christian Woman [Ninth Annual]

1951 (9/9-11): Careful to Keep the Unity of the Spirit [Tenth Annual]

1952 to 1956: [No Mention of an Institute]

1957 (9/12-13): Sixteenth Annual Faculty Institute [program only: Faculty Growth and Improvement of Instruction]

1958 to 1959: [No Mention of an Institute]

1960 (9/8): Faculty Institute = faculty divided into groups “for concerted work on the Faculty Handbook”

1961 (9/8): Faculty Institute means “faculty meeting”

1962 (9/14): Mentioned with summary

1963 (9/13): Mentioned in the regular faculty meeting minutes

1964 (9/24-25): Faculty Institute means “faculty meeting” [23rd Annual]. Report on NCA Workshop

1965 to 1968: No Mention of an Institute; program only “Changing Role of Educator” (9/16-18/68)

1969 (9/23-25): Theme - CSS Philosophy: Perceiving / Accomplishing

1970 (9/22-23): Are We Different? [11 pages]

1971 (9/20-22): Seems to identify problems facing CSS; Winton Plan to go into effect in FQ ‘72

1972 to 1973: [No Mention of an Institute]

1974 to 1976: Advisement

1977 (9/15-16): [Only mentioned]

1978 to 1979: [No Mention of an Institute]

1980 (9/3-4): Workshop in Assessment of Prior Learning

1981 (9/9): Information Shared

1982 (9/23): Faculty Meeting and Faculty Institute explained Charter and By-Laws of New Faculty Assembly; Lee Knellenkampf, “Curriculum Design Issues”

1983 to 2000: Institute agendas, missing 1985, 1988 has a report on discussions on the history of the liberal arts by Winnifred Winkelman also summary of student characteristics, missing 1989 and 1990, 1991 has a paper entitled “The Emergence and Purposes of Outcome Assessment” and skills expected of a CSS graduate, 1992 has 3 papers by Chet Meyers from Metropolitan State University entitled “The Practical Side of Critical Thinking,” “Critical Thinking Assignments,” and “Critical Thinking A Building-Block Process,”1994 has paper “What is a Catholic College?” by Charles E. Curran, missing 1995, 1996, and 1999. [It should be noted that at times staff had their own institute during this time frame.]

2001 to present: Faculty Staff Institute combining all employees began in 2001. It includes an address by the President of the College, sometimes a guest speaker, introducing the new hires since the previous institute, and a blessing by the Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery. Starting in 2004, one of the College’s five Benedictine values (starting with hospitality, then community, stewardship, respect, and last love of learning) is featured for the year on a repeating pattern. The President’s address usually discusses this value. Transcripts of these addresses by Larry Goodwin include 2004-2015, missing 2009, 2010, and 2012.