Planning for Future Success | A Message from President Evans
Dear UIW community,
I recently returned from our beautiful UIW Campus Bajío in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Last week, our Cardenales, faculty, staff, and the community celebrated the campus’ tenth anniversary and the many ways it has grown since its first class of students embarked on their journeys. Since those early days, academic programs have expanded, and generations of students have been formed in our core values. Today, Campus Bajío has become a vital part of our UIW system and extends the Mission and our promise of transformative Catholic education.
The interconnectedness of our system will play an increasingly critical role in the future of our university and is one of the many opportunities and challenges being assessed through our current Strategic Planning.
These efforts were a focal point of this month’s meeting of the Board of Trustees. During the October meeting, I reported progress made by the Strategic Planning Task Force (SPTF), co-chaired by John Bury, Vice President for Strategy and Enrollment, and Michael Larkin, Chief of Staff, including the development of three subcommittees under its oversight. Subcommittee membership is broad and inclusive of our community with significant faculty membership informed by nominations from the Faculty Senate. Trustees will receive an update in February and will gather for a Strategic Planning retreat in April before they approve a final plan in June.
The SPTF is currently gathering insights and feedback via a university-wide survey. More than 500 students, faculty and staff have offered their thoughts on UIW’s strengths, challenges, priorities and the future of our university system. If this includes you, I am grateful for your participation. If you have yet to take part, I invite you to share your opinion via the links below. The survey is voluntary and is conducted anonymously. Please make your voice heard before the survey closes on Friday, October 24.
As with all we do, the efforts of the Strategic Planning Task Force and the subcommittees are rooted in our Mission and how we continue to embody it as we near the 150th anniversary of our founding. The Mission of the university is a gift from God, entrusted to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, and passed on to us. The University of the Incarnate Word, a sponsored ministry of the Sisters, is presently undergoing a self-assessment to make sure it follows God's will, remains faithful to the Sister's charism, and incorporates the thoughtful reflections of many members of our community in the spirit of true synodality. UIW Trustees have also contributed to this assessment, as guarantors of the Mission entrusted to us by God and administrators of the Sisters' heritage, especially with regards to the concrete application of the main principles of Catholic Social Teaching, particularly, care for the poor and vulnerable and care of creation, as well as of the main insights of our Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
UIW is a distinctive university unlike any other. What sets us apart is our approach to Mission-driven Catholic education that has changed the lives of generations of students and continues calling them back “home.” In this spirit, I invite you to this year’s presentation of the President’s Homecoming Address at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28 in the Student Engagement Center’s Joeris Ballroom. I hope you will join me and members of our community as we explore the question “What does it mean to be transformed?” I also invite you to understand better the difference that UIW has made in your life by sharing your thoughts via the registration page.
We are in the midst of a very dynamic time for UIW and all who form our global community from San Antonio, Irapuato, Mexico City, Strasbourg or anywhere in the world via our online offerings. I look forward to sharing more with you as we make headway in our endeavors to shape the future of our university system.
Praised be the Incarnate Word!
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Evans, PhD
President