Rombalski on Student Affairs
Intermission took the opportunity to speak with Patrick Rombalski on his idea of Mission at Jesuit Catholic Institutions and how specifically Jesuit Catholic universities differ from their secular counterparts.
IM: “How do you see staff and faculty working together with Student Affairs to create a strong vibrant student community at Boston College?”
PR: “Well, the first thing is that we are a complex University and there is a need for a common goal or purpose. That common goal or purpose is what gets us up in the morning. I think our common goal is the growth and development of our students. As staff and faculty members, we help transform young lives into people who are committed to their own purpose. We help form a society that is faith-filled, just, and pays attention to the marginalized. There is an old story of two stonecutters, if you asked the first what he is doing he would say, “Well, I’m cutting stone,” but if you asked the second he would tell you that he is building a beautiful temple. It is easy to get caught up in the daily grind and I think that remembering what it is that we are all coming to achieve keeps us focused on how our individual stones fit into the whole. The job of Student Affairs is to think big and bring all the richness in programs, departments, and resources that Boston College has to offer into a cohesive and interactive whole.”
IM: “How you see the unique role of Student Affairs at a Jesuit Institution, as differing from the role of a Student Affairs office at a secular institution?”
PR: “There might be some differences but I think that it is a matter of emphasis. At a Jesuit University, we are profoundly interested in how students are considering their life and how they live out their lives. We are also interested in their positions in society because where they are in life affects our entire society. To that end, we are holding up models and helping students come to important questions, ‘who is God? How does God work in my life?’ Sometimes students are not ready for these questions, whether they are seventeen or twenty-five. Realizing where students are in their own development is also a key feature of educating the person whole. Intellectual development is the focus of the University. To be a Jesuit University means educating the person whole and if a student leaves here without having struggled with the complex issues of faith and justice we have failed as a Jesuit University. Maybe not as a University, but as a Jesuit University we have failed.
We are not just worried about rules and policies; we are more interested in how students view their own values. The questions of alcohol, drugs, sexuality, these are value questions, not just a matter of breaking a rule. It is about how you live your life. If you cannot get up until 3PM on Sunday, you are losing important time, time that could have been spent reading, or having a conversation. This interrelation of rules and values is key to understanding our role as a Student Affairs office and we will be addressing these relationships more in the future.”
IM: “Are there any new programs or initiatives you are starting or planning that you would like to share with us?”
PR: “We are going through a strategic planning process right now that will help us define concrete initiatives, but I think that what this office will be mostly focusing on is steady and regular communication with faculty and students and bringing these two populations together even more than they already are. All the research shows that student/faculty relationships are key to student learning and the academic environment as a whole. Many departments already are doing great things to achieve this goal, our job is to help deepen these relationships and make them more pervasive.”
IM: “Any other thoughts you might wish to share with a publication that dialogues with faculty and staff with regard to Jesuit Mission?”
January 2009
In This Issue
A Fire that Kindles Other Fires
Student Affairs at a Jesuit Institution
Office of the Vice President of Mission and Ministry
Mission and Ministry Website Home
Boston College Office of the Vice President for University Mission and Ministry, 90 College Road, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
www.bc.edu/offices/mission/ | 617.552.1603