2009-2014 Strategic Plan

division of student affairs

Strategic Plan in PDF (Adobe Reader required)


Mission Statement

The mission of the Division of Student Affairs is to facilitate student learning and formation in their fullest sense (integrating intellectual, ethical, religious and spiritual, and emotional-social development), promote an inclusive community of engaged learners, and advance the Jesuit, Catholic heritage and values of Boston College.


Vision Statement

The Division of Student Affairs will be a full partner in the process of learning and formation at Boston College. By providing a diversity of experiential learning opportunities, building communities of respect and support, encouraging and supporting lives of integrity, offering services that remove barriers to learning, promoting students' readiness to learn, and collaborating with the Divisions of Academic Affairs and Mission and Ministry, Student Affairs will help students engage fully with the University's educational opportunities and progress in their journey of personal formation.

Student Affairs enhances the Jesuit, Catholic mission of the university through its programs, interactions with students, and mentoring. The Division does this by promoting a life committed to service and social justice, sponsoring dialogue on important student issues, supporting religious and spiritual development, promoting moral development and behavior grounded in distinct principles, and supporting the integration of faith with justice. Ultimately, the Division desires the actualization of the university's mission in the lives and habits of students.

Student Affairs strives for excellence in every aspect of its organization, operations, and program and service design and delivery; the Division is committed to evidence-based practice and the use of assessment data to strengthen programs and services. Through reflective, strategic planning, careful allocation of resources, and comprehensive staff development, the Division works to provide learning experiences, programs, and services that produce sound student outcomes.

In all of its work, Student Affairs seeks to know and understand students, comprehend and address their needs, and represent and advocate for their needs; it intends to work with students to create a strong, healthy learning environment and an inclusive, participatory campus culture. One special focus of the Division's work is on recognizing and addressing the needs of underrepresented students.

Student Affairs intends to create and sustain a caring community within the Division; to recognize the contributions and achievements of all staff and leadership; and to encourage an appropriate and sustainable approach to self-care for all members of the Division.


Strategic Goals & Objectives

BUILD AN EXCELLENT LEARNING ENVIRONMENT CHARACTERIZED BY EXCELLENCE IN STUDENT FORMATION AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
  1. Design and implement a comprehensive, divisional approach to student formation in the residence halls.
  2. Provide, assess, integrate, connect, and continually improve a broad variety of experiential learning opportunities.
  3. Provide student support services to improve readiness to learn and identify and remove barriers to learning.
  4. Create a comprehensive leadership development program that reflects different developmental and skill levels of students as well as Ignatian values.
  5. Create and sustain partnerships that support student learning, especially with Academic Affairs and the Division of Mission and Ministry.

CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO INTENTIONALLY INVOLVE ALL STUDENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE UNIVERSITY
  1. Identify where and to what extent students are engaged on campus through Divisional and non-Divisional programs.
  2. Assess the quality and quantity of Divisional activities that engage students in their educational experience.
  3. Set specific goals for student involvement in Divisional programs from the first year through graduation.
  4. Provide a developmental model for student organizations that includes consistent advising, intra-group work, and a deeper connection to the wider university community.
  5. Identify and address barriers to involvement for sub-communities such as male students.

CREATE AN INCLUSIVE AND JUST COMMUNITY REFLECTING OUR JESUIT HERITAGE AND VALUES
  1. Identify how and in what capacity students define community at Boston College.
  2. Promote and provide opportunities for positive involvement in community activities especially in the residence halls and at university events.
  3. Clearly articulate and reinforce community standards and a model of community living which include all community members.
  4. Provide programs, services, and activities that give students opportunities to increase their intercultural and global competency.

PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO DEEPEN THEIR FAITH, DEVELOP THEIR CHARACTER, AND DEVELOP A LIFETIME COMMITMENT TO HELPING OTHERS
  1. Provide co-curricular opportunities that encourage students to integrate the spiritual, academic, and social dimensions of their development.
  2. Create opportunities for students to experience and reflect upon the commitment to justice, mercy, and compassion that a faith-based view of the world entails.
  3. Challenge students to lives defined by integrity and high standards of decision making in their personal behavior.
  4. Welcome all students into an appropriate understanding of the life and values of the Catholic community, including the distinctiveness of the Catholic moral tradition.
  5. Invite students to reflect and think deeply about and grow in their spirituality and religious faith and to engage more deeply with their own faith communities.

PROVIDE FOCUSED SUPPORT FOR UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS
  1. Identify through data collection how and to what extent students utilize services and identify students who are underserved.
  2. Set specific goals and strategies to outreach to, advocate for, and support underrepresented students.
  3. Create a Division-wide plan for cultural heritage celebrations, including Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Asian Pacific Heritage Month.
  4. Identify and address barriers to learning and involvement for sub-communities such as low-income students.

DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AN ASSESSMENT STRATEGY IN ORDER TO IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING AND OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
  1. Review, strengthen, implement, and clearly articulate strategies for promoting student learning and student formation in all developmental domains.
  2. Design, develop, implement, and assess Division-wide student learning outcomes.
  3. Partner with academic departments and faculty to develop cross-divisional assessment plans for integrated, University-wide student learning outcomes.
  4. On a regular and consistent cycle, review the work, functions, and outcomes of all Divisional departments, programs, and services.
  5. Redesign or improve programs and services based on assessment data.

STRENGTHEN THE CAPACITY OF THE DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
  1. Develop a professional development strategy that strengthens the capacity of the members of the division in the following areas: distinctive Catholic heritage; Jesuit and Catholic mission for higher education; learning outcomes and assessment; student learning and formation; diversity; technology; professional ethics and practice; human resources training in leadership, management, and supervision.
  2. Develop a thorough review process and supervision model that encourages high levels of individual and departmental accountability and performance.
  3. Strengthen the Division's relationship with both students and faculty members, especially with the Lynch School of Education's graduate program in higher education administration.
  4. Become consultants and experts regarding students and their experience for the campus community while advocating for students' interests and needs.