A new program called Fulfilling the Mission is currently in the
works at Saint Louis University, an initiative that will help
employees to live and work in the light of the Jesuit mission, with
the ultimate goal of bringing about the common good.

The program is based on a code of conduct that challenges
University employees to go beyond merely following the rules by
reinforcing behavior that incorporates competence, conscience,
compassion, commitment and community, which are referred to as the
five C’s.

“It’s about how we can come together to make SLU the finest
university,” said Vicki Wroblewski, director of the Office of
Diversity and Affirmative Action.

The program will address topics ranging from legal standards,
University policy and diversity, to integrity, confidentiality and
ethics, also encouraging behavior that is honest, selfless and
respectful.

Fulfilling the Mission began as a corporate compliance program
dealing with laws, procedure and policy that would govern
employees’ behavior. But when employees come to her with problems,
Wroblewski said they rarely have anything to do with laws.

Wroblewski, one of the purveyors of this new program, says that
employees expect to find a different standard when working at a
Jesuit, Catholic university–a standard that incorporates elements
of their personal life with the work they do here. In order to
remain consistent with the tenets that the University was built
upon, a need to move beyond corporate compliance arose. Fulfilling
the Mission is nearly ready to take its place after two years of
development.

“It’s not about rules,” Wroblewski said. “In simple terms, it’s
how we fulfill the mission as an organization. The five C’s have
been a part of SLU for awhile, and this program takes the concept
of the common good and shows how the five C’s apply to it.”

The effects of this program will filter down to students through
faculty and staff, said Elizabeth Winchester, director of
University Audit Services, also one of the program’s main
developers.

“Our job is to set the best example we can for the students, and
be an inspiration to them,” Winchester said.

Students will also be able to become involved in the program
once it has been set into motion.

“The program will involve a phased implementation process,”
Wroblewski said. “We will look at existing activities and bring
them into focus as we develop the program.” This will also involve
the inclusion of academic departments, offices and student groups
that will come together to represent all facets of the
University.

Fulfilling the Mission is building a committee that includes
representatives from business and finance, mission and ministry,
marketing and communications and human resources–all of which have
collaborated in the development of this program. In the future, the
committee will include a representative from the Office of Student
Development and student representatives themselves.

University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., has asked
Wroblewski, Winchester and their colleagues to develop the concept
further before the program is officially implemented, which could
happen in April. Currently, Fulfilling the Mission will include
positive reinforcement measures carried out through employee
recognition programs such as SLU Stars, in which anyone can
nominate a fellow employee who they believe fulfills and
exemplifies Ignatian values.

Wroblewski cited the example of a staff member who was
recognized through this program. “She took initiative and created a
difference,” Wroblewski said of the employee who, through her own
efforts, raised $1,000 that provided Thanksgiving dinners for 50
hospital patients.

Fulfilling the Mission may also include a video that would serve
as a complement to the three-part Shared Vision program, a series
of videos linked with discussion that conveys the heritage of the
Jesuit mission, the insights of its founder and the ways in which
the Ignatian vision transitioned into the new millennium.

The values that this program is built upon have always been
manifested in the outward behavior of faculty, staff and students
alike, Wroblewski said. “But we don’t always recognize that.
Fulfilling the Mission will formalize how we share this information
to make sure that people are aware of the ways in which their
actions reflect the Jesuit mission.”