Document Type
Scholarship
Abstract
This study examines the formative impact of selected faculty and staff formation initiatives offered at Boston College, with particular attention to those shaped by Ignatian spirituality. Drawing on qualitative survey data from 134 participants, the analysis identifies interrelated conditions through which formation is experienced as a coherent process rather than a set of discrete programs. Across initiatives, renewal and vocational clarity were most often described through four conditions: People, Pause, Place, and Purpose, understood here as the alignment of values, commitments, and lived practice. Presence emerged as the relational medium through which People, Pause, Place, and Purpose became formative. Presence captures the quality of facilitation through which structure is held with attentiveness, trust, and discernment, enabling participants to experience formation as accompaniment rather than instruction. Findings suggest that formation’s impact depends not only on the conditions in place, but on the relational way those conditions are carried. Together, the findings advance a framework for understanding faculty and staff formation as both a scholarly field, grounded in recurring formative conditions, and an art, enacted through accompaniment that supports discernment, interior freedom, and mission-aligned practice in Jesuit higher education.
Recommended Citation
Liang, Belle; Gregoire, Maria; and Liang, Elisa.
"Faculty and Staff Formation in Jesuit Higher Education: The Scholarship and Art of Accompaniment."
Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal Vol. 15:
No.
1
()
.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15365/2164-7666.1541
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/jhe/vol15/iss1/5
