Vision Statement
University of the Incarnate Word, a Catholic institution, is firmly grounded in a culture of spiritual worship, which is the font and summit of our identity, moral courage, and just action. UIW’s Catholicity compels us to honor and promote a culture of respectful encounter that includes and invites all to contribute, in honesty and truth, to our ongoing dialogue among ourselves and with the world. UIW’s ongoing dialogue is translated into a culture of charitable justice that advocates for the dignity and rights of all, promotes compassion and solidarity, and dispels mistrust, fear, hatred, and violence. UIW's culture of intellectual humility forms enlightened citizens who are moved to take just action. UIW's culture of principled administration establishes a hospitable and life-giving community (of learners) that promotes integral human development and good of all.
Strategic Goals
- Strengthen our Catholic identity, as well as our individual and communal relationship with God, through committed participation in personal prayer, sacramental worship, and just action guided by moral courage.
- Provide opportunities for honest, respectful, inclusive, and ongoing dialogue about our university and the world, which promote compassion, solidarity, and humility and offer a public declaration of conscience and understanding.
- Create a welcoming environment for both the UIW’s community and the community at large through non-discriminatory and sustainable support systems, which promote and protect poor and vulnerable persons and nature.
- Articulate common learning outcomes all across UIW’s programs and locations to express and deepen our engagement with Catholic Intellectual Tradition and to promote academic rigor, integrated learning, and student engagement/success.
- Ensure that those entrusted with a position of responsibility engage in shared governance principles and practices, which include far and wide consultation, in order to make ethical, prudent, and wise decisions that promote the good of all.
Completed Key Objectives
Continue promoting the life of prayer and worship at the University of the Incarnate Word
- Ongoing and increased student and staff participation in in-person worship, prayer, and community building, as well as in special liturgical celebrations (e.g., Masses of Welcome, Holy Spirit, Heritage Day, Incarnate Word Day, and Baccalaureate in December and May).
Continue collaborating with the HSI committee in deepening our appreciation, recognition, and becoming (incarnating) our Latinx identity in the culture, vision, and mission of UIW
- Ongoing internal conversations with members of our minority populations (e.g., As One We will, Brotherhood Summit and Women’s Summit) and external engagement with the school district to have on-site conversation to promote higher education.
Continue our commitment to implementing Year 4 of Laudato Si’ and integrating the work of the sustainability committee as we respond to the calls of both Laudate Deum and Laudato Si’
- Ongoing engagement and fulfillment of 3 out of 7-year commitment to the Laudato Si’ Action Plan.
Continue implementing the Ettling’s Center strategy for greater civic engagement in local, regional, and global communities
- Ongoing attention to the needs of the poor (both internal and external individuals) through UIW’s Cardinals’ Cupboard.
Continue the work on the Spirituality of the Incarnation by inviting theologians from different specialties to review, critique, and improve it
- Ongoing recognition of our active engagement with the CCVI Sisters’ mission to foster and support collaborative and communal development across our institutions.
- Ongoing formation for faculty and staff, especially through retreats (Grüene Retreat, administrative assistants’ retreat, Faculty members’ retreat, OCIA student formation) and workshops (e.g., Collegium).
- Ongoing in-services with Provost, Deans, and other groups. I have received the life-time achievement award from Collegium for my work in promoting Catholic identity in universities across the USA.
- Ongoing quarterly meetings of the University’s Ethics Committee, Mission and Ministry Council, and Leadership Team.
- Ongoing Mission Academy for an interdisciplinary cohort of faculty – the 2025-2026 Mission Academy focused on Migration. Due to its popularity and high impact in the professional life of our faculty members, the 2026-2027 Mission Academies will guide two cohorts in the exploration of, on the one hand, Ecological Spirituality, and on the other hand, Provision of Health Care in a Times of Uncertainty.
- Ongoing work of justice and mercy through mission trips to Texas, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Oaxaca.
- Ongoing promotion of the Spirituality of the Incarnation in the lives of our students through our Alternative Spring Break, Young Women Leadership Conference, and the MLK, Jr’s and Cesar Chavez’s marches.