The Catholic Church has gone through more change in the last sixty years than in the previous six hundred. These changes have caused a significant shift in the future outlook of Catholic higher education as the United States has developed a culture that has grown less receptive to religious traditions and practices. Drawing upon his extensive experience, James Heft lays out the current state of Catholic higher education and what needs to be done to ensure that Catholicism isn't fazed out of the educational system. Heft analyzes the foundational intellectual principles of Catholic Higher Education, and both the strengths and weaknesses of the present day system in order to look at possibilities for its future. Drawing upon both history and current cultural trends, The Future of Catholic Higher Education critiques the secularization thesis, explores the role of bishops, theologians, dissent, the sensus fidelium, the role of women and freedom of conscience, the relationship between theology and religious studies, hiring practices and curricular designs. Using the image of the "open circle," Heft advances a vision of the catholic university that is neither a "closed circle" of only Catholics nor a "market place of ideas with no distinctive mission." His "open circle" is one that fosters the Catholic intellectual tradition by including scholars of many religions, rooting Catholic social thought in Catholic doctrine, defending academic freedom and the mandatum.

After many years of scholarship, administrative experience, and leadership in Catholic higher education, the author has written a book that draws upon many academic disciplines to paint a picture of the past and the current situation (challenges, strengths, and weaknesses) of Catholic universities. After identifying the foundational pillars of Catholic higher education, he points the way to a future that is open to modern culture without capitulating to it, embraces Catholic intellectual traditions without fossilizing them, and presents a vision of its relationship to the hierarchy that is respectful, independent, faithful, and dynamic.

American Catholic universities and colleges are wrestling today with how to develop in ways that faithfully serve their mission in Catholic higher education without either secularizing or becoming sectarian. Major challenges are faced when trying to simultaneously build and sustain excellence in undergraduate teaching, strengthen faculty research and publishing, and deepen the authentically Catholic character of education. This book uses the particular case of the University of Notre Dame to raise larger issues, to make substantive proposals, and thus to contribute to a national conversation affecting all Catholic universities and colleges in the United States (and perhaps beyond) today. Its arguments focus particularly on challenging questions around the recruitment, hiring, and formation of faculty in Catholic universities and colleges.

Today, Catholic colleges and universities are dealing with critical questions about what constitutes Catholic collegiate identity. Based on their research, Morey and Piderit describe the present situation and offer concrete suggestions for enhancing Catholic identity, culture, and mission at all Catholic colleges and universities. The authors define the critical issues and analyze and address them by using the rich construct of culture, particularly organizational culture; and they provide four different models of how Catholic colleges and universities can operate and successfully compete as religiously distinctive institutions in the higher education market.

A detailed history of Catholic higher education in the USA, which emphasizes the intellectual and institutional dimensions of the subject.

As part of its Sesquicentennial celebration, Boston College invited leading Catholic educators to a symposium concerning the future of Catholic higher education in the United States. Participants gathered from October 22-24, 2013, at BC's Connors Family Retreat and Conference Center in Dover, Massachusetts. They discussed four critical issues requiring engagement by Catholic educational leaders: (1) strengthening awareness of and commitment to the Catholic intellectual tradition on Catholic campuses; (2) ensuring the personal and religious formation of students; (3) clarifying the relationship of Catholic colleges and universities to the Church, and (4) identifying and preparing future leaders of Catholic postsecondary institutions. The essays in this volume provided context for the days at Dover, and are intended to spotlight and urge action on critical challenges facing American Catholic higher education today.

"Revisioning Mission: The Future of Catholic Higher Education" is both a "how to" book and a resource text. The first section describes the challenge of continuity that faces Catholic colleges and universities: Religious congregations which founded these institutions are no longer present on campus in numbers that allow them to preserve and nurture the Catholic culture and religious heritage of the congregation. New faculty, as well as all employees, will need a formation program to introduce or update their understanding of Catholic higher education, especially at their own institution. "Revisioning Mission" offers instructions on creating such a program through the development of learning communities. The second section provides a series of content essays that profile the spiritual life of students, explain the Catholic culture, Catholic intellectual life, adult spirituality, and discusses the founding religious congregations. The final essay, "The Mission Community," emphasizes the importance of university faculty, staff, and administrators forming a community that is committed to the continuity and development of the institution in the 21st century as robustly Catholic with the unique heritage of the founding religious congregation. Preserving and enhancing the value-added dimension of these colleges and universities is essential to their survival as Catholic institutions. "Revisioning Mission" provides extensive references and recommended readings for those interested in furthering their understanding of the future of Catholic higher education.

Renewal of Catholic Higher Education: Essays on Catholic Studies in Honor of Don J. Briel celebrates twenty years of the Catholic Studies Program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the leadership of Don J. Briel, PhD, in founding and guiding the development of the program. It arose from a conference to mark the anniversary at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, gathering Catholic Studies professors, alumni and other scholars to note the achievements of Catholic Studies and to reflect on the ways in which it can continue to impact Catholic higher education more broadly. The book opens with a foreword by George Weigel. The first section situates Catholic Studies within current challenges facing the university, and includes chapters from scholars such as Fr. Paul Murray, O.P., Michael Naughton, Jonathan Reyes and Russell Hittinger. The second section expounds the distinct pedagogy employed by Catholic Studies, as described by alumni and those who teach in Catholic Studies programs. It concludes with an afterward by Fr. Wilson Miscamble of the University of Notre Dame. In celebrating the first 20 years of Catholic Studies and the leadership of Don J. Briel, the book provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the future challenges and opportunities for Catholic higher education. Catholic Studies emerged at a pivotal moment when Catholic universities began drifting from their religious identity and mission, and accepted the overspecialized and compartmentalized approaches of secular universities. Catholic Studies programs have made a significant step toward reuniting the various strands of university life, which began to unravel at this time. If Catholic Studies can fulfill three integrative tasks--reuniting faith and reason, faith and culture, and faith and life--it is poised to make a significant contribution toward the renewal of Catholic higher education. Renewal of Catholic Higher Education provides educators with an important opportunity to reflect on the nature of Catholic education and the steps needed to work towards its renewal.