Strategic Plan
Mission
Guided by the University’s Catholic, Holy Cross mission, the Division of Student Affairs promotes the holistic education of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students so that all may flourish at the University of Notre Dame and beyond. Through our shared work, services, and partnerships, we seek to honor individual experiences and foster a sense of belonging; deepen engagement in faith; and cultivate meaningful relationships that empower students and enable them to develop in mind, body, and spirit.
Vision
To be a student-centered, collaborative, and faith-based community of professionals committed to the formation of minds and hearts. Through academic and co-curricular integration, authentic encounters with God and others, and personal development and formation in the context of community, the Division of Student Affairs strives to accompany students while preparing them to become a force for good in the world.
Strategic Plan Implementation Principles
- Collaboration and Coordination: Cultivate collaborative and coordinated efforts throughout both the Division of Student Affairs and the wider University
- Student Leadership Formation and Peer Mentorship: Enhance our focus on student leadership development and/or peer mentoring
- Academic Integration and Partnership: Enhance academic and co-curricular integration and engagement
- Stewardship of Resources: Commit to the prudent stewardship of resources by thinking holistically in terms of professional and fiscal responsibility while also allowing for the potential discontinuance and emergence of new initiatives
- Organization and Structure: Commit to thoughtfully assessing and updating organizational structures, processes, programs, and initiatives
- Openness to New Forms of Engagement: Identify new and creative ways to engage students, staff, partners, and parents
- Adaptability: Cultivate our openness to new ideas, processes, responsibilities, and internal engagement to enhance our work and effectiveness
- Accountability: Commit to holding ourselves and our teams accountable for advancing strategic priorities
2026-27 Goals and Objectives
Faith and Formation
Embody a shared vision of development and formation rooted in the Catholic, Holy Cross tradition that invites and encourages every student to engage a life of faith, respond to the lived experiences of today’s world, and become people with hope to bring.
Objectives:
- Deepen undergraduate student faith formation efforts, focusing especially on residence hall life to invite students into deeper engagement with faith in community.
- Deepen partnerships across the Division and University that form students to respond with faith and hope to pressing issues in the world.
- Empower students through formation and development to build relationships and engage one another across difference, with emphasis on decreasing adverse treatment based on political ideology and increasing the ability to discuss difficult topics in our polarized world.
Belonging and Engagement
Nurture a campus climate that honors diversity of background, thought, and experience; supports the belonging and full participation of all students; and engages and values the authentic voice of every person.
Objectives:
- Build a shared foundation of belonging across the Division of Student Affairs.
- Activate a meaningful campus response to the Inclusive Campus Student Survey.
- Establish a continuous, Division-wide culture of belonging assessment.
Health and Well-being
Create a collaborative and comprehensive campus-wide approach to health and well-being that promotes life-long holistic care; emphasizes ongoing prevention; and provides strategies for early identification, intervention, and response.
Objectives:
- Ensure a multi-dimensional approach in which policies, programs, and practices promote holistic formation, flourishing, and balanced strategies to engagement.
- Increase engagement in prevention and risk reduction strategies surrounding alcohol and cannabis misuse.
- Focus on earlier identification of students in distress and referrals to appropriate resources.
Connection and Community
Enhance connection, community, and belonging through spaces and opportunities that enable students to know and be known, care for their own needs and the needs of others, and contribute to the common good.
Objectives:
- Research and implement collaborative strategies to prevent the hazing of all students, and improve the welcome provided to new undergraduate students at Notre Dame.
- Determine the ways in which staff can more efficiently and effectively educate and support student leaders across the Division of Student Affairs.
Reflection and Discernment
Promote a culture that values greater reflection and discernment so that students have the opportunity to recognize God’s call, identify their gifts, and share them in service with others.
Objectives:
- Align Division of Student Affairs’ discernment framework with student formation efforts.
- Investigate emerging trends affecting how students engage in reflection and discernment.
- To both foster a culture of discernment and continuously improve career and vocational outcomes for students, enhance collaboration with key academic partners, including the Office of Undergraduate Education and the University’s Colleges, Schools, and Departments.
Staff Recruitment, Development, and Retention
Recruit, develop, and retain a talented team of professionals to work collaboratively on behalf of Notre Dame students and advance the mission of Student Affairs and the University.
Objectives:
- Host Division of Student Affairs 2026-27 Walk-in Conference to provide opportunities for Division staff of all levels to develop professionally and grow in their roles.
- Create new and continue existing in-person engagement, training, and professional development opportunities throughout the academic year to enhance staff understanding of important topics like the University’s Catholic, Holy Cross mission; the Division’s annual theme; existing and emerging technology; and staff supervision.
- Improve new and existing staff understanding of the individual and shared work within Student Affairs through easy-to-access messaging and materials.