DeSales will create a campus wide learning ecosystem with students at the center. This ecosystem will engage students, faculty, staff, and community partners regionally and around the world in a continuous and sustainable process of active learning based on student outcomes.
Strategic Plan 2019-2022
Our master blueprint to fulfill our mission, vision, and values.
Here at DeSales University, we've adopted the St. Francis de Sales quote, "Be who you are and be that well" as our unofficial motto. We believe it speaks to our relentless pursuit of "drawing out the goodness" as we educate our students — so that our graduates become successful, not only in their vocations but in their lives, as well.
De Sales' full quote contains the additional idea: "to give honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are." So as a University, we also strive to honor God by approaching our work as our Master Craftsman would — with careful and diligent preparation and planning.
The Strategic Plan 2019-2022 serves as our master blueprint to fulfill our mission, vision, and values. But rather than a static roadmap, it's a living, breathing guide to proceed in a way that gives honor to our Master Craftsman. Our five overarching goals serve as our trail blazes — each one helping us to remain oriented and centered as we push forward into the unknown landscape that is the future of higher education.
Welcome to DeSales
Who We Are
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Our Philosophy
DeSales University is firmly and publicly committed to the principles of Roman Catholic doctrine and morality. It also fully recognizes that the search for truth requires an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and that love demands an openness to all that is good.
DeSales carefully distinguishes between the free pursuit of truth - which it guarantees every member of the campus community - and its own commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
For DeSales University, Christian humanism means that every aspect of human experience is capable of enlightenment by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Gospel brings light to each dimension of personal existence (physical, intellectual, social, moral, aesthetic, and religious) and every environmental domain (natural world, social institutions, cultural achievements, historical periods, and religious societies).
The encounter between the Word of God and the concrete world of the human person makes a fully meaningful existence possible. DeSales University strives to teach the student what it means to be Christian in a Salesian way, what it means to embrace one's own life, and what it means to bring this Good News to the human family.
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Our Vision
We aspire to be a learning community where innovative teaching, mentored professional practice, and ethical preparation expands the minds, the talents, and the hearts of curious students to construct new ideas and lead lives of impact.
To accomplish this vision, we will strive for continuous improvement through a coordinated set of strategic initiatives defined by the following elements:
- Mission-forward actions
- Keenly focused enrollment growth
- Online learning throughout our programs
- A developed nexus between career and alumni development
- Effective utilization of our campus resources
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Our Values
- Gentleness
Salesian gentleness challenges us daily, from how we text and email to the way we drive, vote, and relate to our friends, family, foes, and colleagues. - Humility
With Salesian humility, we are grateful for the gifts given to us, crediting God for them and blessing the world with our expression of those gifts placed at the service of others. - Gratitude
Our ability to give thanks to God emerges from humility and prompts us to pray and, in turn, share the bounty of our blessings with others. - Hospitality
During a time in our world when countless peoples are exiled from their homelands, rejected and forced to live on streets, precluded from quality education, or marginalized in any way, Salesian hospitality seeks to accept others by honoring their human dignity and empowering them to be who they are and be that well. - Wisdom
Francis de Sales wrote: “Knowledge is the eighth sacrament.” Francis also developed the centrality of the heart as the locus of love for the human person. Thus, knowledge must not remain in the mind but touch the heart to be transformed into a wisdom that informs life’s choices and impels the disciple to love and serve.
- Gentleness
"Be who you are and be that well, to give honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are."
Five Goals for our Future
Deliver the Best Student Experience
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Goal: Deliver the best student experience
Inspire Outstanding Employee Commitment
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Goal: Inspire outstanding employee commitment
DeSales will become a campus community that intentionally recognizes innovation, rewards achievement, and values inclusiveness to engage faculty and staff through recruitment, professional development, and programming.
Improve Educational Products and Services
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Goal: Improve educational products and services
DeSales will transform the development and delivery of higher education through a reengineering of pedagogy, processes, and systems centered on student learning outcomes.
Achieve Financial, Operational, and Quality Commitments
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Goal: Achieve financial, operational, and quality commitments.
DeSales will support its success through a foundational culture of data-driven decision-making and accountability, a capacity for collaboration, creative risk-taking balanced with financial sustainability, and outstanding infrastructure and effective operations.
Leverage Strategic Partnerships and Community Outreach
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Goal: Leverage strategic partnerships and community outreach.
DeSales will solidify its status as a leading Catholic, regional university by tailoring programs to meet emerging market needs.
