Learning and Networking: NetVUE Events | February 2024

The 2024 NetVUE Conference is just around the corner, and we are looking forward to hosting over (how many institution teams?) in Atlanta this March 21-23! The three plenary speakers will provide perspectives on the overall conference theme, “Vocations for the Life of the World,” exploring various dimensions of the intersection of self and other:

Keynote Address

Called to Understand and Advocate for the Common Good

Meghan Sullivan, Rev. John A. O’Brien Collegiate Chair and Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame (IN)

Roundtable Plenary

Hunger, Hubris, and Community-Engaged Learning: Strategies for Slowing Down, Going Deeper, and Doing Bettered to Understand and Advocate for the Common Good

Darby Kathleen Ray, Donald W. and Ann M. Harward Professor of Civic Engagement and Professor of Religious Studies, Bates College (ME)

Closing Plenary

Called to Ethical Leadership at Intersections Where Worlds Collide

Walter Earl Fluker, Distinguished Professor of Howard Thurman Center, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace; Martin Luther, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Ethical Leadership and Editor of the Howard Thurman Papers Project, Boston University

Even though the conference registration deadline has passed, you can still register for a pre- or post-conference workshop if you are registered for the conference. These are practical enrichment opportunities that will also build your network in a smaller setting. You can easily add one of the following pre- or post-conference workshops to your registration by contacting Siena McCabe, CIC conference coordinator, at (202) 519-3391:

• Futuring Chaplaincy: Community and Creativity as Vocational Exploration, for mission and ministry leaders;
• Vocation: The Role of the Faculty, led by a team of seven experienced faculty leaders at NetVUE member institutions;
• Making Assessment Practical: Tools for Evaluating NetVUE Grants and Programs, an increasingly important approach to building and sustaining vocation-related programming; and
• How to Tell Your Story: A Workshop on Narrative Communication Strategies, to help build support for your work on campus.

Consider gathering a group of faculty members and/or staff on your campus to read a collection of articles on vocation and calling during the spring semester. NetVUE will supply free copies of the Summer 2023 issue of Christian Scholars Review, which includes six excellent articles on vocation and several useful book reviews.

The six authors (pictured left to right, starting at top left) are Bryan Dik, Niki Johnson, Tom Perrin, Amy Santas, Paul Wadell, and Danny Wasserman-Soler. They discuss vocation’s relationship to the liberal arts, to the disciplines (with one essay each focusing on the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities), to practical questions of pedagogy, and to the larger issues of spiritual and mental health that we face today. Also pictured here are Charlie Pinches and Patrick Reyes, whose vocation-related books are reviewed in this issue.

The first NetVUE regional gathering of the 2024–2025 cycle will take place May 16–18, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is being co-hosted by three NetVUE institutions: Aquinas College, Calvin University, and Cornerstone University. The topic, Vocation, Higher Education, and the City, is designed to prompt an exploration of the ways that colleges and universities are called to the cities in which they are located. Participants will explore the innovative roles that institutions of higher education can play as they seek to listen to, serve, and educate within their surrounding communities. Plenary and breakout sessions include Hearing from and Responding to the City; Problems and Perils of Place-Based Learning; Building New Partnerships; and Finding Unity across Divides. Registration will open soon; meanwhile, please mark your calendars and begin gathering a campus team to participate! Registration for NetVUE members is only $100, which includes two nights’ lodging and all meals.

Join us for a conversation about promoting vocational exploration beyond the traditional campus.

Our panelists (pictured here, clockwise from top left) will be Heather Brady of Grand View University, who will discuss community engagement with a focus on social justice; Jason Mahn of Augustana University (IL), who will help us think about education for vocation rather than career readiness in a prison educational program; and Jason Stevens of Cornerstone University and his team, who will speak on college-credit Clemente Courses for individuals living below the poverty line. The webinar will be hosted by Rachel Pickett, NetVUE webinar coordinator. In addition to participating in a thoughtful discussion, you may discover ways to use the material in your work with undergraduate students and colleagues—both within and beyond the traditional campus setting.

We will gather on Wednesday, February 7, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern (3:00 Central, 2:00 Mountain, 1:00 Pacific). The webinar is open to anyone at a NetVUE member institution at no cost, but registration is required.

Please share this information with your colleagues. We hope that you will consider will consider using the webinar as a springboard for further campus conversations that are tailored to your own context.