Updated: January 2023
Student Affairs
Overview
A Notre Dame education extends far beyond coursework and research to students’ development and formation grounded in the University’s Catholic, Holy Cross mission, which seeks to educate both the mind and the heart.
The Division of Student Affairs exists to enrich the experience of all Notre Dame students by offering services, resources, and engagement opportunities designed to develop students to their full potential as individuals, community members, and future leaders in the Church, society, and world. Comprising six areas that oversee eighteen departments, the Division coordinates University programs and resources that promote community, faith, wellness, belonging, service, engagement, and discernment on behalf of the University’s student body.
The six goals of the Division of Student Affairs’ strategic plan are guided by the themes of Faith and Formation; Belonging and Engagement; Health and Well-Being; Connection and Community; Reflection and Discernment; and Staff Recruitment, Development, and Retention. Student Affairs professionals, in close collaboration with students and partners across the University, bring these themes to life in countless, transformative ways, whether informally through day-to-day relationships, conversations, and interactions, or more formally through strategic Divisional initiatives and priorities. Select accomplishments for each goal achieved throughout the 2024-25 academic year can be found here.
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.
The Division of Student Affairs brings together the intellectual, spiritual, moral, and social dimensions of a student’s Notre Dame experience.
Goals
The Strategic Plan for the Division of Student Affairs outlines six primary goals, all of which are designed to care for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of Notre Dame students.
1. 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
- Cultivate a culture of reaffiliation and invite students to grow in their faith by increasing student engagement across the four pillars for reaffiliation identified by the Division of Student Affairs. These include authentic encounters; mentoring opportunities; faith and justice; and faith and beauty.
- Finalize the Division’s vision for student formation and development, and integrate, communicate, and align initiatives with this vision accordingly.
- To encourage a holistic approach to student formation and development, and identify and develop points of connection within the University’s Strategic Framework and potential areas of collaboration with key academic partners.
2. 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
- Promote a shared understanding of “belonging” to guide and inform work with students.
- Process and communicate the results of the 2024 Inclusive Campus Survey, and determine appropriate ways for survey themes and results to inform the work of the Division of Student Affairs.
- Continue to establish Belonging and Engagement as a distinct area within the Division of Student Affairs and the broader University.
3. 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
- Leverage resources across the Division of Student Affairs to create greater awareness and access to pathways toward student flourishing.
- Ensure a multi-dimensional approach to student flourishing in which policies, programs, and practices promote balanced approaches to engagement.
- Identify students in distress and refer to appropriate resources.
4. 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
- Empower students to build authentic relationships by encouraging practices and developing opportunities that cultivate healthy friendships.
- Strengthen support of vulnerable student populations by deepening collaborative relationships with key campus partners.
- Develop new opportunities, while better promoting existing opportunities, for students to serve in leadership roles and as peer mentors to enrich community and foster connections.
- Sustain and advance foundational strategies to support student belonging.
5. 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
- Provide greater clarity and a better understanding of discernment by finalizing, communicating, and integrating a framework for discernment within the Division of Student Affairs.
- To both foster a culture of discernment and continuously improve career and vocational outcomes for students, enhance collaboration with key academic partners.
6. Staff Recruitment, Development, and Retention
Recruit, develop, and retain a mission-centered team of professionals to work collaboratively on behalf of Notre Dame students and advance the mission of Student Affairs and the University.
Objectives
- Continue to build community and strengthen collaboration across the Division of Student Affairs by processing and communicating
key findings from recent engagement surveys. - Provide opportunities for Division staff of all levels to develop professionally and grow in their roles.
- Improve new and existing staff understanding of the individual and shared work within Student Affairs.
Learn more about the Division of Student Affairs by visiting studentaffairs.nd.edu.