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Posted: February 11
One sunny day follows another here in Rome. Although it is cold enough to make a good coat necessary, the light is clear and bright. Even though we moved from Ordinary Time to Lent in the Church calendar, the days are much the same. As is the work in the communication office. I have not been traveling for awhile, which makes it possible to concentrate on big jobs. The biggest current project is finishing a database that several Curia offices can use, including communication. We will take advantage of it to send out Jescom Notes announcements to our email list, but we will also use it to create an online directory of communication persons and works. It will also enable us to compile statistics about the communication apostolate, something we just have not done so far.
Meanwhile, two friends have just sent me good news that their own long-term projects are coming to fruition. You need a lot of patience in this business, because if it takes one minute to get a great idea, it requires months and months to make it happen. Father Mick Kelly of the Australian province said that his ambitious plan to launch a national television cable channel is about to launch. When I saw him in Sydney last year, he was lining up supporters and talent for the project which takes advantage of the government’s desire for Australian-oriented programming. In order to get something like this going, you need lots of enthusiasm, determination and a willingness to keep plugging along. It is easy for skeptics to focus on the difficulties, so I was delighted to hear that Mick’s endeavor is going forward. I will publish the details in the Jescom Notes which will come out soon.
From the other side of the world, I also received good news from Cindy Bonfini-Hotlosz, the chief information officer for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (the U.S. Jesuits’ organization that deals with higher education. She has been working on distance education, an interest we share in common. I first met her when she came to Rome taking photographs of Ignatian sites for an online course she was helping to develop. Once again, this is a big change from the classroom-oriented education most Jesuits know, so one needs to be very enthusiastic to see the potential this new method has once somebody finally gets if working.
Cindy wrote to say that her project is also going forward: “JesuitNET’s growth moves at varying speeds throughout the institutions. Gonzaga’s growth in their Master’s in Organizational Leadership is astounding. I believe enrollment is over 200 now in the program – and it is only one year old. I am particularly proud of the results since it is the first program that uses the CADE methodology that took three years, over a hundred faculty members, and several good pedagogical models (including our very own Ignatius’ model). They are in the process of launching three more programs in the very near future. Loyola New Orleans is on their heels with a degree in Health Care Systems Management, followed by Canisius and Georgetown – all using the same methodology.”
I plan to follow up with a story that explains more about the methodology Cindy mentions which is the key element in providing effective education delivered via the internet. But then the Society of Jesus has a long history in developing effective teaching methods; think of the Ratio Studiorum in its day.
The sun is definitely shining.
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