Catholic Culture within the Student Affairs Division at a Catholic University Lacking a Found

162 Pages·2017·1 MB·English

University of St. Thomas, Minnesota
UST Research Online
Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership School of Education
Spring 2015
A Charism is a Nice Thing to Have: Catholic
Culture within the Student Affairs Division at a
Catholic University Lacking a Founding Order
Josh Hengemuhle
University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at:https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss
Part of theEducational Leadership Commons,Educational Methods Commons,Educational
Sociology Commons,Higher Education Commons,Leadership Studies Commons,Other
Education Commons, and theStudent Counseling and Personnel Services Commons
Recommended Citation
Hengemuhle, Josh, "A Charism is a Nice Thing to Have: Catholic Culture within the Student Affairs Division at a Catholic University
Lacking a Founding Order" (2015).Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership. 66.
https://ir.stthomas.edu/caps_ed_lead_docdiss/66
This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at UST Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in
Education Doctoral Dissertations in Leadership by an authorized administrator of UST Research Online. For more information, please contact
[email protected].
A Charism is a Nice Thing to Have:

Catholic Culture within the Student Affairs Division at a
Catholic University Lacking a Founding Order

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS

By

Josh A. Hengemuhle

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

2015
ii
UNIVERERSITY OF ST. THOMAS, MINNESOTA

A Charism is a Nice Thing to Have:

Catholic Culture within the Student Affairs Division at a Catholic University Lacking a
Founding Order

We certify that we have read this dissertation and approve it as adequate in scope and
quality. We have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any
and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made:

Dissertation Committee

__________________________________________
Kathleen M. Boyle, Ph. D., Committee Chair

__________________________________________
Sandra M. Estanek, Ph. D., Committee Member

__________________________________________
Thomas L. Fish, Ed. D., Committee Member
iii
ABSTRACT

Student affairs practitioners working in Catholic colleges and universities face
the challenge of balancing of two competing value systems: that of the Catholic identity
and mission of the institution coming from the Catholic Church, and the values of the
student affairs profession. At institutions founded by a specific religious order, the
charism of that order can play an instrumental role in a student affairs practitioner’s
understanding of that Catholic culture and can aid in that balancing act (Sanders, 2010).
These charisms ground religious congregations, providing them, and the individuals
working at their institutions, with “distinctive ‘flavors’ or cultures, and act as reference
points and as guiding forces for their ministries” (Sanders, 2010, p. 4).
However, at an institution not founded by an order, student affairs professionals
do not have such a guide present within the culture of the institution (Galligan-Stierle &
Casale, 2010). Given the focus on charism in the limited literature on student affairs
within Catholic higher education (Estanek, 2002), student affairs practitioners at these
institutions are left without professional guidance.
This study examines the particular case of St. Isidore University, a diocesan
Catholic university. Using case study analysis I determine the nature of the Catholic
culture within the student affairs division. I go further to apply grounded theory
methodology to analyze how that culture came to be. Finally, I provide
recommendations for future practice.
iv

This dissertation is dedicated to my children.
Daddy’s done with school. Now it’s your turn.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This dissertation has been ten years in the making. I have not been writing it for
that long, but ten years of my experience have influenced me coming to this topic and
this program as the direction of my work. As one can imagine, in ten years of work,
there are a number of people to thank. I will miss many of them.
I will begin by thanking my mother, Arlys. From early in my life she made a
commitment that I attend Catholic schools, making it a priority. That is not an easy
thing for a single mother to do. Combining that education with the foundation of the
faith she raised me in, I have become who I am today.
My gratitude goes to Dr. Timothy Seaworth of the University of Mary, who
when I told I wanted to enter student affairs as a profession, went to his shelf and
pulled down a copy of Estanek’s (2002) Understanding Student Affairs in Catholic Colleges
and Universities. The idea that doing this work within Catholic higher education was an
area on which to focus entered my mind then and has stuck with me since.
I want to thank the numerous people who have had to experience me in class
over these years: my master’s classmates, my doctoral cohort, and occasional others
along the way. Each of you are a part of this in some way, whether it be for putting up
with me as “the Catholic education guy” in class, or simply helping me engage in any
number of topics and subjects outside of my focus. Thank you for learning with me.
Thank you to my committee members. Due to your involvement and the high
standards of quality to which you held me, my pride in my work increased. Specifically
to my chair Dr. Kate Boyle, who has served both as a mentor and a friend since I began
working in student affairs and studying. Your commitment to and support of me has
been an essential part of my development and (hopefully) success.
But most importantly, my greatest gratitude goes to my wife, Tricia. She has
been my partner through these ten years and has born the burden of me being a student
vi
for over eight of them. Her patience is astounding, her support unwavering, and her
love uplifting. Yes, she and our children may have had an impact on this taking as long
as it did to complete, but it would never have been done without her. I cannot begin to
thank her enough for her love and support.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vii

Chapter One: Introduction and Warrant for Study 1
Historical Context – Catholic Higher Education 2
Founding Orders and their Charisms 4
Catholic Institutions with Order Affiliation 5
Historical Context – the Student Affairs Profession 6
Institutional Mission and Culture 7
Professional Development 8
Relevance 9
Research Question 10
Glossary of Terms 11
Reflexive Statement 14
Overview of the Chapters 16

Chapter Two: Review of Relevant Literature 18
Catholic Culture within Higher Education 18
Early Purposes of Catholic Higher Education 19
Transition to the Twentieth Century 20
Loss of Religious 22
Ex Corde Ecclesiae 23
Student Affairs at Catholic Institutions 25
Value Congruence 25
Tensions 27
Balancing personal and institutional values 29
Professional Association 31
Principles of Good Practice 32
Professional Competencies 34
Importance of Mission 35
Theoretical Foundations 35
Organizations as Culture 36
Connection to charism 37
Person/organization fit 38
Leadership within culture 41
viii
Socialization 42
Lincoln’s discourse, myth, ritual, and taxonomy 45
Tribalism 47
Chapter Summary 50

Chapter Three: Methodology 51
Design and Rationale 52
Data Collection 55
Site Selection 55
Participants 57
Interviews 60
Additional Data Collection 61
Participant observation. 61
Background interviews 62
Environmental observation 63
Document analysis 64
Data Storage 65
Data Analysis 65
Validity, Generalizability, Reliability and Ethics 66
Validity, Generalizability and Reliability 66
Confidentiality and Ethics 69
Chapter Summary 71

Chapter Four: Findings and Analysis of the Formations and Perceptions of the Catholic
Identity at SIU 72
Background 72
The Charism of SIU 73
Helping and Service 74
Dignity 77
Justice and Peace 81
Local Community 82
The Development and Continuation of SIU’s Charism 84
Formal Structures 85
The search process 86
Supervision structures 90
Articulation 92
Diffusion 94
Formal Trainings 95
Questions and issues 98
Discourse, Myth and Ritual 100
ix
Discourse 100
Not JUST Catholic 102
“Big ‘C’ – little ‘c’” 104
Restrictions 106
Myth 107
Fr. Ted 107
Professed religious 109
Namesake saint 110
“Isidorian” 111
Ritual 113
Personal Commitment 114
Individual staff value congruence 117
Student driven 119
Lack of Influence 121
Chapter Summary 122

Chapter Five: Summary, Implications, and Recommendations 124
Research Review 125
Name It 126
Assessment 127
Consistency 128
Positivity 129
Universal 131
Use It 132
Intentionality 132
Competency 133
Responsibility 136
Future Research 137
Chapter Summary 138

References 140

Appendices
Appendix A: Participant Email 147
Appendix B: Interview Protocol 149
Appendix C: Participant Consent Form 150
Appendix D: Transcriber Confidentiality Agreement 152