Why the change?

Hello! This document is to provide you with the details of how Catholic Hoos’ Leadership Team will be chosen for the 2018-19 academic year. If you still have lingering questions after reading this through, we sincerely encourage you to bring them to any member of the current team, Father Joseph-Anthony, or Corinne Riley. We would love to talk with you!

After exploring the various operations of campus ministries across the Diocese of Richmond, the state of Virginia, and even the greater D.C. area, as well as consulting the experience and knowledge of previous Leadership Team members and our former campus minister, we are excited to share with you the process by which your leaders will be chosen for the upcoming academic year.

We have loved serving you and your fellow students this year but we have realized just how few avenues to leadership currently exist within our ministry. With this in mind, we will be expanding the membership of the Leadership Team for next year. This growth in the size of the Leadership Team will not only make more opportunities available to you to grow as a Catholic leader, but it will also provide the ministry with an increase of time, talent, and energy that is so dearly needed in order to more deeply and more extensively share the peace, the love, and the joy of the Good News of Jesus Christ at the University of Virginia.

The significant growth of team, however, demands that we adopt a new method by which our leaders will be chosen. The Leadership Team will be comprised of a “Core Team” (which includes all existing Chairs, plus a Music Chair) and secondary tier of “Ministry Coordinators” (tasked with very specific responsibilities, each serving under one of the Core Team Chairs). Please continue reading below to learn about this new method of discernment and the new leadership opportunities.

Discernment Schedule

Discernment I (Discussion of Community Needs): Tuesday April 10th, 7:30 pm.

Discernment II (Selection of Chair): Friday April 13th, following 5:15 pm Mass (dinner provided).

Applications and Nominations open for Core Team: Sunday April 15th, 9:00 pm Chapel Mass.

Applications close for Core Team: Tuesday April 24th, 11:59 pm.
 

The New Process

As outlined below, there are several major changes that have been made to the discernment process as well as the leadership positions available within Catholic Hoos. All changes have been made after looking to other successful discernment processes and with an eye to the Catholic Church’s own traditions. A full, step-by-step explanation of the new process can be here.

1. Chair

   1. The discernment of Chair is largely the same with a few minor changes that can be noted in the detailed explanation on the Catholic Hoos website.

2. Vice Chair

   1. The process of discerning of Vice Chair is one of the more significant changes made to the discernment of Team. This change is also paired with revisions made to the role of Vice Chair itself.

      1. The role of Vice Chair has been clarified to reflect both the complementary nature of the position to Chair and its internal service to the Leadership Team (versus external service to the community). The responsibilities of Vice Chair are to support and aid the Chair, to step in and fulfill the duties of the Chair when the Chair is absent or unable to serve, and to nourish and uplift the leadership team.

   2. It is necessary, then, that the Vice Chair complement the Chair and understand the dynamics of a healthy team. With this in mind, the discernment of the Vice Chair will fall to the newly elected Chair under the prayerful guidance of the Campus Minister, Chaplain, and previous Chair.

      1. The specific gifts, strengths, and qualities of the Vice Chair will vary every year depending on the needs of the specific Chair, and we realized the necessity to give the Chair the space to prayerfully discern the distinct traits needed for compatibility.

3. The Team

   1. Core Team & Coordinators

      1. To reflect the new structure of the leadership roles within Catholic Hoos, Team will be comprised of Core Team positions (which include all Chair positions) as well as Coordinator positions (which each complete one specific task, serving under a designated Chair). The Coordinators are considered part of the Leadership of Catholic Hoos and, as such, are also a part of Team, hence the need to now collectively label Chairs as “Core Team.”

   2. Discernment process

      1. Each Core Team and Coordinator position is decided by the Campus Minister, Chaplain, and newly discerned Chair and Vice Chair, under the advisement of the previous year’s Team.

         1. Instead of submitting nominations via email and gathering as a community to provide public input on each accepted nomination (as was previously done), online nomination and application forms will be made available immediately following the discernment of Chair and Vice Chair. A nomination is not necessary to submit an application to be on Team.

         2. The nomination forms will provide the space for all relevant information that could have been previously garnered by the community in the public setting. By allowing every nominator to provide insight into his or her nomination, we hope to open avenues for dialogue and understanding that were not available in the previous model.

      2. Nominations for positions are accepted by filling out the application form. Again, it is not necessary that you are nominated in order to apply.

      3. The application will include several essays, the indication of your top 3 Chair positions and your top 5 Coordinator positions.

         1. After an application comes in, all Core Team applicants will be interviewed by the campus minister and chaplain and their application will be made visible, though anonymous, to the previous year’s Chairs for whose positions they applied.

         2. Those who apply to only Coordinator roles will not be interviewed.

      4. As soon as the deadline for Core Team passes and all Core Team applicants have been interviewed, the Campus Minister, Chaplain, new Chair and Vice Chair will consult the previous team and finalize placements.

      5. Nominations and applications for Coordinators will continue to be accepted through the end of the semester and placements will be announced during the summer.

4. Leadership Opportunities

   1. Core Team (10 positions)

      1. Chair, Vice Chair, Faith Formation Chair, Social Chair, Worship Chair, Justice and Peace Chair, Retreats Chair, Outreach Chair, Communications Chair, Music Chair.

   2. Ministry Coordinators (25+ positions)

      We are still in the process of solidifying the specific number of coordinator positions as well as the responsibilities that fall to each. Once we have them finalized, we will release the details to the community. Below is an example of how the breakdown of Core Team and Coordinator will look.

      Social (6+)

      1. Chair
         1. Social Events
            1. Organize a monthly event or activity for the community
            2. Oversee the Coordinators
            3. Schedule and organize the Semiformal in the spring
      2. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Coordinators
         1. TSup Coordinator
            1. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Organizes a schedule for who is cooking TSup each week and cleaning up afterwards
         2. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Men’s Ministry Coordinator
            1. ​​​​​​​Arrange events for the men of the Catholic community a couple times per semester
         3. Women’s Ministry Coordinator
            1. ​​​​​​​Arrange events for the women of the Catholic community a couple times per semester
         4. Intramural Coordinator
            1. ​​​​​​​Facilitate the creation of intramural sports teams
         5. Aesthetics Coordinator
            1. Responsible for the care of the Student Common Room and decorations for CH events
         6. Tailgate Coordinator
            1. Organize and plan tailgates for home football games​​​​​​

Apply for a leadership position here!

Nominate someone for leadership here!