Annual Progress 2024
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School of Continuing & Professional Studies
2024 Annual Report
At the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS), our commitment to advancing adult education, fostering professional development, and empowering individuals within diverse communities is unwavering. Since our inception, we have embarked on a journey marked by innovation, dedication, and a steadfast pursuit of excellence. As we unveil our inaugural progress report, we invite you to read about our achievements, initiatives, and transformative endeavors that signify our ongoing dedication to providing unparalleled educational experiences. Join us as we showcase the remarkable strides made in shaping the future of lifelong learning at Loyola University Chicago.
Welcome to Our Community
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A Message from Interim Dean Jeanne Widen
As the outgrowth of a 100+ year history of serving adult students at Loyola University Chicago, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies plays the important role of providing a high-quality and transformative Jesuit education to working adult and non-traditional students who would otherwise not be able to benefit from it.
Academic inclusion is essential to our mission. This means that access to higher education is key, but we also go beyond simply providing educational access and create a sense of belonging for our students, especially for those who have been or would otherwise be marginalized within higher education. We create a compassionate community for our diverse learners and foster equity through high touch, individualized student support from staff and faculty. Underlying our instructional practices and support services is the recognition of the individual needs and circumstances of our students and flexibility in addressing them; we don’t treat our students with a one size fits all approach but try to provide what they each need to be successful. Students of color, first-generation students and veterans, students with varied ethnicities, identities and abilities, parents and caregivers, skill-seekers and career-changers, have all found a home, not just a place to get a degree.
Our community is one where faculty, staff, students and alumni engage, inspire, and learn from each other. Our student and alumni ambassadors share their wisdom and experiences to help guide their peers through their educational journeys. Our scholar-practitioner faculty bring real-world experience into the classroom, and create an environment where students also bring in their work and life experiences and learn with and from each other. Our full- and part-time faculty are united by their shared passion and practices for serving the adult student with excellence. Our staff and faculty form a cohesive and collaborative team that’s dedicated to our mission and knit together by our shared Jesuit values of service to others and cura personalis. Together we’ve created exceptional support systems and professionally relevant, flexible, and application-oriented programs that foster career advancement and lifelong learning. Fittingly, SCPS has become a true community of learners where some students have gone on to join our faculty and some faculty have themselves returned as students to our programs.
At SCPS, our commitment to our students’ success transforms their lives by opening more possibilities for their growth and advancement. We hear from them regularly that we’ve empowered them professionally, inspired them to follow meaningful pursuits, and equipped them to become leaders in their own communities.
I’m delighted to share the recent accomplishments of our community in the pages that follow.
By The Numbers
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Transforming Lives
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PARALEGAL STUDIES, BA '24
Chisa Santiago
MANAGEMENT, BA '23
Phillip Franco
Faculty - Clinical Instructor of Information Technology Programs
Chris Fulton
MANAGEMENT, BA '23
Shantineq Gatlin
.jpg "Highlights - Program Updates")
.jpg "Highlights - Dean Search")
DEI Initiatives
Many DEI initiatives at SCPS have resulted from its Racial Justice Examen and the good work of its DEI Committee. While the SCPS DEI Committee was formed prior to the Examen, its efforts in the last couple of years align with the goals identified by the Examen process. This past year, the membership of the committee has expanded to include a broad representation of faculty, staff, and students who meet regularly to define, organize and promote the School’s DEI efforts.
SCPS has developed courses that focus on issues of DEI and social justice.
We revised the three School-specific courses required of all bachelor’s degree-seeking students to highlight and embed issues related to DEI into the course content and assignments. Our first required course Introduction to Degree Completion and our culminating Capstone course now have a strengthened focus on social justice. Furthermore, we replaced our required Professional Identity and Development course with a new Civic Identity and Development course, in which students examine their intersecting identities as civically engaged professionals in their communities using a variety of frameworks (such as the Civic Minded Professional, Catholic Social Teaching, and Asset Based Community Development framework). This course empowers students to leverage their own assets and those of their communities to grow as individuals and enact positive social change, and challenges them to examine and confront power, oppression, and privilege. Additionally, we now offer an elective course to all students on Strategic Equity and Inclusion which exposes participants to tools and frameworks that aid the development of a strategic DEI plan and gives them the opportunity to build and implement such a plan within an organization.
SCPS supports ongoing efforts to integrate DEI more fully across the curriculum of our diverse programs.
We have encouraged and supported our full- and part-time faculty to bring a broader range of voices and perspectives into their course materials. Our Instructional Designer provides resources and guidance to instructors to help these efforts, and several instructors have updated and improved their courses accordingly. The SCPS DEI Committee is also overseeing plans to conduct a comprehensive syllabus review and create a resource library for the multiple disciplines represented in our programs, with an eye toward supporting our faculty. The resource library will help increase faculty confidence in implementing DEI materials and concepts, and promote a sense of belonging among students, particularly those from historically marginalized and underrepresented backgrounds in higher education. The syllabus review will further contribute to this effort by determining the courses that would benefit from additional materials related to DEI and helping formulate actionable steps for faculty members to integrate DEI concepts into their curriculum.
SCPS has offered more training, guidance, and support for faculty and staff to further an inclusive school environment.
Regular trainings related to DEI and anti-racism have been integrated into our ongoing professional development activities. DEI training has been included in the annual staff performance evaluation, as has the inclusion of DEI-related service, research, and instructional practices in our annual faculty performance evaluations. A series of faculty development workshops have been offered to our large group of full- and part-time faculty, including faculty-led workshops on Anti-Racism Approaches for the Online Classroom, Equity in Assessment, and a planned workshop on Universal Design for Learning in conjunction with the Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy. DEI-related instructional guidance has been embedded in our new faculty mentoring process, and DEI-focused discussions have been included in our semi-annual faculty meetings.
SCPS has improved its hiring practices, resulting in the successful hiring of diverse full- and part-time faculty and staff that reflect the diversity of our student body.
With the support and guidance of the office of Academic Affairs, we conducted search committee training with a DEI-Liaison and followed the suggested and required practices for hiring for DEI within our full-time faculty search process. We subsequently integrated many of these practices within our internal guidelines for staff and adjunct faculty hiring. As a result of our efforts, we successfully hired more full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, and staff from historically underrepresented groups who bring diverse perspectives and experiences to our team.
The SCPS DEI begun hosting Community Open Forums in Spring 2023 dedicated to providing students with a space to share their thoughts on DEI matters with the committee.
This program also serves as an opportunity for the SCPS DEI Committee to share its progress and initiatives with students, to keep them apprised of the work being done. This space offers students the opportunity to give the committee feedback on those efforts as well as share experiences that they are having within their online learning environments.
The SCPS DEI Committee is moving forward with plans to conduct a qualitative study to facilitate the creation of a DEI strategic plan.
This qualitative research will be conducted through focus groups to complement the University-wide climate survey. Strategic goals and actionable next steps will be devised based on the findings from this study. These results will highlight the current DEI climate within our school so we can identify strengths and weaknesses and continue to improve our programs and processes. Additionally, these insights will inform proactive measures to address issues of inequality and injustice before they occur. The study will also inform the development of a comprehensive toolkit aimed at providing support to faculty and staff to help them implement DEI materials and concepts into their work and enhance the curriculum and culture of SCPS overall.
Recent Accomplishments of Faculty and Staff
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William C. Hine Distinguished Service Award
Assistant Dean Jennifer Gettings has been selected as the 2024 recipient of The William C. Hine Distinguished Service Award for the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. This award honors Chapter Councilors for their commitment to promoting lifelong learning, dedication to serving adult learners, and leadership to the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. In addition to receiving this distinction, as a recipient she is appointed to the Executive Board of Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society for the year 2024.
Exemplary Leadership
Uriel Robles
Academic Advisor Uriel Robles has expanded his role at SCPS: In addition to serving as an essential member of our staff, Uriel has joined our faculty ranks as an instructor for CPST 200 Introduction to Degree Completion, as well as our student community by pursuing our MPS in Instructional Design. Uriel has also provided leadership to the SCPS DEI Committee and Student Showcase Committee. His many roles and experiences help inform his work at SCPS in the broadest sense possible and truly exemplify lifelong learning at its best.
Strategic Development
Dianne Dawson-Daniels
Dianne Dawson Daniels merged her work with the SCPS DEI Committee and her faculty role with the design, development, and successful launch of a new course on Strategic Equity and Inclusion. Open to the broader University community, the course focuses on the importance of thinking strategically about this important change effort in organizations and offers participants an opportunity to outline a framework for sustained equity and inclusion and to explore fundamental concepts on the topic.
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Outstanding Accolades
Kesley Richardson
Kesley Richardson was selected for 40 Under 40 with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and received the Outstanding Student Award through the American Society for Public Education with West Chester University of Pennsylvania for his high academic standing and commitment to a career in practice or teaching of public administration. He is currently writing a book chapter for a FEMA book project on international emergency management.
Community Expertise
Eva Mika
Eva Mika serves as a member of the University’s Executive Planning Committee for Coordinated Learning and Assessment Supports (CLAS) and a Unit Lead and Unit Advisor within CLAS. She has also been named a Faculty Affiliate with the Institute for Racial Justice. This is an inaugural university wide cohort of faculty dedicated to promoting racial justice in higher education and beyond. Faculty affiliates will play a pivotal role in propelling positive change through research, scholarship, education, and community-building endeavors. As a community psychologist she will offer her expertise in program evaluation, leading complex systems change, feminist methodology, and action research to help build a more just world.
Recruiting Learners
Jake Mickelson
Jake Mickelson, our Coordinator of Recruitment and Retention since March 2023, supports admitted and prospective students, resulting in increased enrollments compared to last year. His work highlights the importance of comprehensive student support. Jake manages all stages of recruitment and admission, expanding our efforts with more events, such as the successful "Roadmap to Your Future in Technology." This event showcased our technology programs and emphasized how enrollment can enhance technology careers in Chicago and nationwide. Attendees even engaged in an Introduction to JSON workshop, earning a Credly badge.
Published Author
Devon Price
Devon Price's latest book "Unlearning Shame" was released from Penguin Random House on February 6th. He is speaking at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas on March 10th, in a panel entitled Nothing About Us Without Us - Patient-Driven Autism Research, alongside Autistic Journalist Eric Garcia and a team of researchers from Bened Life. Devon will be delivering a keynote address at the Autism Society of Minnesota's annual conference on April 18th. Coverage of Devon's work has recently appeared on NPR, WBEZ, and the Glennon Doyle podcast.
Learn More About Our Faculty
"When you start a journey, there is usually a reason behind setting out to travel the road ahead. There is a motivating factor...You will hear of meeting challenges, of perseverance, of commitment and of determination. I can look in the audience and see my children, and I think of the example I wanted to set for them - an example of finishing a journey, no matter the obstacles." Shawn Crump (BA, Management '15)
Give Today
As the outgrowth of a 100+ year history of serving adult students at Loyola University Chicago, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies plays the important role of providing a high-quality and transformative Jesuit education to working adult and non-traditional students who would otherwise not be able to benefit from it.
Academic inclusion is essential to our mission. This means that access to higher education is key, but we also go beyond simply providing educational access and create a sense of belonging for our students, especially for those who have been or would otherwise be marginalized within higher education. We create a compassionate community for our diverse learners and foster equity through high touch, individualized student support from staff and faculty. Underlying our instructional practices and support services is the recognition of the individual needs and circumstances of our students and flexibility in addressing them; we don’t treat our students with a one size fits all approach but try to provide what they each need to be successful. Students of color, first-generation students and veterans, students with varied ethnicities, identities and abilities, parents and caregivers, skill-seekers and career-changers, have all found a home, not just a place to get a degree.
Our community is one where faculty, staff, students and alumni engage, inspire, and learn from each other. Our student and alumni ambassadors share their wisdom and experiences to help guide their peers through their educational journeys. Our scholar-practitioner faculty bring real-world experience into the classroom, and create an environment where students also bring in their work and life experiences and learn with and from each other. Our full- and part-time faculty are united by their shared passion and practices for serving the adult student with excellence. Our staff and faculty form a cohesive and collaborative team that’s dedicated to our mission and knit together by our shared Jesuit values of service to others and cura personalis. Together we’ve created exceptional support systems and professionally relevant, flexible, and application-oriented programs that foster career advancement and lifelong learning. Fittingly, SCPS has become a true community of learners where some students have gone on to join our faculty and some faculty have themselves returned as students to our programs.
At SCPS, our commitment to our students’ success transforms their lives by opening more possibilities for their growth and advancement. We hear from them regularly that we’ve empowered them professionally, inspired them to follow meaningful pursuits, and equipped them to become leaders in their own communities.
I’m delighted to share the recent accomplishments of our community in the pages that follow.
Many DEI initiatives at SCPS have resulted from its Racial Justice Examen and the good work of its DEI Committee. While the SCPS DEI Committee was formed prior to the Examen, its efforts in the last couple of years align with the goals identified by the Examen process. This past year, the membership of the committee has expanded to include a broad representation of faculty, staff, and students who meet regularly to define, organize and promote the School’s DEI efforts.