True North campaign launched

Over the summer, CSB+SJU administration developed a new program called “True North Journey.”

This program is a holistic and systemic approach focused on helping students’ education mean more and prepare students for life after college.

Administration said that CSB+SJU were looking for something that would resonate with prospective students and set these schools apart from others in a crowded marketplace.

The program is a four-year approach, with intentional programming and connections throughout the student’s college experience.

This will start with a “Base Camp” for first years, and end with “Launch” in the fourth year.

Each student in the program will have a True North Journey Team, made up of an academic advisor, a mentor and a career navigator.

“We’re working on what academic advising now looks like under the True North Journey. How can we be more intentional as academic advisors, whether that’s faculty or the actual office of academic advising? How can we make sure that we are advising our students really linking their sense of purpose, making sure that they’re connecting to opportunities in the institution, like experiential learning, that reflect what their educational goals are,” Mary Geller, Associate Provost for Student Success said.

The program was presented at the joint Senate meeting last Wednesday and was met with mixed reactions from senators, some of whom said they found the changes confusing and unnecessary.

“True North feels like the integrations curriculum, just wrapped up in newly branded phrasing and a promise to input more admin/faculty effort—which, in my opinion, should happen as it is, without spending tons of time, energy and resources,” Alex Smith, St. Ben’s Senate president, said via email.

In addition to worrying about branding, senators also expressed concern about the language the program uses.

“[The True North Program] seems more focused on appealing to a few rather than serving the majority of students,” CSB Senator Ashanti Humes said via email. “Calling orientation ‘Basecamp,’ for example, feels odd and out of place. If someone called my orientation that, I’d wonder if I was joining the military instead of starting college.”

The nature-like theme for the program came from the marketing department, who did research on what would reach incoming students most effectively.

It is partially based off the CSB+SJU location.

Geller emphasized that students get out of their education what they put in.

“Education is transformational. It’s a symbiotic relationship between the institution and the student. The student is going to get out of it what they want to put into it. Students can, even right now, opt out of a lot of stuff that’s not required, but the more that students opt in, the more their experience is going to be for them,” Geller said.

The introduction of the program is going to change how faculty approach and lead student learning.

The goal is for students to recognize their life purpose and goal and focus on how their educational journey can help them accomplish that.

This will be introduced in the 100-level course, where students will write their statements of purpose.

Senators criticized the choice to introduce a new program before acknowledging and improving the problems and disparities that currently exist on campus.

“Before making such a major shift, the institution should focus on improving the parts of student life that actually need attention,” Humes said via email. “A good place to start would be making orientation more engaging and meaningful for both new and transfer students. Those first experiences shape how students feel about the community long after their first week.”

The program represents a change in the approach to how faculty think about student journeys to help them reach their end goals.

While it is still being finalized, St. John’s Senate Trustee Ben Bugbee feels it will benefit students over time.

“While I see some ‘pretty packaging’ and a touch of pageantry at this stage, I’m confident that as this program is refined, with feedback from students, faculty and staff, it will become a thoughtful and well-polished framework that genuinely benefits the student body,” Bugbee said.

Despite its origins within the CSB+SJU administration, senators worry that the introduction of the True North program represents a shift away from the institution’s founding values.

“If we are going to maintain our identity as a Catholic and Benedictine institution, I think it is best to own that identity and work on attracting students who truly align with that identity and the values that follow rather than covering it up with something we think will just be appealing to more students,” Smith said via email.

The program is being presented to the boards this Friday.

“We don’t need another slogan or brand to define who we are. What we need is to stay grounded in our faith, our Benedictine values and the genuine sense of community that makes CSB+SJU what it is,” Humes said via email.