President’s Letter to the Saint Joseph’s University Community
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the workplace faster than any technology in our lifetimes — changing entry-level jobs, shifting employer expectations and transforming which skills are valued. That reality extends to everything we do, from the way we teach and conduct research, to the conversations that take place in our classrooms, to the demands our graduates will face in their careers, to the types of leaders this world will need. How we respond to this change matters. And Saint Joseph’s University is prepared to meet the moment.
Earlier today at our annual Fall Launch event, we announced The Initiative for Human Formation in an Age of AI, a funded, multi-year commitment impacting every part of the University. Its goal is to prepare students, faculty and staff for an AI-driven future through faculty development and pedagogical innovation, a deepened student experience grounded in core human competencies, and investment in how we advance our collaborative work as an institution.
The Initiative follows several months of consultation with the Board of Trustees, alumni, faculty, staff, students and regional governmental and business leaders, while also drawing on close study of Pope Leo’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas: “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.”
The Initiative includes strategic collaboration with and a lead gift from the Sanchez Dooner Foundation, along with additional financial support from like-minded donors. Collectively, these gifts represent a multi-million dollar investment that will support the University community for years to come.
This important work builds on the strength of our Jesuit mission, and it is this foundation that allows us to move quickly, thoughtfully and boldly. As we begin the fall semester, you will see this work taking shape, anchored in guiding principles and led by a Guiding Coalition.
The Initiative will include a new, state-of-the-art AI Innovation Studio: a collaborative space where faculty, staff, students and community partners come together to explore how AI and human ingenuity can address complex real-world challenges. The studio will foster interdisciplinary and community collaboration, experimentation, and the development of practical solutions that put human needs and values at the center.
We will also introduce the Horizon Series, bringing together industry leaders and experts for discipline-clustered conversations about how AI is reshaping the workforce, professional practice and society; the impacts of an AI-shaped future; emerging opportunities and challenges; and the ethical implications of AI across fields. Open to faculty, staff, students, regional leaders, government representatives and the broader community, the Horizon Series will foster dialogue about what an AI-shaped future means for graduates’ professions and the people they serve.
Additional work already underway includes scaled Faculty Innovation Grants to support faculty-designed course and departmental projects; a framework to track and measure the development of human formation competencies in our students; a pilot Student Experience Navigator program serving as a companion to academic advising; and additional development opportunities provided to our employees, as we modernize our organizational systems.
Rigorous, quality and disciplinary professional readiness, paired with intentionally deep development of core human competencies is our foundation and distinction. The qualities that make us loving, ethical, intellectual human beings are the ones that matter most.
That is why this moment calls on us directly. While other institutions are meeting it at the margins, declaring the work is already done or waiting for clarity, we are choosing to lead. This is our opportunity to meet the moment, in all its complexity, built on our strengths. Together, we will work to shape a future where technology serves humanity, not the other way around.
Always. Forward.
Cheryl A. McConnell, PhD
President