Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the Board Mission Committee and its role in assisting the board of trustees and senior leadership in advancing religious mission and identity. The aim of this study was to apply its findings, generated from the qualitative assessment of data for Catholic colleges and university boards, to the development of recommendations to guide Catholic colleges/universities in advancing their religious mission and their Catholic identity. This qualitative phenomenological research study was conducted using interviews as its method of data collection. This study was rooted in the current climate of changing leadership amid a continued identity crisis facing Catholic colleges and universities today. |The findings of this study recognize the value of the Board Mission Committee and its potential impact on religious mission and identity. Findings from the study highlighted the importance of trustee formation, the critical role of senior leaders in shepherding the work of the committee, the fiduciary responsibility of the board of trustees for the religious mission and identity of the college/university whom they serve, and facilitated a proposed framework for an evidence-based solution of a recommendation guide for implementing a Board Mission Committee and some essential elements to ensure an effective committee. Furthermore, this study’s recommendations for implementation of a Board Mission Committee provide Catholic colleges and universities with a practical and viable approach to assisting the board of trustees in its fiduciary responsibility as keepers of the mission. This study also provides a foundation for future study on mission and identity in Catholic higher education.|Keywords: Mission, identity, leadership, board of trustees