Father Jay Fostner on Blogger: July 2019

Monday, July 15, 2019

The ACCU Annual Meeting Promotes Catholic Higher Education

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As vice president of mission and student affairs at St. Norbert College, Father Jay Fostner leverages his background in theology and psychology to oversee campus ministry, campus safety, and college traditions. Active in the professional community, Father Jay Fostner has attended the annual conferences of such organizations as the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU).

Established in 1899, the ACCU is the voice of Catholic higher education in the United States. The organization maintains various services and programs, including its signature annual meeting. This meeting is held every winter and is designed for the senior administrators and presidents of Catholic higher education institutions around the world. The event is held in Washington, DC, each year and grants attendees numerous opportunities for sharing ideas and networking with colleagues.

Leading up to the ACCU annual meeting, the organization holds several programs specifically tailored to professionals working in key positions within Catholic universities and colleges. These programs include the Mission Officers Conference, an event the provides leaders with practical tools for promoting Catholic identity; the Senior Students Affairs Offices Conference, an event designed to help student affairs professionals provide students with personal growth opportunities; and the Aspiring Presidents Conference, which is tailored for new presidents at Catholic higher education institutions.

The upcoming ACCU annual meeting is scheduled for January 31 to February 3, 2020. In 2019, the event brought in close to 500 senior leaders committed to securing the future of Catholic higher education.

About Father Jay Fostner

As the vice president for mission and student affairs at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, Father Jay Fostner guides campus safety and health center functions. Also responsible for residential education and housing, Father Jay Fostner oversees the Counseling Center and the Program for Faith, Learning, and Vocation.

Fr. Fostner’s accomplishments have included, along with his team, endowing the Sturzl Center for Service and Learning and the Norman Miller Center for Peace, Justice and Public Understanding. His efforts resulted in St. Norbert College achieving excellence in service learning recognition from the Carnegie Institute. He also supported his staff in implementing initiatives that boosted first-year to second-year retention rates for students of color from 40 to 90 percent.

A cum laude alumnus of St. Norbert College with a BA in psychology, Fr. Fostner received his MDiv in theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and both MA and PhD in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Berkeley. He joined the St. Norbert College faculty in 1997 as a part-time instructor responsible for teaching a master’s level theology course and an undergraduate psychology course each semester.