It is abundantly clear is that Renewal Program participants deeply enrich the life of our school community and find their own profound enrichment with us. However, for many years, several factors including changing participant demographics, declining enrollment, and costs associated with operations have put the Renewal Program's viability into question. JST has not yet been able to address these issues, despite changes in programming that have served our sabbaticants well. Thus, as we re-examine our school's mission during strategic planning in the year ahead, we need to review the place of the Renewal Program in that mission. Therefore, Renewal Program new admissions have been paused in order thoughtfully to study and to discern what shape, if any, the program should take moving forward.
While new admission to the program is paused, the discernment and evaluation about its future will include, but not be limited to, the following action items. First, we will revisit the New Directions Working Group Report written in 2016; it provides thoughtful and data-driven analysis and recommendations regarding the future of sabbatical programming at JST. Second, Santa Clara University has hired an external firm who will complete a comprehensive market-research study and provide additional data and recommendations regarding the viability and future of the sabbatical, renewal, and non-degree programming at JST. Third, any decisions about the future of the Renewal Program will be considered in light of JST’s forthcoming strategic planning efforts. We need to know what it would take for a version of the Renewal Program to thrive as part of JST’s pursuit of its mission, and we need to determine whether what it would take falls within our grasp.
Thank you for your ongoing interest in the Renewal Program. If you have any additional questions, please email jstrenewalprogram@scu.edu.