Welcome to the new webpage of the AFCU Journal: A Franciscan Perspective on Higher Education!

In 2001, the Board of Directors of the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities (AFCU) approved a proposal for an annual journal. It was hoped that this journal would encourage faculty and staff members and administrators of Franciscan institutions to explore the connection between the Franciscan intellectual and spiritual tradition and the many dimensions of Catholic higher education. The first issue of the journal appeared in January 2004. Since its inception the journal has featured articles and poems from more than 80 members of the faculty, staff, and administration of 15 AFCU institutions. In many ways the journal has served as a point of contact for scholars and practitioners desiring to deepen their understanding and integration of the Catholic Franciscan tradition into the curriculum and the co-curriculum.

With the inauguration of the revised AFCU website, the journal expands its ability to serve AFCU members. While publication of the paper version of the journal will continue, plans are in process for an on-line “best practices” newsletter. We envision that this newsletter will feature peer-reviewed articles describing “ideas that work” to bring the Franciscan tradition alive in the classroom, board room, and across the campus. We are currently revising manuscript submission guidelines for the paper version of the journal and developing guidelines for the “best practices” on-line newsletter. We hope to share these guidelines early in 2011.

Please feel free to contact me or any member of the AFCU journal board at any time. Your suggestions, questions, and comments are always welcome!

Sr. Patricia Hutchison, OSF, Ph.D.

On October 3, 2001, the Board of Directors of the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities approved a proposal for an annual journal to feature the peer reviewed research and writings of faculty and administrators of AFCU institutions. The purposes of the AFCU journal are:

• To strengthen the vision of Catholic higher education in the Franciscan tradition
• To connect all the discrete disciplines to a Franciscan philosophy and heritage
• To encourage an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to research and reflection from the Franciscan school of today
• To provide motivation for reflection on the breadth and depth of scholarship emanating from Franciscan institutions of higher learning.

It is hoped that this publication will offer an incentive for faculty and staff to reflect upon the distinct character of a Franciscan institution of higher education.

The publication of the journal is guided by a small editorial board and assisted by contact persons within each of the AFCU institutions. The views expressed in the articles are attributed to the authors and not to the member institutions. Permission to reprint articles should be directed to: Editor, The AFCU Journal, Neumann University, One Neumann Drive, Aston, PA 19014.