Mission, identity and values
Great leadership starts with self-knowledge. As a Catholic university, they’re guided by their clear mission, strong sense of identity and firm set of values. All three influence the decisions they make as an institute of higher education, and guide their staff and students in their day-to-day lives.
They know who they are. That’s how they can help you understand yourself and the world around you.
The evidence is on their campuses
Everything they do is led by their mission and their values. They make them the institution they are, and their staff and students put them into practice every day.
Their mission statement
Within the Catholic intellectual tradition and acting in Truth and Love, Australian Catholic University is committed to the pursuit of knowledge, the dignity of the human person and the common good.
Acting in truth and love
Their mission is at the heart of everything they do at ACU. It guides their approach to learning and teaching, their welcoming and engaging on-campus culture, and their commitment to building a better society by producing graduates willing to invest in this same commitment.
In this mission, they engage the Catholic intellectual tradition to bring a distinct perspective to higher education.
Guiding traditions
It’s important to honour traditions, particularly those that inspire them to be better people and lead better lives. That’s why they have a patron saint for the University and each faculty and campus. Their patron saints provide examples of acting in truth and love and what life in service to the pursuit of knowledge, dignity of the human person and the common good looks like.
Whether they dedicated themselves to educating forgotten members of society or spent their lives in scholarly contemplation, their patron saints lived out their mission in days past.
Their university prayer asks for strength to pursue their mission. Read the prayer and submit a prayer request to their campus ministry team.
Their mission in action
Their mission comes to life through the values that they’ve chosen to sit at the heart of the University and their community.
Truth, academic excellence and service are their core values, but these are complemented by a further set of values that guide their daily operations: equity, diversity, accessibility, wellbeing and sustainability.
The Core
Students encounter the practical application of their mission through their Core Curriculum units. These three units ask that you think outside your own realm of experiences and see the world through the eyes of others.
A key part of all their courses, the Core acknowledges that education is more than just a degree – it’s about developing the whole person.
As part of the Core, all students complete one community engagement unit that asks them to dedicate themselves to the service of those less fortunate and work alongside the margins, where learning happens on both sides. Community engagement allows you to reflect on your role in promoting the dignity of all and working for the common good.
The form your community engagement takes depends on your field of study, but many courses offer opportunities to complete this unit overseas.
Living the mission
On each of their campuses across the country, their staff and students carry out their mission every day.
The pursuit of knowledge is a fundamental part of their mission and that is reflected across their faculties as well as through the world-leading research conducted by their academics and higher degree research students.
But they’re also committed to educating and encouraging their students and staff to be responsible citizens.
Research for the real world
Their researchers don’t just add to the body of academic work on any given topic. They also apply their mission when they work with the end-user to identify and address real-world problems, and to make a positive impact.
By engaging with those who ultimately benefit from their expertise, their research improves the health, wellbeing and prosperity of individuals, organisations and communities in a sustainable way.
Equity in education
They want everyone to have the opportunity of higher education. But it’s not enough to just talk about making university accessible for all. They’ve worked hard to put programs in place that give people who may not have thought university was possible the chance to pursue a degree.
For their First Peoples, that means they run Away From Base courses so that their students can keep their connection to country while they study.
For young students who face more hurdles than most, it’s about introducing them to university early so they can plan for higher education in their future.
They run programs for primary and secondary school students, and their parents, that aim to introduce them to their campuses and the different pathways into university.
For community members who are experiencing multiple disadvantages, they offer the opportunity for them to improve their situation through learning.
Through the Clemente Australia program, they provide a four-unit Certificate of Liberal Studies that then opens the door for further study.
Their Catholic partners
Working collaboratively with their Catholic partners, they’ve developed a range of courses designed to support and strengthen Church ministry.
Informed by the Catholic intellectual tradition and Catholic moral and social teaching, and reflecting their mission, these courses cover areas such as:
They offer these programs across a range of levels and can customise them to accommodate your particular needs.
