The University of St. Thomas in Houston, Tex., has embarked on a Catholic hiring program, and its recruitment for a school of education dean shows its seriousness.  In a large display advertisement in the Nov. 16 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, UST emphasizes its Catholic identity. 

The advertisement expresses the university’s strong support of Ex corde Ecclesiae. It asks that applicants understand the relationship of the school to Catholic education.  And it requires that applicants provide an essay “on the special role of a Catholic university in light of the document on Catholic higher education titled Ex corde Ecclesiae.” 

This is one example of a series of initiatives undertaken by Dr. John Hittinger, the vice president for academic affairs, to increase Catholic hiring and continue to enhance the university’s strong Catholic identity.