Interview with Laurie M. Joyner, President of Saint Xavier University

UNBOSSED

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Interview with Laurie M. Joyner, President of Saint Xavier University

Brought to you by the Chicago Woman's Club

Marina

Oct 19, 2021

Wepa! I'm Marina. I am a technologist, mom, podcast host, leadership coach, cruciverbalist and aquarian. ;)

UNBOSSED is “Stories of Amazing Women in Chicago”.

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In this episode:

I interviewed Laurie M. Joyner, who began her service as the 20th president of Saint Xavier University in January 2017.

Known as a “mission-driven, student-centered and accomplished administrator passionately committed to institutional success,” President Joyner has championed mission integration efforts, inclusive excellence initiatives and the alignment of organizational structure and resources to drive educational quality and improved institutional performance.

During her presidency, SXU embarked on the STRIVE 2025: Pathways to Institutional Excellence,

Accountability and Sustainability Strategic Plan (STRIVE 2025), enrolled its two largest and most diverse first-year classes in its 175-year history, increased first-to-second year retention for three consecutive years, expanded high-impact educational practices and institutionalized a service excellence initiative aligned with the core values of respect, collaboration, responsiveness and effectiveness.

Under her leadership, SXU has also secured the largest federal grant in institutional history, established the first endowed professorship, and since FY17 has reduced long-term debt by 46.6%, increased cash on hand by 288%, increased total financial assets by more than 312%, increased its quasi-endowment tenfold and nearly tripled its total endowment (282%).

President Joyner is passionate about improving diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and is a 2019 National Inclusive Excellence Leadership Academy (NIXLA) Fellow. During her tenure, SXU became one of 29 colleges across the state to form the Illinois Equity in Attainment (ILEA) initiative, a partnership geared toward eliminating racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps across student groups while increasing graduation rates by 2025.

Key Highlights/Tools:

Career Mapping your way to Presidency
Don’t internalize other people’s stuff
Don’t get too sucked into the press about you-- “it’s really none of your business
What other people think of you is not your business
The most important decision in your life is who you choose as your partner
Education is helping us become more human

Timestamp:

0:00 Introductions

03:00 Laurie is in the office and talking about being back

05:00 A story about Laurie growing up and early career

11:00 Bootcamp for Administrators & Career Mapping to Presidency

15:00 How do you handle failure?

22:00 Mom of 3 and working full-time

25:00 Women leaving their community for their betterment

27:00 Covid protocols at XSU

28:00 Future of Education

35:00 State of student body

41:00 Laurie’s Leadership experience serving a majority black and brown community

48:00 Closing

Memorable Quotes:

Don’t feel like you have to be completely prepared to grab onto an opportunity
For some women, we tend to get the more challenging leadership positions in some of the more challenging organizations

Useful Links and Resources:

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