Reflecting on my experience in February at Furman University’s regional NetVUE gathering—Vocation and the Common Good: The Call of Belonging and Community—I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to connect with so many remarkable colleagues and scholars from across the country. The environment fostered a deep sense of camaraderie, where five representatives from my own institution, Catawba College, came together with a shared purpose without being influenced by our titles or organizational structures.
As we gathered around stories of laughter, childhood memories, and our vocational work, I was reminded that our individual journeys—both professional and personal—have brought us to this point, where we strive for a common goal: impacting the lives of all of the students we serve, whether they are traditional or non-traditional. Our work is about creating a stable foundation for our institutions to thrive and continue to serve these students for years to come.
Throughout the gathering, we explored the theme of the common good, examining how our life purpose and impact intersect within higher education. It was enriching to realize that despite our unique paths, we share a collective commitment to the greater good—especially when higher education faces the political challenges of recent executive orders, which have affected our collective ability to provide an inclusive learning environment for our students to thrive as citizens.
What made this time even more special was the human connection we built. We entered the room as colleagues and individuals who truly cared for and supported one another. We entered the room with the understanding that we mattered. Each interaction was rooted in respect, care, and genuine acknowledgment of each other’s journeys.
One of the most treasured moments of my time at the conference was reuniting with my religion professor from Campbell University, who, without knowing it, had been framing—and preparing me to contribute to—the common good in how he saw and treated me as a student. His reflections with my colleagues on my impact on our campus were humbling. I now realize that the values I strive to embody in my vocational work were nurtured long ago, even before I fully understood them.
Reflecting on this powerful experience, I pose these questions to my network and to the readers of this blog: How do you define the common good through your vocational experiences and the experiences you seek to design for your students and your institution? What does it mean for you, and how has it shaped the work you do every day?
Let’s continue this enriching conversation as we answer these important questions.
Furman’s regional gathering celebrated the new NetVUE volume Called Beyond Our Selves: Vocation and the Common Good, featuring some of the contributing writers to the volume and their essays on the topic of vocational discernment in the context of the common good. Conference organizers invited participants to encourage students to see their lives as connected with others’ well-being, exploring how doing so shifts the ways we define meaning, purpose, and success. Given the increasing polarization of contemporary civic life and the challenges within higher education, the regional gathering ultimately provided faculty members, staff, and administrators a space in which to consider how we live into and know our place and how we encourage students to discern vocations for the common good.
Stephan T. Moore currently serves as the special assistant to the executive vice president and provost, and chief student affairs officer, at Catawba College. He plays a pivotal role in advancing student engagement and success initiatives, campus-wide engagement, and community partnership efforts. An experienced higher education leader, he is dedicated to student engagement and involvement experience, enrollment management, academic and vocational learning, and institutional effectiveness. This year, he is also a fellow with the American Council on Education, focusing on leadership development, institutional strategy, and faculty engagement.
