In preparation for the 2020–21 academic year, the University appointed Mark Jalovick to the role of chaplain in the Office of Student Life. The reinstatement of this role in the life of the University resulted from the direction of President Todd J. Williams and his goal to center the students’ spiritual formation around a discipleship model.
Mark comes into this role with over 30 years of institutional experience.
For most of that time, Mark served as the director of the Wisconsin Wilderness Campus (WWC), the University’s first year program from 1988–2013. His responsibilities at WWC were varied, but his role as a discipler and mentor to the first year students was paramount in their transition to college and adulthood. It is for these reasons that Scott Cawood, senior vice president for student affairs and administration, notes that Mark is “the logical choice to lead our students as chaplain.”
The vision for the University chaplaincy is to create a center for both the corporate and personal aspects of discipleship and spiritual formation. Specifically, this includes overseeing the chapel schedule to maintain a common message of biblical truth; shaping the ministry credit program to make an impact in our churches and the local community; and developing discipleship, prayer, and Bible study groups among the incoming students and the remainder of the student body. Mark will also continue to teach courses through the School of Divinity such as the new Life and Calling freshman course, which focuses on what it means to live faithfully as a servant of God.
“In my previous roles, I was involved with students in areas of their lives beyond the classroom, and that experience was not just beneficial to many students’ personal growth but to mine as well. If I am calling students to be disciples of Jesus, I need to be one first.”
– Mark Jalovick