The Catholic University of America is honored to serve as partner for the selection and presentation of the 2022 Opus Prize that recognizes faith-based humanitarian leaders addressing some of the world’s most persistent social problems. As part of this honor, the University seeks three of its full-time faculty or staff to participate in due diligence site visits with three Catholic University students and members of the Opus Prize Foundation during the spring/early summer of 2022. These site visits will be to meet and engage with finalists under consideration for the Opus Prize. There will be a total of three site visits, and one faculty or staff person and one student will be assigned to each of these delegations. We do not know the locations of the site visits, as the finalists for the 2022 Opus Prize will not be determined until the spring.
We encourage you to read more about the Opus Prize, the Opus Prize Foundation Values, and past award recipients at www.opusprize.org.
This responsibility as a Faculty/Staff Ambassador requires a commitment of pre-travel preparation, week-long travel in March or May of 2022, and participation in award activities on campus in November of 2022. Student Ambassadors are being selected this semester through a separate protocol. It is anticipated that the first trip will occur during Catholic University’s Spring Break (March 7-11), and the second and third trips in late May (after commencement) and early June. The actual dates will be determined in February by the Opus Prize Foundation. A committee of campus and community members will serve as the selection body for Faculty/Staff Ambassadors.
The hope in selecting faculty and staff is that they will take the experience and relate it back to their work at Catholic University, either in program/curriculum development or on some other level. The Opus Prize Foundation and the University would like to see a far-reaching impact on the University as a result of this process.
We request that you have travel abroad experience, as it is likely that these sites will be located in less developed regions of the world (including rural regions of developing nations and/or urban slum areas of the U.S. or elsewhere) and will require someone with a fair amount of knowledge related to international travel, especially given that the student in your charge will likely be less experienced. Additionally, please note that this is of the utmost confidentiality. The sites to be visited do not know they are being considered for an award and your travel there will be under the guise of an educational opportunity for the University.
Application Instructions
- Faculty/Staff Biographical Application Section
- Video Application Section (Instructions)
The Opus Prize Foundation has six core values. See a description here. Please choose one of these values that you find personally most compelling and in a 90 second video, please tell the selection committee how this value inspires you.
After an initial evaluation of all applications from interested faculty/staff, we anticipate an in-person meeting with selected finalists to determine the best ambassadors for the due diligence trips.
Please submit your completed self-nomination letter of application to cua-opusprize@cua.edu by Monday, January 31, 2022.
Applications are due Monday, January 31, 2022, by 5:00 p.m.
If you have questions, please contact Bill Jonas at jonas@cua.edu or at x4108. Thank you.
