Strategic Initiatives

New ��ֱ�� Dialogues micro-credential advances campus DEI goals

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 20:50:56 +0000

New ��ֱ�� Dialogues micro-credential advances campus DEI goals Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/07/2023 - 13:50

The spring 2024 DEI-Informed Dialogic Pedagogy workshop series will be offered to up to 20 graduate student instructors and will meet over the course of 10 weeks. Find out more and apply.

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Strategic transformation team to lead next phase of Financial Futures

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 21:48:06 +0000

Strategic transformation team to lead next phase of Financial Futures Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/07/2021 - 15:48

Financial Futures, designed and launched to align campus resources with the university’s priorities and mission, is continuing through June 2023.

“As a campus, we have spent the last two and a half years building new capabilities to identify and rigorously test ideas for financial resilience and mission enhancement,” said Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke. “We will continue to develop the Financial Futures process as a way to support the vital work of Academic Futures, the Inclusion, Diversity, and Excellence in Academics (IDEA) Plan and other key priorities.”

More than 50 units on campus have implemented projects via Financial Futures. Examples include a project to increase undergraduate and graduate student access to mental health services, a project aimed to expand and strengthen areas of research collaboration between ��ֱ�� Anschutz and ��ֱ�� Boulder, a project to use in-house audio/visual design and engineering capabilities (instead of contractors) and a project to increase academic advising across campus.

Financial Futures projects captured approximately $30 million in fiscal year 2020. Looking ahead, the strategic transformation team estimates an impact of over $60 million in fiscal year 2021 and more than $100 million in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. According to Financial Futures tracking data, 80% of the projected impacts will be realized in colleges, schools and units.

“The work of Financial Futures is especially vital as we emerge from the challenges of COVID-19,” said Ann Schmiesing, executive vice provost for academic resource management and a lead for the Financial Futures initiative.

To support the more than 195 Financial Futures projects implemented since 2019, the cross-functional strategic transformation team, composed of staff who work in both Academic Affairs and Strategic Resources and Support (SRS), was formed in October 2020.

“We were very intentional about maintaining the reporting structure that bridges Academic Affairs and SRS,” Schmiesing said. “Our alignment and collaboration are key to the success of these projects and to realizing the projected gains for all levels of the campus.”

Carla Ho’a is ��ֱ�� Boulder’s chief financial officer and a Financial Futures lead.

“We are excited to continue development of the strategic transformation team as a campuswide resource for structured and informed decision-making to support campus strategic priorities,” said Ho’a.

Co-led by Abby Benson, associate vice chancellor for SRS, and Quentin McAndrew, assistant vice provost and executive director for strategic transformation, the strategic transformation team is charged with ensuring projects are able to deliver on strategic goals set for campus via mission alignment, cost savings, cost avoidance, and/or revenue generation. Benson will continue her role as chief of staff to O’Rourke and McAndrew will continue her role as executive director for academic and learning innovation for the ��ֱ�� Boulder online education team.

In addition to Benson and McAndrew, the team includes Gwen Evans and Christina Tenerowicz, who transitioned from the Office of Information Technology full-time to the transformation team as associate director and director of strategic transformation, respectively. Evans and Tenerowicz provide essential project management, business case development and project-tracking support for faculty and staff, serving as initiative sponsors, leads and project owners.

Other team members include Brian Danielson, senior strategy and business analyst, Jordan Pfannenstiel, budget analyst, and Kathryn Tisdale, director of communication and strategic initiatives, who provide business and financial analysis and communication support, respectively, as part of their existing roles on campus.

“We’re delighted to welcome Scott Jones, assistant director in Budget and Finance, who will be supporting our efforts starting in June 2021,” said Benson.

Of their work with Financial Futures stakeholders, McAndrew said, “It’s incredible to work with ��ֱ�� Boulder faculty and staff as they implement projects that are critical to our continued fiscal resilience. Their energy, creativity and dedication to ��ֱ�� Boulder is truly astounding.”

“I want to recognize the ��ֱ�� Boulder faculty and staff who have engaged in innovative thinking, commitment and collaboration in the Financial Futures journey so far,” said Provost Russell Moore. “Their efforts have resulted in projects that are already impacting our campus in important ways and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead.”

According to Benson and McAndrew, the strategic transformation team will lead an annual review of Financial Futures projects to be completed in fall 2021. More information is available at Financial Futures.

The next phase of the campus’s Financial Futures initiative, led by a cross-functional ��ֱ�� Boulder team, is set to occur through June 2023 with a focus on building the university’s financial resilience.

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Academic Futures year 3: Themes become focused priorities

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 17:18:21 +0000

Academic Futures year 3: Themes become focused priorities Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/10/2020 - 11:18

The campus is continuing to engage in year three of Academic Futures—implementing the strategic initiatives’ themes and projects and transforming them into the campus’s work priorities. At the heart of this process is our commitment to furthering the public good by embracing our role as ��ֱ��’s leading national public research university and enacting that role through shaping tomorrow’s leaders, being the top university for innovation and positively impacting humanity.

Read about our progress this year on the campus’s four priority themes, along with concurrent work on other Academic Futures themes and strategic campus projects:

Spring 2020 priority themes and projects

Interdisciplinary education, research and creative works

Jeff Cox, convener of Academic Futures, and Emily CoBabe-Ammann, facilitator of Academic Futures, are continuing the work of forming a “definition team” to work through the concept of the academies as put forward in the report.

The definition team will look at possible structures of the academies, as well as budget requirements, implications for supporting departments and research institutes, operational challenges and a process for approval.

Cox and Cobabe-Ammann are at work seeking the membership of the definition team. They plan to have the definition team in place during the coming weeks, with work to commence in spring-summer.

Creating a common student-centered approach to teaching and learning

Responding to the Foundations of Excellence initiative, the campus continues its work on a first-year advising model that embeds first-year advisors in colleges, schools and programs, networked together under a common structure and budget. Hiring for additional first-year advisors across all of ��ֱ�� Boulder colleges and schools is expected to be completed by July 1, 2020.

“We are well on our way to hiring additional first-year advisors,” said Shelly Bacon, associate vice provost for advising and exploratory studies. “We’ve also expanded Mike Simmons’s role from director of the university exploration and advising center to director of first-year and exploratory advising. He’s been meeting regularly with all first-year advisors to build a supportive, campus-wide advising network for our students.”

The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) has appointed Becca Ciancanelli as the lead for inclusive pedagogy, a new position designed to support all campus educators as they engage students from diverse backgrounds in the learning process. Ciancanelli presented a session on inclusive pedagogy during the Spring Diversity and Inclusion Summit on Feb. 25, and will hold a similar session for graduate students on March 30, during the campus’s annual Graduate Student Appreciation Week, March 30 to April 3.

“With these workshops and one-on-one consultations, we are starting to advance our commitment to a common student-centered approach to learning throughout campus,” said Kirk Ambrose, the director of CTL. “We are continuing to hire our professional staff with plans to have everyone in place by early summer.”

IDEA Plan, Diversity and Inclusion Summit marked progress in making excellence inclusive

The IDEA Plan implementation transition working group—led by Vice Chancellor Bob Boswell and including Assistant Vice Chancellor and Deputy Chief HR Officer Merna Jacobsen, Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Student Success Daryl Maeda, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Kevin MacLennan and Chief Human Resources Officer for ��ֱ�� Boulder Katherine Erwin—is moving forward with convening the Council for Community and Inclusion (CCI).

The CCI will be a representative group of leadership from across ��ֱ�� Boulder who will permanently engage the campus on implementing the IDEA Plan and sustaining the campus’s inclusive excellence efforts. Their charge will be to 1) recommend and prioritize IDEA Plan actions, 2) advocate and engage for promising practices and award innovation grants, and 3) assess and report diversity and inclusion data to campus and leadership. They will steward the IDEA Plan in making excellence inclusive at ��ֱ�� Boulder.

Additional information about the Council for Community and Inclusion and other progress related to the IDEA Plan will be forthcoming in future updates.

Next steps on online and distance education expected later in spring

Provost Russ Moore has accepted three working group reports on online and distance education, all of which were focused on creating a plan to move from the current state of online education to a desired future state; on new possibilities for continuing education as a program innovator; and on creating infrastructure and resources for online/continuing education. Next steps for the advancement of online and distance education are expected later this spring.

Progress on other Academic Futures themes and campus strategic projects

Governance

Schools and colleges continue to strengthen our governance ecosystem, ensuring more direct representation of faculty across campus. They are all in the midst of reviewing governance structures to include processes for increased budget transparency and communication with their deans, more complete grievance procedures and a definitive statement on the use of faculty course questionnaires (FCQs) in their unit.

Additionally, the criteria and process for the dean’s review will now be undertaken as part of faculty governance at the school or college level. We anticipate this work will be completed by the end of the semester.

Campus success: Physical and financial resources

Strategic Facilities Visioning’s year-long effort has culminated in a data-rich facilities planning tool to help our campus leadership make the most effective infrastructure decisions in support of the campus mission and priorities. The completed visioning effort, along with the recommendations from the housing, transportation and energy master plans, will all inform the 2021 Campus Master Plan update, which is slated to begin this spring.

Running in parallel, Financial Futures continues to surface opportunities that bring our resources into even better alignment with our strategic plan. During the past 12 months, campus community members have generated over 570 ideas, resulting in over 160 projects approved for implementation. These projects are projected to generate a significant net impact for the campus in fiscal year 2021 and beyond.

What it means to be a public university today

This initiative theme, embedded in Academic Futures, is integrated in our daily activities of research, scholarship, creative work, teaching and service. These activities further the public good by providing new knowledge, discoveries and creative works that directly serve communities. Progress on this initiative will be announced later in the spring semester.

Accreditation update

As a part of ��ֱ�� Boulder’s comprehensive evaluation for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a team of peer reviewers from HLC visited campus on Dec. 9 and 10, 2019. The team’s purpose was to review the university’s continued compliance with HLC’s criteria for accreditation and to provide recommendations on our continued work on institutional improvements.

The site visit team’s report has been reviewed for accuracy and correction of errors by campus senior academic leadership and the accreditation team, led by Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Assessment Katherine Eggert. The team’s report has been submitted to HLC’s Institutional Actions Council for review in mid-March.

The university expects to receive a final report and action letter from the HLC in April.

Academic reorganization update

Provost Russ Moore on March 4 hosted an open forum in the College of Arts and Sciences to discuss academic reorganization. Moore explained his thinking on a new structure for the college and linked it to the work of the Provost’s Committee on Academic Reorganization and that of three working groups who delivered reports to him in December-January.

Moore said he supported—consistent with the committee and working group recommendations—creating three more empowered divisional deans in natural sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. As proposed, the divisional deans would have budget and personnel authority for faculty lines and set divisional goals, priorities and projects.

The divisional deans would work in concert with the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences who would coordinate support functions such as human resources, communications, fundraising, advancing the liberal arts identity and mission of the college, and managing budgets for those support activities.

Moore said the advantages of this structure would be to ensure the faculty and staff are closer to those who make many decisions while freeing the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to focus additional time on fundraising, leading the mission of the liberal arts, and coordinating interdisciplinary activities.

“I would think this would be a dean’s dream,” Moore told the group.

Moore said the work of creating job descriptions, working out logistics and structure issues, and conducting national searches for the deans would mean the new structure for the college was likely 18 months away.

“But we can begin the first stages of that work as early as next week—after Monday’s (March 9) meeting with Arts and Sciences chairs,” Moore said.

The campus is continuing to engage in year three of Academic Futures—implementing the strategic initiatives’ themes and projects and transforming them into the campus’s work priorities.

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Financial Futures launches extended, executive and next-gen workstream

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 17:17:52 +0000

Financial Futures launches extended, executive and next-gen workstream Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/10/2020 - 11:17

Financial Futures, the campus-wide strategic initiative working to further align strategic resources with ��ֱ��’s mission as a comprehensive public teaching and research university, launched the Extended, Executive, and Next Generation workstream last month. The workstream, sponsored by Sharon Matusik, dean of the Leeds School of Business, and led by Quentin McAndrew, executive director of digital initiatives and assistant vice provost, seeks to identify mission-driven education opportunities that leverage the value of a ��ֱ�� Boulder education.

“The energy has been incredible,” said McAndrew, who hosted an idea review and listening session on Feb. 18 attended by ��ֱ�� faculty, staff and students. “The ideas being generated run a wide gamut, from a future of work hub to new admission and post-graduation pathways to an entrepreneurship program for artists and more.”

Matusik is excited about projects that leverage ��ֱ�� expertise in new ways. “There’s an increasing demand for accessing higher education in different ways and at different points in time in one’s career. That presents an opportunity for ��ֱ�� to leverage its academic excellence in a host of new ways for our community and beyond.”

Ann Schmiesing, executive vice provost for academic resource management and Financial Futures co-lead, agreed. “��ֱ�� Boulder is uniquely positioned to offer innovative and specialized education opportunities that expand the reach of our incredible faculty expertise.”

Schmiesing recently provided an update on Financial Futures to department chairs and directors on Feb. 14.

“It’s especially heartening to see that the positive net impact being generated by Financial Futures projects will be realized across all levels of the university,” she said.

Two final workstreams, Capital Productivity and Working Capital, will also launch this spring.

Financial Futures opened with a diagnostic phase in August 2018 and moved into Solution Design in January 2019. To date, campus community members have generated over 570 ideas, engaged over 250 staff and faculty as project owners, and moved over 160 projects into implementation. Implemented projects are expected to generate approximately $82 million in projected fiscal year 2021 net impact.

Financial Futures, the campuswide strategic initiative working to further align strategic resources with ��ֱ��’s mission as a comprehensive public teaching and research university, recently launched a new workstream.

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Midterm course alert process expands on campus this spring

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 16:10:09 +0000

Midterm course alert process expands on campus this spring Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/13/2020 - 09:10

In its ongoing effort to support student success, the Office of Undergraduate Education is expanding the list of courses invited to participate in the midterm course alert process this spring.

The process aligns with the university's strategic initiative priority theme/project of creating a common student-centered approach to teaching and learning, and aims to improve graduation rates for students. By alerting students early in the semester, they have the time to take corrective action, whether that means seeking additional instructor help or guidance, engaging a tutor or modifying their schedule accordingly.

"Faculty and staff participation in the midterm course alert is critical to meeting the goals of student success," said Beth Myers, assistant vice provost for student success initiatives. "This intervention assists faculty as an additional resource to contact students and discuss their choices, but does not replace direct contact by faculty with a student."

On Monday, Feb. 17, faculty and instructors from over 1,200 courses across campus will receive an email request to complete a feedback form on student performance in their classes. Faculty feedback will be accepted through Wednesday, Feb. 26, and the indicated students will be notified soon thereafter. Advisors and other student success staff will then be able to reach out to students to offer resources and suggestions for improving performance.

"These outreach efforts complement faculty support of students by intentionally having our advising and student success staff engage with them and encourage the use of college and campus resources to help them get back on track," said Myers. "The sharing of this information is within FERPA parameters with an 'educational need to know' to support student success."

For more information about the university’s student success initiatives and the midterm course alert, contact Beth Myers at myersb@colorado.edu.

In its ongoing effort to support student success, the Office of Undergraduate Education is expanding the list of courses invited to participate in the midterm course alert process this spring.

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Financial Futures: Realizing gains for ��ֱ�� Boulder

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 18:14:29 +0000

Financial Futures: Realizing gains for ��ֱ�� Boulder Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/06/2020 - 11:14

One year into the solution design phase of the Financial Futures initiative, campus community members have generated over 570 ideas with the goal of aligning strategic resources more closely with ��ֱ�� Boulder’s mission as a public teaching and research university.

Join the next Financial Futures listening session

Join the Financial Futures Extended/Exec/Next Gen team in an interactive session where attendees will review and generate ideas to build ��ֱ�� Boulder’s financial resiliency through strategic alignment to our mission.

Who: ��ֱ�� Boulder students, faculty, and staff
What: "Extended, Executive, and Next Generation Education: A Financial Futures Listening Session"
When: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 3 to 4 p.m.
Where: University Memorial Center, Room 425

Learn more

After passing through a robust testing and refinement process, these ideas have yielded over 160 projects approved for implementation by campus leadership. Collectively, approved projects are projected to generate significant net impact for campus in fiscal year 2021 and beyond.

In addition to positive financial implications, ��ֱ�� Boulder’s faculty, students and staff will benefit from projects that are aimed at, for example, better supporting research, expanding academic advising and improving vendor contracts.

A mechanism for resourcing projects and themes developed through strategic campus initiatives like Academic Futures and Foundations of Excellence, Financial Futures also “leverages ideas that bolster the most essential elements of the university’s mission, while also investing in new ideas that staff and faculty have long wanted to test,” said Carla Ho-a, chief financial officer for ��ֱ�� Boulder.

Visit t he Financial Futures webpage to learn more about projects and to submit questions or ideas of your own.

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Academic Futures year 3: Moving from themes to priorities

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 15:46:51 +0000

Academic Futures year 3: Moving from themes to priorities Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/06/2020 - 08:46

Read about our progress this year on the campus’s four priority themes, along with concurrent work on other Academic Futures themes and strategic campus projects:

Spring 2020 priority themes and projects

Interdisciplinary education, research and creative works

On Nov. 20, 2019, the Academic Futures Interdisciplinary Education, Research and Creative Works Committee submitted its final report (PDF) and the response from campus to Provost Russell Moore and former Chief Operating Officer Kelly Fox.

“While I continue to engage academic leadership on the report’s recommendations, I am asking professor Jeff Cox—convener of Academic Futures—and Emily CoBabe-Ammann, facilitator of Academic Futures—to form what we’re calling a ‘definition team’ to work through the concept of the academies, put forward in the report,” Moore said.

“The academies represent an important and innovative approach to supporting large educational themes on our campus, both our interdisciplinary and our disciplinary-based programs,” said CoBabe-Ammann. They should offer a place of innovation and opportunity for our students at all levels.”

Cox and CoBabe-Ammann plan to have the definition team in place during the coming weeks and their work concluded by summer. Stay tuned for more information on how to participate.

Creating a common student-centered approach to teaching and learning

“Throughout the spring, we will continue to involve campus stakeholders in important conversations about how to honor students’ local disciplinary contexts while ensuring a consistent experience for our students across colleges and schools,” said Shelly Bacon, associate vice provost for advising and exploratory studies.

The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) has appointed Becca Ciancanelli as the lead for inclusive pedagogy, a new position designed to support all campus educators as they engage students from diverse backgrounds in the learning process. Ciancanelli most recently was a STEM coordinator with the Student Academic Success Center (SASC). During the spring, CTL will hire two professional development leads, an assessment lead and a business administrator.

“We plan to have our full staff in place in May,” said Kirk Ambrose, director of CTL. “Throughout this semester, we will also continue our work with partners across campus in advancing a common student-centered approach to learning through training, workshops and one-on-one consultations."

IDEA Plan, Diversity and Inclusion Summit marked progress in making excellence inclusive

Following the Oct. 30, 2019, release of the IDEA Plan and record attendance at the Fall Diversity and Inclusion Summit, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Community Engagement is now gearing up for the Spring Diversity and Inclusion Summit, which will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

To help provide initial guidance on IDEA Plan implementation, a transition working group—led by Vice Chancellor Bob Boswell and including Assistant Vice Chancellor and Deputy Chief HR Officer Merna Jacobsen, Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Student Success Daryl Maeda, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Kevin MacLennan and Chief Human Resources Officer for ��ֱ�� Boulder Katherine Erwin—has met with Moore.

Additional updates regarding the rollout of activities stemming from the IDEA Plan’s recommendations will be announced in the coming weeks, including an update on the formation of the Council for Community and Inclusion, a campus representative body that will permanently engage the campus on implementing the IDEA Plan and sustaining the campus’s inclusive excellence efforts.

New steps on Online and Distance Education soon to be announced

Moore has accepted three working group reports on online and distance education, all of which he is reviewing. The working groups focused on creating a plan to move from the current state of online education to a desired future state; on new possibilities for continuing education as a program innovator; and on creating infrastructure and resources for online/continuing education.

“During the coming weeks, we will share the next steps in mapping the combined working group recommendations to campus action,” said Robert McDonald, dean of libraries and senior vice provost of online education. “We will be meeting with key stakeholders in Continuing Education and across all areas of online education as a part of this mapping, reporting out to the faculty and to the campus at large.”

Moore said “creating a compelling online and distance approach with our faculty is vital for our campus and for our participation in any larger online and distance efforts. I look forward to unveiling the next steps in our approach for our campus community.”

While we wait for the team’s final report and HLC’s action this spring, we continue our work on initiatives that are related to and impact our accreditation, such as continued work on the IDEA plan, assessing the effectiveness of our curriculum and others.

Progress on other Academic Futures themes and campus strategic projects

Governance

We continue to develop a more robust governance ecosystem, ensuring more direct representation of faculty across campus. All schools and colleges, by the end of the spring, will have modified their governance structures to include processes for increased budget transparency and communication with their deans, more complete grievance procedures and a definitive statement on the use of faculty course questionnaires (FCQs) in their unit. Additionally, the criteria and process for the dean’s review will now be undertaken as part of faculty governance at the school or college level.

Campus success: Physical and financial resources

What it means to be a public university today

Accreditation update

The campus is continuing to engage in year three of Academic Futures—implementing the strategic initiatives’ themes and projects and transforming them into the campus’s work priorities.

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Academic Futures themes and projects continue to make progress

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 22:07:16 +0000

Academic Futures themes and projects continue to make progress Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/05/2019 - 15:07

On the first Tuesday of each month in ��ֱ�� Boulder Today, we provide an update on how, in year three of Academic Futures, we are integrating the important work of our strategic initiatives into the implementation of our Academic Futures’ priority themes and projects. At the heart of this process is our commitment to furthering the public good by embracing our role as ��ֱ��’s leading national public research university.

The following update focuses on this year’s four priority themes and projects, along with concurrent work on other Academic Futures themes and projects.

Fall 2019 main themes and projects

Creating a common student-centered approach to teaching and learning

Responding to the Foundations of Excellence initiative, the campus is implementing a first-year advising model, under Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education Mary Kraus, that embeds first-year advisors in colleges, schools and programs, networked together under a common structure and budget. Hiring is underway to add additional first-year advisors across all ��ֱ�� Boulder colleges and schools.

Campus leadership continues to consider the recommendations of the First-Year Experience Committee report for funding and implementation. This fall, the Center for Teaching and Learning unveiled its strategic vision.

Making excellence inclusive

The IDEA Plan, released to the campus on Oct. 30, will be implemented by Office of Diversity, Equity & Community Engagement (ODECE) Vice Chancellor Bob Boswell, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Deputy Chief HR Officer Merna Jacobsen, and Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for Student Success Daryl Maeda, working with Kevin MacLennan, assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management, and Katherine Erwin, chief human resources officer.

Concurrently, the ��ֱ�� system Strategic Plan will factor in the diversity and inclusion work at ��ֱ�� Boulder being directed by the IDEA Plan. The system process is not looking to redefine campus processes; instead, each campus will submit its individual report on diversity, equity, inclusion and access activities. ��ֱ�� Boulder’s report will describe how we are implementing the IDEA Plan.

Teaching and technology, online and distance education

Three working groups in online and distance education are completing reports due to the provost. The first two reports—on creating a plan to move from the current state of online education to a desired future state and to consider new possibilities for continuing education as a program innovator—were submitted to campus leadership. The third report—to created resources for online/continuing education—will be submitted on Dec. 2.

Interdisciplinary education, research and creative works

On Oct. 1, the report on interdisciplinarity was posted for 30 days of campus community review and response. Two-page written responses can be submitted through the Academic Futures website through Nov. 8. The final report, along with the campus response, will be submitted to the provost in early December.

Other Academic Futures themes and projects move forward

Accreditation

The university’s next evaluation for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is scheduled for December 9–10, 2019, when an external review team will visit campus. We invite faculty, staff and students to attend one of these town halls—scheduled for Nov. 14, 9–10 a.m., and Nov. 15, 1:30–2:30 p.m., in CASE-E351—to prepare for the site visit.

Governance

We continue to work with schools and colleges to develop a more robust governance ecosystem, ensuring more direct representation of faculty across campus.

Campus success: Physical and financial resources

The work of the Strategic Facilities Visioning team during the past year culminates this fall in refining a data-rich planning tool to help our campus leadership make the most effective infrastructure investment decisions in support of the campus mission and initiative priorities.

What it means to be a public university today

This initiative, embedded in Academic Futures, is integrated in our daily activities of research, scholarship, creative work, teaching and service. These activities further the public good by providing new knowledge, discoveries and creative works that directly serve communities.

Sustaining, supporting and inspiring our community

Under the IDEA Plan, we are creating commitments to diversity, equity and inclusive excellence that will sustain, support and inspire our research, scholarship, creative work, teaching and service. Through Strategic Facilities Visioning, we are transforming the campus’s physical infrastructure to support learning, teaching, research and community interaction.

Get the latest on making excellence inclusive; creating a common student-centered approach to teaching and learning; teaching and technology, online and distance education; accreditation and more.

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Financial Futures hits milestones—more than 150 projects approved for implementation

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 19:28:57 +0000

Financial Futures hits milestones—more than 150 projects approved for implementation Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/05/2019 - 12:28

At just over one year since its launch, Financial Futures has reached some noteworthy milestones: more than 225 project owners from over 50 departments and units across campus and the ��ֱ�� system have generated over 500 ideas to align strategic resources to our mission. To date, over 150 projects have been approved for implementation.

The Oct. 24 town hall featured projects moving through implementation, newly approved projects and other initiative updates. Here are a few highlights:

Expanded first-year academic advising: In support of Foundations of Excellence recommendations, the campus is implementing a first-year advising model to support student success. Hiring is underway to add additional first-year advisors across all ��ֱ�� Boulder colleges and schools.
Biological Research Technology Resource Center: This campus-wide facility provides dedicated space and equipment to conduct interdisciplinary biological research. Since its establishment in July, the space has trained and supported users from ��ֱ�� Boulder, in addition to those from other ��ֱ�� campuses, Anschutz and local biotech/industry.
Adobe Creative Cloud contract renegotiated: To leverage the scale of users and the total cost to the ��ֱ�� Boulder campus, the Office of Information Technology renegotiated its contract with Adobe, resulting in deeply discounted software pricing for faculty, staff and students.

For Mike Viola, IT category manager for the ��ֱ�� system, the Adobe Creative Cloud project is especially exciting. “It’s rare that I get to see the impacts of my role so directly,” says Viola. “The renegotiated contract with Adobe brings the cost of the Creative Cloud suite down to a fraction of the original cost for students, staff and faculty.

“Too often, administrative offices in higher education limit ‘enterprise’ considerations to staff and faculty. This project intentionally put students at the center, and in so doing we were able to create cost savings for ��ֱ�� Boulder and its students,” says Viola.

“The lower cost of Adobe is extremely helpful for me,” says Max Kitay, a ��ֱ�� Boulder student pursuing a bachelor’s of science in technology, arts, and media. “I use Adobe Creative Cloud in classes each semester, and the lower cost allows me to allocate those funds elsewhere in my life.”

“Financial Futures created a collaborative environment that allowed me to work more with people on the campuses. It was fun, and it made me appreciate my role more,” says Viola. He and his ��ֱ�� Boulder project partners are working with faculty and students to spread the word about the new, low-cost licenses. He’s also got his sights set on an even lower cost option in the future.

“Financial Futures shows what can be accomplished when we’re looking at things from an enterprise level. We’re more powerful together,” says Viola.

For Max Kitay, there’s another upside. “It’s nice knowing that ��ֱ�� staff are looking for ways to help students spend less on college. It really shows that the university wants students here and wants them to have the resources to be successful.”

Students can purchase the Adobe Creative Cloud from the ��ֱ�� Book Store for only $65 for the remaining 2019 license year (through June 30, 2019.)

Expanded first-year academic advising, a renegotiated Adobe Creative Cloud contract and the new Biological Research Technology Resource Center are among the highlights for approved Financial Futures projects.

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Interdisciplinarity Working Group report to post for campus review Oct. 1

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 15:02:13 +0000

Interdisciplinarity Working Group report to post for campus review Oct. 1 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/19/2019 - 09:02

��ֱ�� Boulder provost Russell Moore and Chief Operating Officer Kelly Fox today announced that the draft report of the Working Group on Interdisciplinarity is complete and will be posted on Oct. 1 for a 30-day campus review.

The two last February commissioned Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Jim White to form a working group that would lead a conversation on how the campus might engage in Interdisciplinary Teaching, Research, and Creative Work and the value in doing so.

Upcoming town halls

Wednesday, Oct. 2
Thursday, Oct. 3
Monday, Oct. 7
Tuesday, Oct. 8
Monday, Oct. 14
Thursday, Oct. 17
Monday, Oct. 21
Friday, Oct. 25

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White thanked the committee members for their hard work and visionary thinking, and said the committee came through on that charge, and more.

“The report celebrates the interdisciplinary work we already do while urging the campus to extend interdisciplinary efforts across ��ֱ�� and particularly in our teaching,” White said. “It recognizes that we need a broad definition of interdisciplinary work that supports efforts in all parts of the university.”

The report will be posted for campus review through the end of business on Nov. 8 (previously Nov. 1). Members of the community can review the report and offer comments and up to a two-page written response to the report during that time, and are invited to attend a series of townhalls that will be hosted during the month of October.

After the review, the committee will incorporate suggested changes and submit the final report to the provost in early December.

The report offers a number of concrete recommendations anchored in institutional change.

The first calls for the formation of an interdisciplinary incubator, a physical space where teams of faculty could be co-located to explore a targeted theme of research, scholarship, or creative work. The second puts forth the creation of teaching academies, the educational equivalent of research institutes, to serve as a hub and community home for large interdisciplinary themes.

Other ideas include the provost naming and supporting a “champion” for interdisciplinary work and a recommendation for the provost to change the student credit hour (SCH) model for campus to allow faculty to retain a certain fraction of those hours as currency, to be used to pursue individual faculty goals and to support innovative programming, including interdisciplinary education.

The report offers a number of concrete recommendations anchored in institutional change for ��ֱ�� Boulder, including the creation of teaching academies and formation of an interdisciplinary incubator.

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