The Vice Chancellor for Infrastructure and Safety (VCIS) is responsible for the physical and public safety of the campus; long-range capital planning; real estate development; architecture; design and construction; the operation and maintenance of all campus facilities; emergency management; environmental health and safety; sustainability; and campus logistics.
David Kang, who served as the director of project management in the White House Military Office, has been vice chancellor for infrastructure and safety at CU Boulder since May 16. CU Boulder Today asked him to discuss his vision for a sustainable and safe campus.
CU Boulder Today
You’ve been at CU Boulder for almost five months now. What are your top priorities for campus based on what you’ve seen so far?
VC Kang
In three words, my goals are to “understand, manage, optimize.”
As responsible stewards of student tuition and taxpayer dollars, we need to focus on optimizing the use of the buildings and physical resources we already have. But first we need to understand what we have, where we have it, how it is being utilized, and what our future space requirements are. As I like to say, when I meet with people across campus, “the most efficient building is the building that we don’t build.”
CU Boulder Today
How is the university going to accomplish this work?
VC Kang
We are in the early stages of creating a new space management office that will do just this. Our vision is to integrate the role of this office into both short-term and long-term facilities decisions so that we take a holistic view of all space requirements as we tackle emerging and growing space needs with deferred maintenance, renewal projects and capital construction.
Concurrently, we have focused on developing new space policies to codify how we manage the spaces on campus. Our first priority was on optimizing the use of classroom spaces to enhance scheduling flexibility and choice for our students. We are now working on an overarching space management policy that will integrate the role of the space management office and provide general guidance on how all spaces will be managed across the university.
CU Boulder Today
How does your work support Chancellor DiStefano’s three priorities for campus of student success, advancing our reputation and revenue diversification?
VC Kang
My goal is for this organization to provide world-class service that supports of our campus’ shared mission and vision. As such, our strategic facilities initiatives are centered around the alignment of our efforts with CU Boulder’s strategic initiatives:
- Shape tomorrow’s leaders
- Be recognized as the top university for sustainability and innovation
- Have a positive impact on humanity
I view these three goals as a further refinement of the university's priorities. I still have a lot of work to do in order to understand where we are as a campus and what my organization needs to do to support the vision and mission of the university. As I do that, my commitment is to be visible across the university and to engage in a collaborative effort with students, faculty, staff, government agencies and industry. I am particularly focused on leveraging the vast in-house capability we have with our world-class faculty and staff and would like to work closely with them and our undergraduate and graduate students to give them an opportunity to learn through hands-on, real-world experiences. In whatever we do with our facilities, my goal is to leverage our people and technology to become streamlined, more productive, and to optimize use of existing facilities. And that ultimately helps us support students more effectively, free up resources, and strengthen our reputation across the state and the nation.
CU Boulder Today
What does the concept of “sustainability” mean to you? What do you think it means to CU Boulder?
VC Kang
When many people think about sustainability, the first thing that comes to mind is addressing an environmental agenda. While reducing the university’s impact on the environment is certainly part of what sustainability means to me, the primary thing I think about as VCIS of CU Boulder is enhancing our mission of education and research and improving our resiliency.
My goal is for CU Boulder to be seen as the global leader in sustainability. This means we must make improvements in optimizing use of our existing facilities, reducing energy and water consumption, integrating smart-energy and renewable technologies and waste reduction (among many other efforts). Going back to the university’s strategic initiatives, our sustainability efforts overlap in all three areas, of shaping tomorrow’s leaders, innovation and our impact on humanity. I am committed to working hard to develop collaborative relationships with the city of Boulder and other local, state and federal agencies; academia; national labs; and industry to identify key sustainability initiatives. I believe that issues like this need to be solved through a collaborative effort involving innovation, research, with potential policy and legislative impacts, centering on a firm foundation of business- and metrics-driven analytics. Not only do we need this, but the entire country can use our help to solve some very wicked problems in this arena.
As we do this and think about the investments we need to make in resources, time and effort, we see that it really is a balancing act between what we need (resiliency), with what we want (net zero energy/waste), with what we need to change (culture, performance of our buildings), and with what we can afford to fund (smart investments and creative financing).
So we must ask ourselves: “Why is sustainability important to us?” “How do we as a university benefit from sustainability?” “How does what we do impact society?” In my mind, our efforts to create a sustainable future lead us toward a path that more readily supports our need for resiliency, our ability to bounce back and keep moving in spite of what happens around us. We pursue sustainability efforts because they are right for the university for so many reasons.
CU Boulder Today
How do we as a university benefit from partnering with different organizations?
VC Kang
A lot of people think “we need partnerships.” But I’d like to encourage us to take a similar stance to what I was describing for sustainability: We should be asking ourselves: “Why are partnerships important to us?” “How do we as a university benefit from partnering with different organizations?” “How can we work with those around us to be successful in our mission and positively impact society?”
I think that there are many organizations and entities in our own backyard that we would be wise to look at teaming up with to work together to improve the university and the world. First and foremost, we should always look at how the students, faculty and staff at CU Boulder can work together across their departments and units to create synergies for the university.
But also we should look at how we can create synergies between ourselves and the city of Boulder, NREL, NCAR, Rocky Mountain Institute, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, industry, etc. Perhaps just as important, doing so can help set an example of what is possible across the nation if we work together.
CU Boulder Today
Campus safety also falls under your jurisdiction. Can you talk about what that means to you?
VC Kang
When I think about safety on campus, I think of a number of topics: public safety, construction safety, pedestrian safety, lab safety, workplace safety and building a safety-focused culture.
Our people are absolutely our greatest asset. We need every single one of our students, faculty and our staff to be healthy, both in mind and body, to keep this place in top shape. The university cannot do its job without its people, and it is everybody’s responsibility to keep our people safe.
I also believe that we, collectively, have an added duty to be extra vigilant when it comes to the safety and security of the students that we have been entrusted to educate and prepare for the future. We need to work together as a campus to create a culture of responsibility, ownership, innovation and unending vigilance when it comes to all aspects of safety across the university.
