The next key steps in transforming CU Boulder for the future will be immersing our campus community in a common student-centered approach to learning and committing to new levels of Interdisciplinary Teaching, Research and Creative Work.
The projects, two of four priorities recommended in the Academic Futures Committee report accepted by Provost Russ Moore and Senior Vice Chancellor Kelly Fox earlier in the month, were announced jointly today by Moore and Fox. The other two priority projects are Internationalizing our campus and Teaching and technology: online and distance education.
“The chancellor, senior vice chancellor and I all agreed that these two projects would have the greatest transformative effect on the campus and would most boldly advance the chancellor’s strategic imperatives of shaping tomorrow’s leaders, being a top innovation university, and positively impacting humanity,” said Moore.
“We believe that some of the goals identified in the Interdisciplinary Teaching Research, and Creative Work section of the committee’s report represent exciting areas of opportunity over a longer term,” Moore continued. “The work to achieve those goals will challenge us to truly transform the campus into a dynamic place for learning and discovery, tailored to meet the demands of an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving social and technological future.”
The three leaders also agreed that in the near term there is a significant opportunity to align several ongoing campus efforts (e.g., Foundations of Excellence) to rapidly address many of the recommendations called out by the committee to achieve a Common Student-Centered Approach to Learning. They also stressed, in Fox’s words, “It will be important to ensure there is coordination and alignment of important strategic campus initiatives (e.g., Financial Futures, Foundations of Excellence, the Inclusion, Diversity and Excellence in Academics Plan, Academic Reorganization and Strategic Facilities Visioning).”
“The three of us wish to thank the campus for its vision and the authentic way it undertook the visioning process,” said Fox. “Particularly, we’d like to thank the Academic Futures Committee for its hard work and focused effort, and the hard work by Vice Provost Jeff Cox, convener of Academic Futures, and Emily CoBabe-Ammann, facilitator of Academic Futures, in soliciting and putting together our campus’s vision.”
Over the next month, key components of Creating a Common Student-Centered Approach to Learning and Interdisciplinary Teaching, Research and Creative Work will be identified to move forward for further development. In December, Moore and Fox will announce the implementation plan for the two lead projects, as well as a structure for managing the overall Academic Futures effort, in coordination with other strategic campus initiatives, going forward.
