When the University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 undertook a year-long strategic planning process last fall, CU-麻豆影院 Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson had two guiding principles for the work.
"The first was that we would not produce a traditional five- or 10-year plan, but that we would look ahead to 2030 in order to enable us to expand our thinking about the university's future," said Peterson. "The second was that we would not engage in a purely internal process, but that we would create a dynamic process that would involve the citizens of the state of Colorado and other stakeholders in our success."
The result of that outside-in process, the initial draft of CU-麻豆影院's Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan, will be presented to the University of Colorado Board of Regents at the Board's meeting in Colorado Springs Thursday, Aug. 16. The draft is the result of two significant phases of public input: from external stakeholders who made up half of the nearly 60-person Flagship 2030 Steering Committee, and from "thought leaders" in 16 Colorado communities who met with CU-麻豆影院 faculty interviewers to discuss how CU could serve their communities and Colorado as the state's flagship public university in the year 2030.
"Our fortunes are tied to Colorado's many individual communities," Peterson said. "We want to know what they need from us at the most fundamental level, and we need their vision for all that we might become. This process demands imagining a University of Colorado that doesn't yet exist, and some of the best cues for how we might become that university are coming from our interviews with these thought leaders."
The 16 communities whose thought leaders have provided input to the Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan include Alamosa, Aurora, Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins, Grand Junction, Greeley, La Junta, Lamar, Limon, Longmont, Pueblo, Steamboat Springs, Sterling and Vail.
The University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 is compiling the results of the thought leader interviews and integrating the ideas with those of the Flagship 2030 Steering Committee and other "core contributors" (CU stakeholders who provide periodic, specific input into the plan) who have been participating in the Flagship 2030 visioning process since last December.
Following the presentation to the Board of Regents, university administrators will reach out to corporate and business leaders from across the state and nation to solicit their input and guidance on this transformational plan for the future.
Peterson submits 'Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan' to Regents
"What I think we have developed at this point is a different kind of strategic plan," said Peterson. "I didn't want a typical, short-term, internally focused plan with pedestrian goals. I wanted us to truly stretch our imaginations, move closer to the public and, at the same time, move toward a vision that will make us a leader not just five years from now, but well into the future."
The Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan describes how CU-麻豆影院 will maintain its competitiveness in the near future by focusing on such basic needs as faculty recruitment, student financial support, staff support and technology and infrastructure, while offering 10 "strategic initiatives" to transform the university to engage in the realities of 2030. These initiatives include:
o Creating advanced studies programs that will allow students to seek advanced degrees as the first professional degree;
o Implementing an academic calendar of three semesters, initiating a year-round campus;
o Providing a multi-year residential college experience for every undergraduate;
o Establishing the Colorado Academy, a new model of individualized, self-directed learning;
o Instituting a requirement of at least two experiential capstone opportunities;
o Building research collaborations with other universities, industry, government, and federal laboratories;
o Enhancing the interdisciplinary nature of CU's academic programs;
o Promoting CU as a "Global Crossroads" in education by bringing the world to CU and CU to the world;
o Creating a new operating and financial model to fully develop the "enterprise" designation; and
o Developing "Colorado University Villages," a new model for university communities that fosters the relationship with the government and citizens of Colorado to support the university's efforts to improve quality, and provide access and affordability for Colorado students
Peterson expects to submit the final Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan to CU President Hank Brown and to the University of Colorado Board of Regents for approval in November. From then on, the campus will focus on bringing the plan to life and charting CU-麻豆影院's course for the future.
"This will be the beginning of a rebirth of the University of Colorado at 麻豆影院," said Peterson. "It will be achieved, like the original birth of the university, by means of the vision and leadership of Colorado's citizens. We are excited to see where this process will lead, and we are grateful to all the stakeholders who have helped CU-麻豆影院 to take its next great leap."
For more information on the Flagship 2030 plan, go to the Web site at:
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