I pledged to let you know, before the end of the semester, my decision on how we will move forward based on the discussions led by the Environment and Sustainability Visioning Committee and the various faculty groups that have been involved in conversations about such areas as information, communication, journalism, media and technology. I will provide here a quick summary of my ideas on how we will move forward in exciting ways. You can find a much fuller account of my thoughts on these matters at https://academicaffairs.colorado.edu/academicreview/ and http://www.colorado.edu/esvc/.
After three years of faculty effort and more, we will begin to take the first steps needed to propose two new colleges or schools here at the University of Colorado Boulder. It has been 50 years since CU-Boulder created a new school or college, more than 90 if we exclude architecture (now at University of Colorado Denver) so this is an exciting time with opportunities for reinventing the education we offer our students and for providing opportunities for fresh research, scholarship and creative work. Of course, it will take at least a year before concrete proposals can be brought to the Board of Regents for approval.
I am proposing that we create both a college or school devoted to the study of the sustainable environment and a college or school that will focus on media, communication and information. We have engaged in lengthy formal conversations about these possible new colleges, and our informal conversations have gone on even longer. Now is the time to act to make it clear that the CU-Boulder will lead the way forward in two of the most important arenas of higher education and research, areas that will enable us to contribute to solving major problems facing our state, the nation and the world.
Again, you can find additional details on my ideas on how we might move forward at https://academicaffairs.colorado.edu/academicreview/ and http://www.colorado.edu/esvc/. I very much look forward to working with faculty, students, staff and the Board of Regents to take important strides forward for the campus.
Russell Moore,
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs