Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Russell L. Moore
As some of you may know, after receiving feedback from our faculty, staff and students, campus leadership has begun the conversation of reframing the three campus touchstones (student success, reputation and alternate revenue) into a series of ideas that more holistically describe our goals as a university.
These strategic imperatives were first laid out in the chancellor’s State of the Campus address, and I would like to provide you with a brief update on some of the activities we have underway to help us achieve these goals.
Shape tomorrow's leaders
The university is excited to announce we are offering 23 sections of our First Year Seminars this spring, with approximately 320 students participating. Some of the courses include the Science of Science Fiction; Pink Floyd: Music, Image, Culture; God; and Vietnam Wars: Literature, Music, and Film. These faculty-driven courses not only expose our students to interesting and often interdisciplinary topics but do so in small seminar-like settings, averaging 13 students per section.
I believe the close interaction with high-quality faculty will help to increase our first-to-second-year persistence rates and provide our students with an educational opportunity not found anywhere else on campus. Additionally, because many of these courses are interdisciplinary and bridge traditional academic silos, they will help develop our students’ critical thinking and creative problem solving skills.
I appreciate greatly everyone’s hard work with developing these classes and am looking forward to learning what unique and high-impact courses our faculty are developing for fall 2017.
Be the top university for innovation
After significant feedback from our students, faculty, and staff we have begun the process of revising and improving our online student experience. Currently, there are more than a dozen ways for students to connect with the university online, each requiring a different login or access via separate webpages.
Senior Vice Chancellor and CFO Kelly Fox and I have charged the Student Success Executive Committee members to develop a single, online student experience, where a student can do anything from scheduling courses or advising, reserving housing, paying tuition or parking fees, checking grades or requesting a transcript. I hope this change will improve the way our students interact with the university and provide a one-stop shop for all the information they need.
I am aware some people on our campus have concerns about “innovation,” whether the term or the implication. That said, as faculty, staff and students of an international research university, we already are innovative. Being innovative is how we create and disseminate new knowledge; it is how we learn in different types of classes and settings; and it is how we improve the operation of our institution.
Being the top university for innovation will not require us to abandon our principles or leave behind our values but instead will require us only to focus on our current efforts, collaborate across traditional lines and to continue to push the boundaries of what we know about ourselves and the world.
Positively impact humanity
Part of this imperative is to make meaningful contributions to society, and I believe the Jan. 25 BuffsUnited event represents a clear example of our community coming together in a positive way. I want to thank each and every student, faculty and staff member who worked hard to put that event together and congratulate everyone for making it something of which we all can be proud. That event represented many of our shared values, and I look forward to more from BuffsUnited.
I have been fortunate enough to hear from many of you about individual steps you have taken to help build a stronger CU community. It is through these sometimes small and daily interactions that we collectively reinforce our commitment to improving society, in Boulder and beyond.
As we navigate sometimes difficult conversations and events in the days and months ahead, I encourage you all to take advantage of the incredible offerings of your campus and attend one of the teach-ins, participate in a coffee hour or start something new. This is your campus, your community, your society; and it is yours to contribute to and improve.
Russell L. Moore,
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
