Published: Sept. 26, 2019

Kelly Fox

Kelly Fox, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer

Over the past several years, we have been building the capacity in Strategic Resources and Support to be future-focused, innovative and customer-centric. Our organization has leaned-in to analysis, new processes and questioning “the way it’s done.” 

Together we are creating a flexible organization that can quickly adapt and is highly aligned in service to the public good. An organization that is ready to take on the challenges connected to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is defined as a time of exponential change in the way we live, work and relate to one another, driven by fast-paced technological change.

Noted futurist Heather McGowan said during her Sept. 25 talk, “In the past, we learned once in order to work. Now we must work in order to learn continuously.”

I am committed to building a team at CU Boulder that understands the value of constant analysis and learning, and that never locks itself so firmly in a direction that we are unable to react to the accelerating pace of change inside and outside of our organization.

Among some of the statistics shared by McGowan, and that we should keep in mind:

  • 65% of jobs that people will be doing in the near future don’t exist yet
  • Almost 50% of the jobs that we are doing now will be automated by 2033
  • Someone entering the workforce today may expect to work in up to 17 different jobs, in 5 different industries

I hope you are taking advantage of all of your opportunities to learn continuously. I invite you to engage in processes like Financial Futures, which centers around idea generation, testing and implementation. Dig into the new LinkedIn Learning platform, take advantage of your tuition benefit, participate in Innovation Buffs, take a professional development class, shadow a coworker… there is no better place to develop your abilities as a lifelong learner than a public university.

As a team, if we are ready to lean-in to change and have practiced how to learn, innovate and create, we will be prepared to support the future of education and the future CU Boulder.

With regard,

Kelly