President Kennedy and Leeds School of Business Dean Sharon Matusik presented to Boulder Staff Council's Executive Committee on the new Strategic Plan which aims to push CU into the future and leaning into the Fourth Industrial Revolution by focusing on four main pillars:
- Access, Affordability, & Student Success
- Discovery & Impact
- Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, & Access
- Fiscal Strength
President Kennedy and Dean Matusik dove straight into the details of the strategic plan with the representatives from Staff Council, and outlined how graduation rates, equity & access, health & wellness, innovation in learning & teaching, research & scholarship, healthcare, tech enablement, collaboration & partnerships, and deferred maintenance & sustainability will be crucial areas to focus on and develop metrics for in order to measure the success of the plan. Currently there are 9 working groups with representatives from all four campuses developing those metrics, and are currently soliciting feedback from students, faculty, and staff on how best to meet these important goals.
Representatives from Staff Council were also given the opportunity to raise questions and concerns from their constituents on the strategic plan. Representatives expressed concerns about the difficulty staff have when trying to use the employee tuition benefit, and asked if there were any immediate plans to improve this benefit to ensure our staff would be able to take advantage of professional development opportunities during this time of rapid technological advancement. President Kennedy noted the need to allow staff to access online classes and Continuing Education courses and emphasized the importance of providing staff opportunities to take courses while employed at the university.
Staff Council also stressed the importance of addressing climate change by reducing our carbon footprint and working towards becoming a fossil fuel-free university, along with the need to address diversity & equity issues at a staff level. President Kennedy reassured the group that he believes these are crucial aspects of the strategic plan and that we should have metrics from the working groups on both issues as the strategic plan moves forward. He also reiterated that all the pillars of the plans, as well as outlines developed from the working groups, will incorporate feedback from students, faculty, and staff as part of the university’s overall strategy.
As they move into the next phase of the strategic plan’s timeline, President Kennedy and Dean Matusik emphasized the importance of submitting feedback. Adding your voice to the conversation ensures that no idea is left out of the discussion, and that we move forward together as a university as we cement our status as a leader in higher education for decades to come. Reach out to your Staff Council Representative to learn how you can get involved in shaping our campus and making CU a better place to work and study.
