Chancellor's Corner: Centering our strategy in our campus values

This year, I have focused my work, and I have asked you to align your work to support our Strategic Vision that the university will be a leader in addressing the humanitarian, social and technological challenges of the 21st century. At the heart of this strategic vision, and our work, is a commitment to Inclusive Excellence as supported by our values also known as the Colorado Creed.

As we implement our vision, we are modeling our values for our students and for each other. You can see a commitment to these values in the Be Boulder Pact, the Academic Futures initiative as well as many other innovative student-, faculty- and staff-led programs across the campus.

Our faculty challenge our students to evaluate and think about values and ethics in their academic pursuits. And, our faculty do us a great service when they engage the community in discussions of issues of national significance. This September, the History Department sponsored a faculty panel discussion of the historical context of the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. Opportunities like these bring together community members seeking deeper insight into controversial issues.  

Every day, we all make decisions and take actions that determine whether we are creating an inclusive environment for each other at CU Boulder. What tools and resources do we have to guide us?

We strive to write and adopt policies to reflect our values. The Faculty Rights and Professional Duties document, the Student Code of Conduct, Responsible Conduct of Research and other codes provide technical and also aspirational goals for our community. The recently adopted CU System Code of Conduct is a tool that employees can use to navigate through our system of policies and convey what we can expect of each other in our day-to-day work. 

But words on paper may not be enough when faced with competing values. Faculty Affairs, Human Resources and Student Affairs offer many resources to practice values and ethics-based decision-making. I encourage you to bring your perspective and skills by participating in one of these programs. While built around a particular topic or skill set, these programs are also important opportunities for connecting with other university colleagues outside your unit or department and a chance to strengthen our sense of community.

As chancellor, I am grateful to work with all of you and within a community that at all times is focused on the success of our students and each other.

Thank you for a great year in 2017, and I look forward to another productive year in 2018.

Philip P. DiStefano,
Chancellor