Completed strategic plan sets direction for future of CU

CU’s strategic plan, work on which was launched nearly two years ago by CU President Mark Kennedy, received its official unveiling before the Board of Regents last week.

Kennedy presented details on the plan during the board’s June 17 meeting, held remotely. The process to develop the plan, titled Innovating for the Future, engaged at least 600 stakeholders, and was guided by input from the Board of Regents, faculty, students, staff, chancellors, trustees and the broader CU community.

Established early in the process, the plan’s four strategic pillars – Affordability and Student Access; Discovery and Impact; Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access; and Fiscal Strength – each have focus areas where quantifiable goals and initiatives are grouped.

The strategic plan will:

• Detail actionable, measurable steps that will allow CU to continue to meet its mission and serve its students and the state.
• Provide a roadmap that will guide the university as it emerges from the pandemic and confronts the challenges of the coming five years.
• Complement campus strategic planning efforts and actions.
• Be a bridge that will offer continuity among the current administration, interim administration and next administration.

Todd Saliman, who begins as CU’s interim president next week, helped steer the strategic planning process as a co-chair, with Sharon Matusik, dean of the Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder. Saliman said administration leadership plans to update the board annually on goal progress, with possible deep-dive discussions into specific areas of the plan throughout the year. Regents are expected to begin those discussions at their July retreat.

“This was a primary goal over the last couple of years,” said Board Chair Glen Gallegos. “The hard part really begins now in terms of how it begins to be fulfilled on campus. (The plan is) very thorough and really points us in the right direction.”

The board is expected to vote on the strategic plan’s approval at a future meeting.

CU Denver Chancellor Michelle Marks also introduced a complementary strategic plan for her campus, called Making Higher Education Work for All. Read more in CU Denver Today.