CU outreach tour highlights partnerships across southwest Colorado
The University of Colorado’s 2026 Presidential Outreach Tour traveled last week to southwest Colorado, bringing CU President Todd Saliman and Regents Ilana Dubin Spiegel and Elliott Hood to listen, strengthen relationships and explore new ways CU can serve the region. The tour also included UCCS Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet and representatives from across CU’s four campuses, bringing a systemwide perspective to conversations with communities throughout southwest Colorado.
The Aug. 10-11 visits connected CU leadership with K-12 and higher education leaders, healthcare organizations, Tribal governments, businesses and community leaders. Conversations focused on creating educational opportunities that meet local needs while strengthening the region’s workforce and communities.
“Like our name says, we are Colorado’s university, which means serving all parts of the state,” Saliman said. “We view these regular outreach tours as critical to maintaining and building relationships with communities statewide, raising awareness about the value of a CU degree and hearing directly from Coloradans about how we can help meet their needs.”
A major focus of the tour was the growing partnership between Fort Lewis College in Durango and the CU Anschutz College of Nursing, which is expanding opportunities for students to pursue nursing careers while helping address healthcare workforce needs in southwest Colorado.
At the Southwestern Colorado Area Health Education Center, CU leaders discussed rural healthcare needs and efforts to develop a pipeline for future health professionals. The organization serves eight southwest Colorado counties through health career exploration, rural clinical rotations, Indigenous health initiatives and other programs. The center is one of six regional centers around the state coordinated by the Colorado Area Health Education Center, based at CU Anschutz. The hub and its centers support current and future health professionals who serve rural and underrepresented communities.
Those conversations led into one of the tour’s signature stops: Fort Lewis College and the CU Nursing Fort Lewis College Collaborative.
Fort Lewis College President Heather Shotton welcomed CU leaders to campus, where they heard from students, faculty and local partners about the nursing program and the importance of creating educational pathways that allow students to train for high-demand careers while remaining connected to the communities they hope to serve.
The four-year undergraduate program combines the Fort Lewis College experience with the nursing curriculum and expertise of the University of Colorado College of Nursing at CU Anschutz. Students can earn a CU nursing degree, learning from CU faculty while remaining in Durango, creating a pathway for Four Corners students to train close to home and potentially remain in their communities after graduation.
The partnership launched in 2022 with philanthropic support from Durango nurse practitioner and CU Nursing alumna Karen Zink. Its first cohort arrived at Fort Lewis in fall 2023 and began nursing-specific coursework in summer 2025 and will graduate this academic year.
The program combines Fort Lewis’ undergraduate experience with CU Anschutz’s nursing expertise and incorporates perspectives relevant to rural and Indigenous healthcare. It is designed to prepare students for nursing careers and help address long-standing shortages of health professionals in rural communities.
CU leaders also met with leaders from the Montezuma-Cortez School District, where discussions centered on college pathways, educator recruitment and retention, and teacher preparation and professional development. Meetings with Durango business and community leaders focused on workforce development, economic opportunity and connections between higher education and the regional economy.
“As Colorado’s flagship university, it is incredibly important for the University of Colorado to have a presence in all parts of Colorado,” said Christian Reece, CU’s Outreach and Engagement Regional Program Manager. “These outreach tours provide an opportunity to bring CU leaders to communities large and small, to better understand the opportunities and challenges that are impacting our school district partners, as well as local business and community leaders. The tours also provide a first-hand look at the concrete programs across Colorado within which CU plays a role.”
For CU, those relationships reflect an ongoing commitment to serve communities across Colorado by listening to local priorities and working together to determine where university resources can make the greatest difference.