After a full year of 2030 strategic planning campus conversations – over coffee and lunch, during Town Hall sessions, through surveys and emails and listening sessions – seven core strategies have emerged as the driving forces behind the next decade of success at UCCS.
Communique will inform you weekly about each of the seven core strategies, which are not prioritized in any way. These updates will continue over the next four weeks, culminating in the next Town Hall on September 3, to which the entire campus community is invited.
This week, Communique will give an overview on optimization of capabilities. This core strategy working group was championed by managing counsel Jennifer George. Three UCCS staff members served as team leads: Shannon Cable, director of student employment, financial aid, student employment and scholarships; Charles Cummings, project manager for construction; and Kevin Wolf, interim director of applications.
The names of the team members, all of whom volunteered for the working group, are provided here.
Optimization of capabilities
The charge of the fourth core strategy in the UCCS 2030 Strategic Plan: To invest deliberately in UCCS’ people, processes, buildings and technology.
”UCCS will invest deliberately in our people, processes, buildings and technology to align with our strategic growth plans.”
Working group
After Chancellor Venkat Reddy’s Town Hall sessions in March, faculty, staff and students formed and joined working groups for each of the plan’s seven core strategies. Core strategy working groups were tasked with identifying the priorities, initiatives, anticipated outcomes and measures of success for each of the strategic themes.
George took charge of the core strategy working group, with Cable, Cummings and Wolf taking on roles as team leads. Faculty, staff and student volunteers rounded out the group.
According to Cable, “I wanted to be involved in the working group for optimization of capabilities because I felt this area had the most potential to really impact and support our people. The most important thing I can work towards on our campus is creating a great place for people to learn, work, and be a part of our community; and the working group allowed me to engage in this work in a real way.”
Outcomes
By investing deliberately in UCCS’ resources and capabilities, the core strategy working group envisions the following outcomes:
- An improved, transparent, collaborative and cross-functional campus culture.
- Improved infrastructure across campus divisions.
Measures of success
As the strategy moves into implementation, the core strategy working group will measure success by the following criteria:
- Conduct an employee cultural survey or other employee feedback assessments between 2020-30 and tracked improvements in the areas of employment, facilities, processes and technology.
- Create horizontal and vertical (cross-functional) alignment of human resources, facilities and information technology strategies evidenced by integrated operational plans.
Initiatives
To translate vision into practice, the core strategy working group recommends the following initiatives:
- People Strategy & Plan: Develop and implement a transparent staff & faculty recruitment, hiring, compensation, evaluation, professional development, advancement and wellness/support/advocacy operational plan for campus, which aligns with the UCCS 2020-2030 Strategic Plan.
- Facilities Operational Plan: Develop and implement an inclusive facilities operational plan to include planning, design, construction, operation of campus facilities and deferred maintenance in an environmentally sustainable manner, which meets the current and future needs of campus stakeholders and aligns with the UCCS 2020-2030 Strategic Plan.
- Information Technology Operational Plan: Develop and implement a campus-wide, comprehensive information technology operational plan to design and construct campus technology infrastructure, which services the current and future needs of campus stakeholders, while supporting rapid innovation and change, while aligning with the UCCS 2020-2030 Strategic Plan.
- Process Governance: Develop and implement a process governance initiative, to include assessment, revision and review of university processes as a method of improving infrastructure cross-functionality and efficiencies.
Next steps
With a draft strategy in place, there are limited opportunities for further refinement. Campus community members with thoughts on how to fine-tune the existing strategy are welcome to submit suggestions on the strategic plan website. They will be passed to the designated core strategy working group for review, and appropriate changes will made.
Faculty, staff and students will have additional opportunities to participate in the strategic planning process as teams tasked to each core strategy form in the fall semester. Continue to check the strategic plan website for updates.
Chancellor Venkat Reddy is grateful to the active participation of faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members in helping to shape the future of the UCCS campus.
Read additional deep dives:
Strategic Plan Deep Dive Week 1: Excellence in research and creative works
Strategic Plan Deep Dive Week 3: Learning, engagement and inclusive belonging
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