Dear Lynx community,

From my first day as chancellor, I’ve emphasized that in order to cultivate a culture where we all feel empowered to work, learn, and grow, we must, in turn, evolve and develop new ways to meet the needs of our students and the communities we serve. Typically, I’ve framed this as serving learners from high school through retirement.

That same commitment to lifelong learning applies to me as well. I’ve begun compiling a reading list, which I’m excited to share today, of the books, articles, and reports that have pressed me to think beyond the familiar. As someone who likes to question long-held assumptions, I hope this list offers a glimpse into the ideas and questions that have captured my curiosity.

As you browse the list, you’ll notice that many of the elements of our Strategic Plan Refresh are reflected in this first volume of recommendations. To date, more than 250 members of our CU Denver community have participated in Strategic Plan Refresh feedback sessions. Thank you to our Strategic Plan Operations Team (SPOT), as well as leadership from Staff Council, Faculty Assembly, and the Student Government Association, for hosting our campuswide engagements on Oct. 21, Oct. 22, and Oct. 24. And, of course, to everyone across CU Denver who has participated and lent their voice to this process—your engagement reflects a shared commitment that will be critical in making our refresh successful.

At each of the campuswide conversations, participants were asked to finish the following sentence: In 2030 CU Denver is _____. Words that were shared most frequently were: thriving, innovative, growing, equitable, stable, and community. You can find additional feedback insight on the Strategic Plan Refresh website, which will continue to be updated throughout this process. Any member of our community may also share individual feedback.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I want to take a moment to echo a message shared at the end of October on the suspension of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. More details on the campus response can be found on our Campus Food Security Action Plan website.

If you’re able to help, I invite you to join me by donating to our campus wide hygiene drive (items can be dropped in the Student Commons lobby or Lawrence Street Center lobby) or taking part in the annual CU Denver Food Fight, which runs through Dec. 2.

Your generosity during this difficult period is illustrative of what a special place CU Denver truly is. As I near the end of my first full semester as chancellor, I want to thank our entire community not only for welcoming me, but also for your trust in our shared future, and for your daily acts that move us closer to our aspirational goal of being recognized as Denver’s higher education anchor. As highlighted below, there is much to celebrate and be thankful for across our university. Please stay tuned for more exciting and transformational steps forward in the coming weeks and months.

Student Success Transformation Initiative (SSTI)

Last month, the SSTI team hosted a town hall to provide updates on each of its four working groups: standardization of student advising; first-year experiences; early action on student challenges; and D and F grades, withdraw, and incomplete (DFWI) rates.

I want to applaud the co-facilitators and working group members for driving such measurable change in a short period of time. If you have not yet, I encourage you to take the time to watch the town hall recording (use the password f*jAEH8z).

During the town hall, I was drawn to the DFWI update, led by co-facilitators Associate Dean for Academic and Strategic Planning and Professor of Communication Lisa Keränen and Associate Dean of Student Success and Professor of Integrative Biology John Swallow. In partnership with the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE), the group has begun the sizable effort to rebuild CU Denver’s DFWI data dashboards. With current data in hand, dashboard users can now visualize and filter DFWI rates by year, course, level, section, instructor type, college, and more.

Data and how we collect, use, and centralize it is critical to our SSTI work and to improving our retention and graduation rates. As John shared, with access to data, not only can we begin to unravel the barriers to success in DFWI, but we can also begin to think strategically about what efforts may have the greatest impact and where policy and training can be refined to empower our faculty to best position our learners for long-term success.

Classroom Upgrade Project

As of this fall, more than 60 classrooms have been upgraded during the past year with new technology designed to enhance the in-person teaching and learning experience. Several of these rooms also received hybrid and distance learning enhancements to support remote engagement. With these improvements in place, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) saw a 50% reduction in first-week classroom support tickets for fall 2025 compared to fall 2024.

Kudos to Associate Director of Service Delivery and Operations Corey Parham and Director of Academic Technology and Training Crystal Gasell, who co-led this project, and everyone involved across the Division for Teaching Innovation and Program Strategy (TIPS), OIT, Facilities Management and Planning, and all our campus academic leads.

World Class Research

Thirty-one researchers at CU Denver are among the top 2% of most cited scientists worldwide per the 2025 list compiled by Stanford University and publishing company Elsevier. The list recognizes the leading scientists based on peer-reviewed citations that represent 22 scientific fields and 174 subfields. The 31 researchers in 2025 were an increase of seven from the 2024 list. Congratulations to all of our faculty who earned their place on the list as well as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Phillip De Leon for his leadership.

Guaranteed Admission Expansion

Last week, CU Denver signed a guaranteed admission agreement, now known as CU Denver Direct, with Jeffco Public Schools. Like those signed with Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools, CU Denver will guarantee undergraduate admission to all Jeffco juniors and seniors who earn a 3.0 GPA or higher.

As I shared at the announcement event at Lakewood High School, these agreements illustrate that CU Denver is not only committed to increasing access through our words but also through our actions. I want to thank Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment and Student Success Zina Evans and her entire team for making these agreements possible as we work to expand access to the transformational power that a CU Denver degree makes possible.

Together, these highlights reveal a pattern of excellence that is moving us toward a thriving future. But reaching this goal will require all of us to collectively lift each other up. I want to echo a point made by Lisa in the DFWI working group update. As she said, what we seek is to foster a “widespread culture of care and belonging that embraces a growth mindset for students, faculty, and staff instead of a deficit model.”

As we depart for the forthcoming fall break and Thanksgiving holiday, I challenge us all to think of the ways we can expand our growth mindset while also being generous to ourselves and others as we continue to push toward a thriving state. 

With gratitude,