Strategic Plan Refresh: Collective Effort Will Drive the University Forward

Energy filled the Jake Jabs Event Center on Feb. 18 when more than 160 employees gathered in person, with an additional 140 guests online, to learn about the university’s Strategic Plan Refresh and to hear from a panel of Denver leaders about the university’s impact on the city and beyond.

The community conversation brought together employees and Denver-area leaders and was led by Chancellor Kenneth T. Christensen, PhD. He kicked off the program by focusing on the core of the refreshed plan: To fulfill CU Denver’s responsibility as the Denver metro area’s anchor higher education partner by making education work for all.

The plan’s refresh represents a culmination of feedback gathered from the campus community to adapt the university’s 2030 Strategic Plan in an evolving context. “The foundational elements of that plan are reflected in everything we are doing,” Christensen said. “What we are doing is reaffirming our commitment.”

About the Core Principles

The core principles—informed by more than 1,000 pieces of feedback collected during more than 50 campus dialogue sessions—will guide the university’s path forward. They are:

• Learner Success: Make education work for all through access, equity, opportunity, and meaningful outcomes.

• Discovery and Impact: Prioritize discovery and innovation through research and creative works that address community needs and contribute to the public good.

• Organizational Excellence and Innovation: Cultivate a campuswide innovation ecosystem that enhances our excellence, efficiency, resiliency, and ability to achieve goals in support of our students and employees.

• Belonging and Meaningful Work: Foster an inclusive community where belonging, meaningful work, and public service support the flourishing of all.

A significant aspect of the refreshed plan, Christensen explained, is a set of metrics that will measure the university’s success in the areas listed above. Led by community feedback, the metrics include the enrollment of students from the Denver metro area, Pell-eligible and first-generation enrollment percentages, graduation rate, job placement, number of community-engaged research projects, and others.

“We will set goals for all of the metrics,” said Christensen, noting that the university is already making progress with efforts like the Academic Transformation Working Groups, CU Denver Direct, the Learning Assistants Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and more. “We’re going to develop new and innovative approaches that align with our strategic priorities, and we’re going to support students and employees in achieving their goals and aspirations,” he said.

Panel Highlights CU Denver’s Impact

Christensen then led a compelling panel discussion with Alex Marrero, PhD, superintendent of Denver Public Schools (which CU Denver signed a guaranteed admission agreement with last fall); Adeeb Khan, executive director of Denver Economic Development & Opportunity; and Lorii Rabinowitz, chief executive officer of the Denver Scholarship Foundation. Topics included high school students’ hopes and anxieties about college, what is being done to address barriers to success, and how the university contributes to Denver’s workforce.

Rabinowitz, whose foundation serves 14,000 students in grades nine through 12 in Denver Public Schools, showed the importance of partnership in higher education through data. In the 2025-26 academic year, her foundation serves 2,700 scholars, and 563 of those are CU Denver students. “That makes CU Denver our number one scholar-serving institution,” Rabinowitz said.

Among those learners, 91% are enrolled or have graduated over the last 6 years, 89% are the first in their families to go to college, and 97% are multicultural. “When we think about college affordability and what that looks like, and what a successful model looks like in partnership with students, scholars, families, and alumni, we have a pretty good model in partnership with CU Denver,” Rabinowitz said.

Khan, whose work focuses on business attraction and workforce development in Denver, pointed out that the number one priority for local businesses is talent. And there is an increasing need for learners to adapt to industry needs, which are shifting rapidly with the use of artificial intelligence. “I think the position of CU Denver, the priorities and the focus on the students and the learners, and that career learning component, is going to be more important than ever,” Khan said.

A Call to Action

If one thing was clear throughout the event, it’s that CU Denver’s Strategic Plan Refresh is focused on its people—learners and their families, employees, and community partners. And that achieving the core concepts must be a collective effort. “Think about a 1,000-piece puzzle—it can’t be complete and successful if only 500 of those pieces are filled in,” Christensen said. “The only way we get to that complete mosaic is if we all contribute our small part … It’s the sum total of that collective effort that’s going to drive us forward.”