Senior Vice Chancellor and CFO Kelly Fox
It’s a cliché. It’s trite. It’s overused. And it has stood the test of time. Attributed to a Greek philosopher from 500 B.C.E., “change is the only constant in life” is often quoted when someone is trying to convince you that a change process you’re participating in is a good thing.
In our lives, there certainly can be tough changes, challenges that don’t move us forward and are hard to endure. However, when we have a chance to shape change and guide this inevitable process towardĚýstrategic goals of our choosing, we do ourselves and our successors a huge service.
This year, campus leadership is focused on evolving the central themes of into the strategic imperatives shaping our future. We are managing change to support the University of Colorado Boulder as a top university for innovation, to shapeĚýtomorrow’s leaders and impactĚýhumanity.
Strategic imperatives guide how our campus will move forward, and we’re entering a time where, more than ever, we need to be collaborative and solution-focused. As I’ve mentioned before, I am so heartened by the exciting work being done across campus through innovation initiatives.
These inter-divisional approaches are leveraging the opportunity to steer change and make strategic choices about the direction of our university. Even better, these changes come from within the units they affect. It’s often said, “When you want to find a solution, ask the people who are closest to the problem.” I hope IĚýand other members of our campus leadership team will continue to take this to heart.
A vision towardĚýour successful future needs a balance between innovative approaches to our day-to-day work and forward-thinking. I need our team planners and campus visionaries to look five to ten years from now and focus on those elements that meet our strategic imperatives and help us shape a path to get there. The year 2030 is only 13 years away—are we making the changes necessary to achieve our vision?
In the coming months and years, we will see changes across the breadth of the university. From how instruction is delivered and students interact with our services, to how our institution and research areĚýfunded, changes are on the near horizon. As an institution focused on impacting humanity and shaping tomorrow’s leaders, we have to channel these and other changes into innovation and growth.
Between performance planning and annual budgeting, we are at the time of the year that focuses most heavily on reflection and forward thinking. Take our strategic imperatives to heart as you make your plans for the year ahead. Change may be constant, yet every one of us can do our part in steering change in a positive direction for our campus.
Kelly Fox,
Senior Vice Chancellor and CFO
