Shaping Our Next Strategic Chapter and Student Experience
Dear colleagues,Ìý
With the IMPACT 2025 10-year timeline now complete, we’ve entered a moment of possibility—and responsibility. Over the past several months, our community has engaged in deep reflection, asking how we build on our shared success and position DU for a meaningful future. This collective effort reinforced a clear truth: DU delivers an extraordinary student experience that prepares students for exceptional careers and lives of purpose. At the same time, we recognize that while our foundation is strong, there is even more we can do to elevate our students’ experiences and outcomes. Our commitment to continuous improvement drives us to pursue new opportunities and higher standards, maintaining excellence, but consistently striving to be even better. DU Forward is the result of that shared vision.Ìý
DU Forward is our next strategic chapter. It’s not just a document; it’s a visionary framework created by our community that will shape DU’s trajectory over the next five years and beyond; it’s designed to help us build on our success and overcome the unprecedented challenges facing our campus right now – challenges occurring throughout the higher education landscape. DU Forward builds on the momentum of IMPACT 2025 and positions DU to thriveÌýin a time when many institutions are struggling. Through DU Forward, we will act, measure success through clear metrics, and iterate over time to make the progress needed to flourish and give our students the very best experiences and outcomes.Ìý
Let me be clear: the road will be rewarding, but not without its challenges. We have important work to do, and while the full impact of our efforts will take time to materialize, we are already making progress. As I shared last week, we are navigating a budget shortfall – a reality shaped in large part by graduate enrollment trends and international constraints. While this is difficult, it’s not defining, and our continued efforts will close the gap. While we take necessary steps to address financial realities in the short term, we are taking bold leaps toward our remarkable future.ÌýÌý
This moment calls us to move forward together as one DU. We know what truly sets our University apart is academic excellence driven by our commitment to the teacher-scholar model where faculty are deeply engaged in both innovative research and personal mentorship, ensuring students are challenged and supported inside and outside the classroom. This is further bolstered by the 4D Experience, which focuses on advancing intellectual growth, well-being, character, and career development, enriching every student’s journey and preparing them for lives and careers of purpose. Our collective commitment to these life-changing differentiators, among others, demonstrates our resolve to provide an education that is not only relevant, but transformative.ÌýÌý
We must be serious about prioritizing the right work for the right reasons – for our students, their experiences, their lives, the betterment of the world around us, and the long-term vitality of the institution.Ìý
Within the DU Forward framework, this past academic year, faculty and staff from across campus came together to dream. The result was a bank of ideas representing hope and pride in DU's potential that pointed to meaningful opportunities for growth. A cross-campus steering committee then convened to carefully review each proposal in order to forward a smaller number to Provost Loboa and me to consider for final funding authorization. First, I want to thank the committee, as well as our two committee co-chairs Anne DePrince and Brad Bohlander, as I am deeply appreciative of them for the time and care they invested in this work.ÌýÌý
While not every proposal could be funded this year, I am pleased to share that we have approved one-year funding for 19 projects, each one focused on improving the student experience and student outcomes. For those who received funding, the initial investment covers one year with the possibility of renewal for years two and three, based on performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and outcomes brought forward by proposal submitters. In addition, we are also approving another handful of projects that do not require new funding to move forward. These projects span academic innovation, career development, student support, and more. They were chosen for their unique and impactful ability to help DU offer a preeminent student experience, boost enrollment, and make DU a place where students thrive.
DU Forward Projects Funded for Fiscal Year 2025–26
Accelerated Master's ProgramsÌý
Amplifying Interconnection at the Kennedy Mountain Campus (KMC)Ìý
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) & KMC Language Immersion InitiativeÌý
CAHSS 4D FridaysÌý
Center for Ethical Generative AI ApplicationsÌýÌý
Educating the Next Generation of Innovators in AI and ComputingÌý
Elevating Community Service as Central to Students' 4D ExperienceÌý
Expansion of Prior Learning Assessment ProcessÌý
Faculty Institute for Student SuccessÌý
Global Career Accelerator—High Impact Practices AmplifierÌý
Graduate Marketing Connected CoreÌý
Increasing Undergraduate Internship ParticipationÌý
Institute for Leadership & Business ExcellenceÌý
Mapping Career Readiness with a Career PassportÌý
Pardee Institute Training ProgramÌý
Promoting Public Good Stories of ImpactÌý
Reduced-Credit Applied Bachelor's DegreeÌý
Student Research as Signature Work for Public Good ImpactÌý
Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering ProgramÌý
Details about the scope and goals of each funded DU Forward project will be available on the DU Forward website in the coming weeks. Over the course of the academic year, we will share regular updates on the progress and impact of each project.
While the funded projects represent an exciting first step, it’s important to recognize that DU Forward is much broader—these proposals are just one part of a larger, ongoing commitment to DU excellence, innovation, and differentiation. There is much more to come within DU Forward, and these initiatives are only the beginning of what we will accomplish together.Ìý
In whatever way you may have already contributed to DU Forward—thank you. Our University does not rest on the shoulders of a few, but on us all. We are all invested in the success of DU because we believe in its mission to help our students build the futures they desire and deserve. A preeminent experience does not just bring learners to DU; it gives students what they need to change the world and reach their fullest potential.ÌýÌýÌý
This is how we move forward. This is how we turn challenge into opportunity. This is how we continue elevating a DU that is not only resilient, but remarkable.Ìý
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ÌýJeremy HaefnerÌýÌý
Chancellor
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Upcoming Opportunities to Learn More
State of the UniversityÌýÌý
Thursday, Oct. 30Ìý
2:30-3:30 p.m.Ìý
Community Commons, 1700Ìý
Chancellor Haefner will address the entire DU community about where we are and where we are going, including how DU Forward is critical to our goals.ÌýÌý
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November TownhallÌý
Over the coming weeks, DU community members will receive video updates across various University topics. The University hopes this asynchronous approach will allow individuals to digest this important information and ask questions in a more relaxed manner. Questions can be asked through forms attached to each video and during the Townhall Q&A Session (information below).Ìý
Townhall Q&A SessionÌý
In November, the community will be invited to a hybrid meeting to address the community’s questions. In-person and virtual attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions live. The location, date, and time will be shared soon.Ìý
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