Throughout the month of September, several university faculty and staff will be contacted by representatives from Huron Consulting Group to participate in an on-campus interview as part of the university鈥檚 Space Utilization Optimization Initiative.
The university has contracted Huron to analyze CU-Boulder鈥檚 use of all campus space and to offer recommendations for optimizing its use. The goals of this initiative are to enhance the teaching and learning experience for all students, and to discover ways to achieve greater efficiencies and more creative uses with the space and resources we have.
Huron will be conducting interviews and focus groups with stakeholders across campus in September. They will compile recommendations, which may include an assessment of current building configurations, potential repurposing of specific buildings鈥� use and possible integration and/or consolidation of functions and activities.
A campus steering committee is currently being assembled to oversee this phase of the process and to work with the consultants from Huron. This committee will be responsible for critically reviewing recommendations, prioritizing recommendations for implementation and drafting a plan for specific actions and implementation strategies from prioritized recommendations for campus-wide implementation.
This initiative hinges on participation and thoughtful feedback from across CU-Boulder鈥檚 many colleges, departments and other units. The campus steering committee has been assembled to represent the academic, auxiliary and administrative perspectives of the university. Viewpoints of faculty, staff and students will be represented within the steering committee membership.
By avoiding construction costs and by creating operational efficiencies, the university will be able to direct more of our existing resources toward areas of transformation for the campus (for example, faculty hiring lines, one-time investments in key programs and new initiatives to transform research, teaching and learning). In addition, this initiative will help our faculty build on their innovative use of technology and space in CU-Boulder鈥檚 classrooms, and it will inform our ability to reconfigure research space to improve the graduate student experience.
We thank all of the interviewees for taking the time to offer their input and ensuring that these interviews and focus groups are well-attended and successful. We look forward to updating you in the coming weeks.
Russ Moore, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Kelly Fox, Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer