The University of Colorado Colorado Springs 2030 Strategic Plan lays out a vision for the future of our university that builds on our core mission: to provide high-quality, accessible education; to advance knowledge; integrate student learning with the spirit of discovery; and to serve our community. These goals form our shared journey—our climb toward the summit of the Success 2030 plan.
As part of the 2030 Strategic Plan, Four Pillars were identified to help guide this work: Strategic and Sustainable Growth, Research & Creative Excellence, Organizational Excellence and Culture of Care.
Pillar Two: Research & Creative Excellence emphasizes UCCS’s commitment to advancing knowledge and innovation with a focus on student and faculty research initiatives. UCCS takes pride in being the only higher education institution in Southern Colorado that explicitly includes research as part of its mission. Our reputation is enhanced by participation in research, publications, grants and performances, as well as national and international conferences and exhibitions.
On February 19, The Office of Strategic Initiatives hosted the third Strategic Spotlight Series event highlighting Research and Creative Excellence. The event featured an in-depth overview of the critical role research and creative excellence plays at UCCS. These remarks were elevated by the panel of UCCS researchers and creatives from across our campus and moderated by Interim Vice Provost and Associate Vice Chancellor of Research & Dean of the Graduate School, Hillary Fouts, Ph.D. The panelists included Darshika Perera, Ph.D., Rebecca Wood, Ph.D., Max Shulman, Ph.D., Deborah Pina-Thomas, Ph.D., Joseph Kuzma, Ph.D., and graduate student researcher Minoti Karnik. Read more about these panelists.
Each of the panelists shared what brought them to their research, what they are most excited about and the role that mentorship, campus support and student researchers have in their work. Additionally, they discussed how they navigate the changes and challenges of the current research landscape. Through this rich panel, the sentiment at the event reflected the power and intentional impact that research has on UCCS.
“What I heard in your responses was a deep passion for what you are all are doing and the theme of winding paths, but the winding paths are not random, they are responsive,” said Dean Fouts. “Responsive to your disciplines, the needs of the community or the discipline…the courage to question yourself and be responsive, to ask questions and pivot as needed. That response to our societal needs, this to me is research, this to me is the heart of research and creative works. This is the space we as researchers live in.”
Watch the event recording here.
There are many more initiatives featuring our Research & Creative Excellence. To highlight a few:
- Lyda Hill Institute’s Resilience Research Program is dedicated to scientific discovery related to human resilience and the innovation of care models that support the human capacity to overcome, rather than reducing survivors to a set of medical symptoms. The Institute’s research has a direct impact in the development and realization of therapies that are improving the quality of life and outcomes of trauma survivors.
- The UCCS Graduate School provides support to approximately 2000 graduate students and their graduate faculty through the Graduate Student Mentoring Initiative. The new mentoring program was developed to support both students and faculty in fostering meaningful mentoring relationships by providing tools, best practices, and resources to address the wide-ranging needs of our graduate community.
- The UCCS Office of Research leverages the expertise of the Research Development Coordinator and Institutional grant writing coordinator (Kelly McNear, Ph.D., and Deborah Baness King, Ph.D., respectively), to provide wraparound support to UCCS faculty researchers through Strategic Research Coordination. They bring together faculty across the campus to foster cross-college/interdisciplinary collaboration for the purpose of increasing faculty and student engagement, funding awards and strengthening UCCS’s R2 status.
Research and Creative Excellence encompasses the intentional and thorough scholarship that is occurring with every college and division at UCCS. The work of our campus researchers and research-based initiatives is being highlighted on the Strategic Pillars Action Website,
Read the first Strategic Pillar Series Article on Pillar 1: Strategic & Sustainable Growth.