Amy Parsons and Marion Underwood
DRAFT: 4/17/2025
Inspired by its land-grant heritage, Colorado State University is committed to excellence, setting the national standard for public research universities in teaching, research, service, and engagement for the benefit of the citizens of Colorado, the United States, and the world. CSU strives to provide a high-quality, affordable higher education to all who have the desire and ability to achieve it.
As a National Model for the Modern Land-Grant University, we will:
- Strengthen CSU’s role and reputation as an innovative, engaged, research-intensive institution that offers a world-class education and prioritizes learners, employees, and community
- Expand interdisciplinarity and collaboration across academic programs, research, creative artistry, and community engagement throughout the University
- Infuse education with more opportunities for research, creative artistry, experiential learning, and community engagement in all programs and for all learners
- Attract the best learners, educators, and employees to CSU while supporting a climate in which everyone is welcomed and able to thrive
- Enrich CSU’s excellence and global leadership in seven interrelated academic themes: Arts and Cultures; Public Discourse and Democracy; Data and Information Science; Inclusive Excellence; Human, Animal, and Environmental Health; Science, Technology, and Innovation; and Sustainability, Climate, and Resilience
This Roadmap highlights how our current University priorities align with the CSU System’s Strategic Priorities, the University’s current strategic plan (the Courageous Strategic Transformation), and the Academic Master Plan.
Please note that all language that appears in italics throughout this Roadmap comes from the Academic Master Plan.
This Roadmap highlights our proud land-grant heritage and operationalizes how we will strive to become a National Model for the Modern Land-Grant University. This Roadmap also presents our current priorities as we consider them within the University but also as we convey them to external stakeholders and partners.
CSU System Strategic Priorities
Student Success and K-12
Courageous Strategic Transformation
People and Culture – Ensure Student Success and Access, Intelligent Growth
Innovation – Catalyze and Grow, Critical Thinking for Life, Education That Evolves, Social and Cultural Insight
2025 CSU Priorities
Student Success
Social and Economic Mobility
Solving Labor Market Shortages
Strategic Initiatives
- Develop distinctively CSU learning objectives and an innovative, interdisciplinary core curriculum
- Prepare all faculty to offer challenging, inspiring, inclusive, and accessible instruction to enable learners from all backgrounds to succeed
- Develop Ram Transfer Academy and recruit more community college students across Colorado
- Prepare learners to lead in a world driven by artificial intelligence
- Strengthen academic advising
- Enhance career connected learning by aligning academic and career advising, guiding students to use Empirical Major Maps, and enhancing industry partnerships
- Enhance experiential education
- Develop Spur, K-12 programs, 4H, Positive Youth Development, Extension programs, summer opportunities on the main campus, and dual enrollment as pathways to CSU Fort Collins
Elevating Our Mission
How CSU Will Be Distinctive
- CSU students will have the opportunity to take core courses on interdisciplinary themes, linked to our distinctive strengths
- The Institute of Learning and Teaching (TILT) will prepare faculty in inclusive pedagogy and the Science of Learning
- Continue to scale up TILT’s peer mentoring programs to support all students’ success
- Students at community colleges across the state will be offered seamless, supportive pathways to transfer and succeed at CSU
- CSU learners will learn to use AI ethically and responsibly
- All CSU learners will receive high quality care in academic advising
- CSU students will have opportunities for experiential education: working with faculty and staff on research and artistry, pursuing internships, studying abroad, and studying at the Mountain Campus, Todos Santos in Mexico, and Semester at Sea
- All K-12 students in CO will have exposure to CSU and to CSU Spur to envision themselves studying at CSU Fort Collins
- CSU will offer post-graduation career support
Metrics
- Enrollment grows steadily by 1.0-1.5% per year • Enrollment of community college transfer students increases by 10% annually
- Second fall retention rates exceed 90%
- 4-year graduation rates exceed 55% and 6-year rates exceed 75%
- Opportunity gaps will be closed, with a focus on First-Generation students and a student population that represents Colorado and our nation
- Within six months of graduation, 90% of graduates are either employed in a position related to their career plans or enrolled in graduate education, including graduates who received Pell grants
- 90% of graduates would choose CSU again
- CSU creates a new central gateway for industry partnerships, to provide one University portal for talent development, educational offerings, research collaboration, technology commercialization, and economic development and to enhance internal coordination to better leverage these partnerships across the institution
CSU System Strategic Priorities
Innovation
Courageous Strategic Transformation
Innovation – Forefront of Sustainability, One Health
Impact – Be the Connector
Operational and Financial Excellence – Optimizing Our Space
2025 CSU Priorities
Research and Academic Excellence
Catalyzing Mutually Beneficial Economic Development
Strategic Initiatives
- Benchmark carefully against aspirational peers to guide strategic investments in enhancing the excellence of academic programs and the impact of CSU research
- Provide seed funding for focused research excellence around broad interdisciplinary themes
- Enhance and expand academic and research space: VHEC, Engineering FTG, and ATLAS laser facility
- Strengthen graduate education
- Support international collaborations and partnerships
- Elevate opportunities for community engaged scholarship by leveraging Extension partnerships
- Strengthen partnerships to drive economic development in Northern Colorado and beyond
- Diversify funding sources
Elevating Our Mission
How CSU Will Be Distinctive
- CSU will make data-informed decisions about hiring, retention, and faculty, staff, and research investments based on peer benchmarking
- CSU faculty and staff will work on interdisciplinary teams to conduct groundbreaking research
- CSU will use space for the highest and best use by developing procedures and practices to allocate and renovate space in support of academic priorities including student success, interdisciplinary collaborations, research, inclusion, and accessibility
- CSU will continue to support the construction of the Clark Building, VHEC, the Engineering FTB, and the ATLAS laser facility and develop a long-term campus master plan and capital plan that aligns renovation and construction with our academic and research goals and that prioritizes accessibility
- CSU will invest in high quality graduate programs with high workforce needs aligned with distinctive strengths
- CSU will expand opportunities for learners and researchers to engage with local employers, to collaborate with industry and community partners to drive research, innovation, and economic development
Metrics
- Sponsored project expenditures > $1 billion by 2035
- CSU’s citations increase by 3.5% annually • Books published increase by 4% annually
- Creative artistry flourishes at CSU, with increases in concerts, performances, films, and recordings on and off campus • CSU faculty receive more national awards
- CSU’s number of Ph.D. graduates increases 3% annually • CSU continues to renovate shared lab space and build and occupy the renovated Clark Building, VHEC, the Engineering FTB, and the ATLAS laser facility
- CSU completes a campus master plan and a 10- year capital plan, with a process for updating that plan
- All CSU spaces, facilities, courses, laboratories, and digital materials meet the highest standards for accessibility
- CSU develops public-private partnerships to enhance opportunities for learners, staff, and faculty
- Funding from non-federal sources focused on research, innovation, and economic development increases by 5% annually
- CSU is increasingly seen by community and industry partners in Northern Colorado as key to achieving community vitality goals
CSU System Strategic Priorities
Healthy Campuses
Courageous Strategic Transformation
Operational and Financial Excellence – Investing for Impact, Accessible and Affordable, Elevate the Brand
People and Culture – World-Class Talent, Training Champions
2025 CSU Priorities
Institutional Competitiveness
Strategic Initiatives
- Strengthen shared governance
- Continue Budget Model Redesign
- Prioritize compensation
- Recruit more domestic non-resident students, more international students, and more early-, mid-, and post-career adult learners
- Implement the 2030 CSU System vision for Student Mental Health
- Prioritize faculty and staff wellness, success, and leadership development
- Strengthen cybersecurity, public safety, and work toward coordinated, shared systems to enhance the quality of IT, HR, Communications, and Advancement
- Focus marketing and communications on both excellence and access, highlighting how our research changes lives and solves global challenges
- Move Athletics to the new Pac-12 conference in July of 2026
- Strengthen all aspects of philanthropic fundraising: alumni engagement, annual giving, planned giving, and major giving
Elevating Our Mission
How CSU Will Be Distinctive
- CSU will lead the nation in collaborative, constructive decision making
- CSU will develop a hybrid RCM model that will reward growth, innovation, interdisciplinary programs, student success, and academic excellence
- CSU will prioritize compensation by pulling back on new capital investments and hiring strategically
- CSU will contract with a virtual provider to offer professional and peer counseling 24/7, become a certified JED campus, and invest in competitive salaries to hire and retain excellent counselors for the CSU Health Network
- Thriving of all faculty, staff, and students at CSU will be enhanced by augmented wellness programs, operational excellence of administrative systems, and leadership development
- CSU will use our new Pac-12 conference affiliation to raise the profile of our academic and research programs
- CSU will lead the formation of a Pac-12 academic alliance offering a leadership development academy and fostering multi-institutional collaboration
- CSU will provide distinctive opportunities for alumni engagement and philanthropy organized around growth, innovation, interdisciplinary programs, and undergraduate success
Metrics
- CSU builds a strategic reserve to reinvest in University priorities developed with shared governance
- CSU creates a compensation pool for faculty, staff, and graduate assistants in the range of 2 – 5% annually
- Improve faculty and staff retention so that CSU’s employee turnover rate is at or below that of the top 20% of public R1 institutions.
- CSU athletic programs demonstrate improved competitiveness, through stronger win/loss records, championships, and regular bowl and national tournament participation
- CSU Athletics increases revenue through a variety of streams (conference distributions, ticket sales, and sponsorships) with the long-term goal of Athletics becoming selfsustaining
- CSU’s national reputation and profile advances, with 1-3% annual increases in top-of-mind awareness and increases in our rankings for academic excellence, affordability, sustainability, and access and inclusion
- CSU increases donor growth by 2% annually, resulting in an increase in overall fundraising productivity
CSU System Strategic Priorities
Campus Collaboration
Courageous Strategic Transformation
Impact – Be Where We’re Needed, Leverage Our Place
Impact – Bringing Communities Together
2025 CSU Priorities
Strengthening our Impact Across the State, Region, and the World
Driving Real-World Impact with Community Engaged Research
Rural Initiative
Strategic Initiatives
- Launch new 3+2 master’s programs in collaboration with CSU-Pueblo
- Strengthen partnerships with CSU-Global that highlight each university’s distinctive strengths
- Develop new academic programs at Spur: Spur Start, graduate programs, and more
- Strengthen and leverage partnerships in the Denver metro area and the urban front range corridor
- Develop new online offerings: degree programs, microcredentials, certificates with CSU Online
- Recruit more learners from rural communities
- Provide accessible education for rural communities
- Improve health of rural communities • Support food, agriculture, and natural resource systems
Elevating Our Mission
How CSU Will Be Distinctive- For example, in the proposed 3+2 nursing program, students will come to CSU to study nursing, first in pre-nursing undergraduate majors then in a master’s degree in nursing program, all on our vibrant, exciting residential campus
- Students in urban Denver will start their CSU educations at Spur in an innovative 1st year program
- CSU will energetically and strategically recruit learners from rural communities and form communities for rural students on campus
- CSU will offer expanded educational programs for rural communities, online and via Extension
- CSU will grow its programming focused on health, food, family, and finances
Metrics
- CSU pre-nursing majors l launch in Fall 26, then 40 nursing students begin the MS in nursing by Fall 29
- Spur Start enrolls 80 students in Fall 2025, with at least 56 (70%) matriculating at Fort Collins in Fall 2026
- CSU recruits 10% more students from rural communities annually
- CSU increases online learners in degree seeking and noncredentialled programming by 10% annually
- CSU and rural communities co-create practical solutions in agriculture, health, and civic engagement
- CSU expands its meaningful interactions with communities and citizens by 10% each year
- CSU becomes the intellectual leader of rural prosperity in Colorado
CSU System Strategic Priorities
Land-Grant Priorities
Courageous Strategic Transformation
Innovation – Social and Cultural Insight
2025 CSU Priorities
Democracy
Preparing Active, Engaged Citizens
Strategic Initiatives
- Attract an increasingly diverse and international body of learners, educators, and employees to CSU, including people with a wide range of viewpoints and perspectives
- Create more opportunities for CSU students to have international experiences: study abroad, study at Todos Santos, preparation for the Peace Corps
- Host regular, high-profile speakers from all political parties and from around the world
- Infuse democracy into the curriculum from orientation to graduation
- Provide seed funding for interdisciplinary scholarship on democracy
Elevating Our Mission
How CSU Will Be Distinctive
- Students will be exposed to diverse political viewpoints and global perspectives from orientation through Commencement
- Students will be educated in the meaning of the First Amendment
- Students will practice civil discourse, disagreeing better, and communicating across differences
- Faculty will form interdisciplinary teams to study democracy
- Stakeholders will view CSU as an honest broker that reaches across the political divide to host collaborative, constructive conversations in the service of solving state and national challenges
Metrics
- Free speech remains protected at CSU
- > 90% of eligible students vote in national elections
- Faculty attract research funding for interdisciplinary work on democracy
- CSU-FC and Spur each host four democracy related events per year, with strong attendance and engagement among internal and external stakeholders based upon the defined goals foreach event
- Students apply what they learned from our curriculum and co-curriculum to engage in significant civic engagement prior to graduation, including fostering public deliberation in communities across Colorado
