In the year since Colorado State President Tony Frank challenged the campus community to “Re-Envision CSU,” hundreds of faculty, students and staff have shared their ideas for the future of the University.

The Re-Envision CSU process was launched by Frank in his 2015 Fall Address to the University and is being led by Faculty Council, Classified Personnel Council, Administrative Professional Council and ASCSU, with the involvement and support of the Provost, VP for Operations, President’s Office and External Relations. This leadership team has engaged Professor Martín Carcasson and his Center for Public Deliberation to help guide the campus discussion and solicit ideas and opinions from across the campus community.

Frank will provide an update on Re-Envision in his 2016 Fall Address, slated for 11:30 a.m. Aug. 31 on the Oval.

First phase drawing to a close

Re-Envision Colorado State is taking place in three phases:

• Phase One: Discovery and Listening – through September
• Phase Two: Reflection, Analysis, Prioritization – September through November 2016
• Phase Three: Planning, Budgeting and Implementation – November 2016 and Beyond

To date, CSU has received more than 400 responses to the request for Re-Envision ideas from members of the general campus community and public. These have been collected through an online form and a booth on the LSC Plaza and at key campus events throughout the spring and summer. Ideas also have been generated through more focused discussions with small, targeted groups such as employee councils and within divisions.

Carcasson and his students will collect all the responses gathered from various groups and people and will organize them in preparation for Phase Two – a campuswide process of sorting, debating, and identifying ideas to pursue that will take place this fall.

Wide-ranging recommendations

Ideas submitted so far address nearly every part of the institution. Some of the recommendations include:

• “Put bleachers on the women’s soccer field so fans can watch their games.”
• “Create an ‘edible campus,’ replacing lawns with food-producing gardens maintained by faculty, staff, and student volunteers and replace ornamental trees with fruit trees.’
• “Raise the minimum wage for students to $12/hour.”
• “Establish a community sustainability incubator to encourage sustainable innovation.”
• “More outlets in the library.”
• “Plant 150 trees when CSU turns 150.”
• “Create a centralized leadership/supervisor development program for faculty and staff.”
• “Show some love to the Clark Building.”
• “Create a loop of continuous feedback for improvement, similar to the City of Denver’s 4-1-1 line.”
• “Improve the campus arboretum.”
• “Create a diversity office for students who identify as being in recovery from substance abuse.”
• “Post the number to report a broken sink next to all the sinks.”
• “Tear up Meridian and put in a college student playground with swings and stuff.”

Groups ranging from the Faculty Council to Parking Services are using the opportunity created by Re-Envision to take a hard look at long-standing assumptions and practices. The Administrative Professional Council dedicated a significant portion of its annual retreat to the Re-envisioning exercise, and the President’s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion will have an in-depth discussion around re-envisioning early this fall.

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