Internal Opportunities
- Building on quality
- Colorado State can become one of the nation’s great public research universities if we build on what has already been accomplished and ensure that our greatest resource – the faculty, staff, students and alumni of CSU – are served to the highest standards of excellence.
- CSU has great strength as a research institution (research, scholarship, artistry) with world class programs in the sciences, nationally recognized professional programs and a number of top ten programs.
- Among research universities, Colorado State has also maintained an atypically high commitment to quality teaching and undergraduate education.
- Multidisciplinary research – The applications of CSU research are universal to humanity. The most obstinate problems we face – poverty, hunger, restricted access to health care, infectious disease, environmental quality and sustainability, access to and management of information, biosecurity, etc. – are global challenges.
- Infectious Disease and Biomedicine: CSU offers one of the top two veterinary medicine programs in the world as well as significant strength in basic science and technology research across disciplines. The combination has made CSU internationally recognized for advances in oncology, tuberculosis, infectious disease, basic gene activation and the use of genomic tools to improve food products, as well as extensive funding for issues related to biosecurity. A new $20 M grant will expand our research facilities to include an expanded bio-level 3 containment facility for studying infectious diseases. The university’s new strategic plan seeks to expand partnerships between CSU’s Biomedicine/Infectious Disease supercluster, national and international funding agencies, international medical schools and health initiatives for the purpose of translating CSU’s basic research expertise into solutions for global health.
- Environmental Sustainability: CSU has extensive capacity and a long track record in this critical area. Global pollution issues are being addressed through the work being done in mechanical engineering on engines and energy conservation. Under the leadership of the civil engineering department, a broad array of water issues is being addressed by more than 100 faculty in 25 departments participating in field studies around the world. Issues related to global climate change are being addressed by CSU’s world-class atmospheric sciences department. The Natural Resources Ecology Lab, a world leader in grassland research, is a pioneer in the use of systems analysis and computer modeling to reduce ecosystem complexity to manageable levels. CSU researchers in fields ranging from agriculture to chemistry are addressing the multitude of environmental challenges facing farmers throughout the world – drought, polluted water runoff from fertilizers and chemicals, invasive weeds, pests and infectious diseases. A significant strategic goal for the future will be to connect and leverage these efforts with other institutions in ways that support the balancing of global economic development with long-term sustainability of the world’s natural resources.
- Food, Nutrition, Health and Well-being: As a land-grant university, CSU has long been distinguished by its capacity to address fundamental issues related to the evolution of 21st century agriculture, including plant and animal biology, genetics, ecology, biodiversity and genomics. This research is leveraged by our internationally recognized strengths in food science and nutrition. Two new strategic initiatives will increase our impact exponentially. First, CSU is committed to re-engineering the CSU Agencies, particularly our statewide network of Cooperative Extension offices, to function as full-service community resources to access university knowledge and the transfer of that knowledge into community benefits – in education, health and economic development. The redesign will include an international component to be developed in consultation with global partners. Second, a new partnership with two other universities is creating the collaborative Colorado School of Public Health, which will extend both the teaching and research capacity of the university to include a new interdisciplinary Masters’ of Public Health Degree that addresses large regional and international public health issues.
- Information Science and Technology: CSU’s contributions to information science focus around the theme of transforming data into knowledge. CSU research and expertise in sensing, information processing and knowledge extraction support basic science, engineering and public policy with active funding of approximately $112 M. IS&T research areas that cross superclusters include software assurance; cybersecurity; embedded, parallel, distributed and grid computing; applied information technology in agriculture; radar networks for weather prediction and homeland security; and biometrics and face recognition. Strategic goals for the future include new faculty hires and strategic partnerships with faculty in partnering institutions.
- Entrepreneurial spirit of faculty
- Colorado State’s maturity as a research institution speaks to the creativity and productivity of its faculty – achieving mission-driven excellence today and positioning CSU to set the standard in the future means integrating the sciences and humanities in ways that differentiate the University and add value to every part of our mission.
- Land-grant tradition
- Our students are known for their “world class skills – blue collar work ethic.”
- Even with proposed tuition increases, Colorado State will remain affordable and below market nationally.
- First Generation students succeed at CSU.
- Integrated resource management
- Future success and financial stability depend on our ability to grow all revenue sources – investing in activities (e.g., research initiatives, fundraising, economic development, nonresident recruiting, continuing education, etc.) that leverage public funding and grow new funding sources.
External Challenges |
External Opportunities |
Internal Challenges | Internal Opportunities