Interim Provost Marie Mora, Ph.D., led the April meeting of the Metropolitan State University of Denver President’s Cabinet, as President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., was traveling on University business.
Mora began by providing highlights on a recent intensive analysis regarding student success, which included department chairs and many campus leaders.
Top themes and takeaways:
- Student success remains the center of gravity for survival and growth.
- While the University welcomes students with “zigzaggy lives,” the institution must also help students smooth those zigzags.
- Predictive analytics are key to identifying at-risk students.
- Business Intelligence data showed that once students stop out, even if they return later, they’re highly unlikely to graduate.
- Retention is vital, and it’s the responsibility of everyone at the University.
- MSU Denver must improve compensation to be competitive.
- Improving advising continues to be a top priority.
- Leaders continue to explore housing for employees and students, which could boost engagement and retention.
- There is a lot of support for cohort models.
- MSU Denver needs to continue working with Community College of Denver and other partners to streamline the transfer experience.
Watch for a full update on specific ways forward in the June Board of Trustees meeting recap. That meeting will identify the most critical strategies to invest in now, making sure they align with the 2030 Strategic Plan and the University’s strategic-budgeting process.
Day of Giving is a boon for programs and initiatives
Bre Milnes, executive director of Advancement Communication and Giving, shared final numbers from the record-breaking 2023 Day of Giving on March 30. The annual event supported 86 student and campus projects and engaged 714 first-time donors.
Highlights:
- 1,580 donors gave 1,779 gifts in 2023, compared with 1,144 donors and 1,278 gifts in 2022.
- Total raised was $275,682 in 2023, compared with $221,545 in 2022.
- 2023 donors spanned 47 states.
- The 2023 effort engaged 146 social media advocates, who helped generate $53,068 of the total amount raised through 574 gifts.
See the PowerPoint presentation to learn more.
Advisory council shares placemaking vision
Representing the President’s Advisory Council on Built Environment and Infrastructure, Amy Kern, associate professor of Industrial Design, and Lisa Abendroth, professor of Communication Design, shared progress and potential next steps for inclusively reimagining MSU Denver’s interior and exterior spaces.
The vision centers on community placemaking, investing in student-centered, tri-institutional, site-specific projects that bring the city to the campus with purpose. It includes a student-run business ecosystem, outdoor event space and mobile venues as well as methods for activating the Tivoli Quad. This includes a potential pop-up-shop concept with co-created and satellite programming.
Kern and Abendroth also showcased environmental improvements made between 2019 and 2022 and shared an overview of the council’s engagement efforts to date, including surveys and focus groups, literature review, student modeling, expert interviews and more. The council is now seeking grants to support the vision, and Kern and Abendroth shared examples of successful comparable projects in other communities and campuses.
View the full PowerPoint presentation to learn more about the council, its vision and next steps.
Other news and announcements
- Employees are invited to attend today’s forum on faculty workload hosted by the Strategic Communications Working Team and the University’s Dialogues Program at 2 p.m. in JSSB 400 or via Microsoft Teams.
- MSU Denver hosted Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves last week for a roundtable discussion on semiconductor production and workforce development.
- MSU Denver will host Denver’s mayoral runoff candidates in the Solution Studio, which gives political candidates a chance to engage with students about issues that are important to young voters. Watch for the videos soon.
- MSU Denver will host several events during the first-ever Cities Summit of the Americas this week.
- All employees are invited to attend the Faculty and Staff Appreciation BBQ on May 4 at 11:30 a.m. on the JSSB Lawn. RSVP today.
Celebrate Commencement
Commencement ceremonies will take place May 12 at the Denver Coliseum, with keynotes by Mayor Michael Hancock in the morning and Foundation Board Chair Dawn Bookhardt in the afternoon. MSU Denver will present an honorary degree to Anna Jo Garcia Haynes, a community leader in early-childhood education.
MSU Denver also hosts a number of specialty graduation celebrations starting this week.