You’ve seen the enormous banner on Sturm and maybe you’ve heard about Chancellor Chopp driving a golf cart around campus, but chances are you don’t know what exactly Imagine DU is. The planning initiative is likely to be successful in creating broad, temporary change on-campus. However, it is currently disconnected with the student population, which will inhibit success long-term.
Imagine DU is a planning initiative to take a step back from what DU currently is and imagine a future DU and what it would embody. There are two main goals, labeled “Engaging Community” and “Transformative Directions.” Engaging Community uses four task forces to develop plans to be rolled out in the next couple years. Each task force is named for its focus in planning: “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusive Excellence,” aims to create an inclusive campus environment. “Student Access and Support” focuses on student access to on-campus resources and student support systems (e.g. sexual assault support, access to advising, etc.). “Professional Development for Faculty and Staff” works with faculty and staff to ensure they have access to career development at DU and “Expanding Sustainability on Campus” looks at possibilities for sustainability.
Transformative Directions is the long-term planning project of Imagine DU, focusing on what DU will look like in 2025 and beyond. Three working groups among the current 27-member advisory group will focus on knowledge, student experience and “Denver and beyond.”
Most recently, the Engaging Community task forces released their recommendations and implementation plan for the next year, which can be found on Imagine DU’s website. The recommendations seem to align with many short-term problems DU faces. For example, there are several proposals to increase access to financial aid funds, which addresses DU’s high tuition. There are also proposals addressing advising, support groups, sustainability and inclusivity.
These proposals seem to appropriately address the largest issues DU is facing, especially given the short-term focus of this branch of Imagine DU. In actuality, they address the issues that any modern university is likely to face. From nationwide increases in tuition to widespread issues with campus sexual assault, these proposals follow along a national trend of difficulties in higher education. Even if these proposals are not successful in completely eradicating these problems, they will bring administrative attention to them, which is frequently the largest hurdle to addressing university issues.
While these proposals seem to be appropriate and are likely to be effective, they have been made with little student engagement. Although the task forces for Engaging Community have been meeting since January, attempts to discuss the future of the university with students have been relatively recent. Posters, suggestion boards and social media posts have just been appearing in Spring Quarter, which is much too late for students to take a serious role in creating the Engaging Community proposals. In addition, there has been little explanation of what exactly the goals of Imagine DU are, making it difficult for most students to engage in the process.
The proposals are still effective for short-term changes, but that likely won’t be the case if Transformative Directions again engages with only a select audience. Short-term changes are effective without interaction with students because they address the most noticeable issues on campus. The long-term future of the university, however, is much too nuanced (and large) of a decision to be made by only 27 people.
Current DU students and alumni are the face of what DU is today and must be engaged in the process of creating DU tomorrow. Without this interaction, it is possible that DU’s planning process will be continuously disconnected with students, thus ineffective, or even create a future DU that is not in any way recognizable to alumni, hurting funding and reputation.
Administration should expand student engagement with Imagine DU, explaining what it is and how students can affect the process. This could be done through a broader, more informative social media campaign or smaller group discussions than what the program has offered so far.
In the end, Imagine DU is an innovative approach to university planning that has the potential to shape DU in a positive way. However, its potential must be filled with the help of a great amount of audience engagement and participation.
