Process will result in strategic plan
Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado, launched a campus-wide initiative called Forming the Future. The initiative will result in a strategic plan and roadmap for how CMU advances the mission of the university for years to come.
大约400名CMU教职员工参加了启动会议，讨论了指导明年规划工作的基本原则.
In 2021, CMU President John Marshall outlined his vision for building what he called a Human Scale University. 人类尺度的愿景是基于校园作为一个理想世界的缩影——一个CMU希望在未来看到的世界.
One of the principles outlined during the kickoff event was courage. To illustrate this value, Marshall initiated the event by featuring a video of CMU student leader Jason Hunter and himself skydiving. The video 是为了强调获得新视角的重要性，有勇气冒险，为了更好的未来做不同的事情.
“我们明白，如果合作过程没有从明确表达我们的价值观开始，那么制定计划来形成我们的未来就根本不是计划,” said Marshall. “如果出版物没有解释我们为什么要这样做，那么描述我们要做什么的文件就没有价值. The initiative is leading CMU down a path few others are pursuing because values are not easy to talk about. But we believe a values first approach to planning is how we best advance the mission of CMU.”
After the introduction of the skydiving experience, 马歇尔发表了主旨讲话，概述了他和CMU领导团队在夏初举行的研讨会上制定的愿景. 马歇尔的主题演讲包括一项基于网络的互动调查，该调查探讨了拟议的指导原则. 让每个出席者从互动过程的一开始就参与进来是这次活动的一个重要目标. Attendees responded to a series of questions that explored the first principles of:
- Love
- Dignity
- Courage
- Humility
- Resiliency
- Curiosity
- Power
“这些原则是基本的和基本的设计，并将指导校园社区如何包容性地发展我们的形成未来倡议和随后的战略计划,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs Cher Hendricks, PhD. “There is a tendency in higher education to migrate towards tactics and preferred outcomes, which are important conversations too. But values are where we start at CMU.”
Following remarks by Marshall, CMU students, faculty, staff and alumni speakers shared powerful life stories about how first principles have impacted their lives, and how the values are now providing benefits that are enriching campus culture and community.
Mathias Malumba is an adult student from Uganda and spoke about the principle of Love. 他的演讲引起了强烈的反响，他分享了自己在坎帕拉街头无家可归的成长经历, and how his journey helped him arrive at CMU where he is a first-generation U.S. citizen, 第一代大学生，今年是他迈向大学学位的教育之旅的第三年. Malumba shared how the love he received from unlikely places opened doors that led towards his college education.
After each speaker, 校园社区就这些原则提出了一个问题，并就这些价值观如何丰富和提升校园社区展开了讨论.
The final principle discussed by faculty and staff was power. CMU校友会主席Dusti Reimer分享了她在家庭和社区中成长的故事，在那里她经历了虐待和忽视, and where shame was a part of her everyday life. 她的结论是，她通过在CMU的教育获得的权力使她能够赋予自己力量，以支持其他来自类似背景或发现自己处于类似情况的女性.
While all the speaker remarks invoked robust conversation, one speaker stood out when it came to invoking tears — student Andy Smith. He proceeded to speak about resiliency and shared his story about brain surgery, cancer, loss and grief, and ending with an uplifting message about persistence and resilience in the face of adversity.
马歇尔和亨德里克斯都强调:比讨论产生的任何数据更重要的是对话本身的价值. 两人都指出，参与和讨论的过程是至关重要的，他们相信，相互谈论价值观，将引导校园对话和规划工作向前发展.
Each table of attendees took notes, offered observations and made suggestions for the future using paper pads and note cards. 马歇尔将在9月份在校长办公室会议室的墙上展示书面反馈，并邀请校园和更大的社区停下来查看展示的反馈. 亨德里克斯正在努力在校园内建立一个永久的位置，以容纳从现在到校园战略计划完成期间与该计划有关的所有反馈和数据.
“我们希望这项倡议有一个实体的家，这样校园里的任何人都可以随时查看和跟踪我们为塑造CMU的未来所做的努力,” said Hendricks
CMU董事会也参与了关于提议的第一原则的讨论，并表达了对该概念的支持. 受托人大卫·福斯特(David Foster)表示，该大纲是一种“令人惊讶”的抱负，并表示支持继续围绕CMU回归团结人们的基本价值观展开对话.
Using the guiding principles, the Forming the Future Initiative will engage students and community members to also further revise, refine and perhaps expand the list of principles while also focusing on a series of events, 为确立目标的大学创造强化使命和愿景的场合和研讨会, action plans and implementation strategies.
CMU根据校园领导团队和董事会的对话选择了一套指导原则，并将与学生一起制定一项计划，为CMU的未来定位.
After the kickoff event was complete Marshall reflected that, “这并不是一个独家的原则清单——我们将探索其他原则，并在我们了解到对我们社区重要的其他问题时调整我们的方法. By identifying these important principles, we believe people can engage more openly, 诚实和更真实地了解生活中一些最基本的人类价值观在我们过程的基础中起作用.”
The Forming the Future Initiative is led by a steering committee co-chaired by Professor of English Kurt Haas, PhD, 他是负责学术事务的前副校长，还包括戴维斯商学院的联合主席，系主任卡洛斯·巴尔多, PhD, and Senior Recruitment Specialist Sharaya Cowen. 指导委员会已经聘请了全国高等教育专业人士，以帮助制定总体愿景和战略，同时校园社区继续定义和完善基本价值. The committee, which reports to the leadership team and Board of Trustees, will oversee the progress of working groups and workshops that are tasked with producing reports on mission, vision, strategies, goals and action plans associated with the strategic plan. The committee represents the campus community through representatives of faculty, staff and students and will also include input from stakeholders outside the community.