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Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Russell Moore

Final exams kicked off yesterday evening, and I hope everyone is getting ready for the final home stretch before the winter break. This generally is a very busy time of year for our faculty, studentsÌýand staffÌýand often leaves very little time for reflection on what you all have accomplished as a community during the previous six months.

I wouldÌýlike to take my final column of the semester as an opportunity to celebrate CU'sÌýaccomplishments with just a few examples of the way ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ is impacting humanity, developing tomorrow’s leadersÌýand establishing ÂÌñ»»ÆÞÌýas the innovation university.

• Our 2016 freshman class is the most diverse and academically talented class we have ever admitted on campus,
• The College of Arts and Sciences revised its core curriculum, which will help our students graduate more timely,
• We continued and expanded our efforts at inclusive excellence and pedagogy,
• Enrolled our first class with a
• Earned a $24 million NSF grant to headquarter a Science and Technology Center (STC),
• Increased our retention of first-year studentsÌýby 3 percent since fall 2014,
• ,
• Developed new partnerships and programs with school districts across the state,
• Strengthened industry collaborations via partnerships with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, DigitalGlobe and Ball Aerospace,
• Began translating 39 Shakespeare plays into contemporary modern English in preparation for the 60thÌýseason of ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ’s Colorado Shakespeare Festival,
• Researched and discovered a brain signature that identifies fibromyalgia sufferersÌýwith 93 percent accuracy, a potential breakthrough for future clinical diagnosis and treatment of the condition, which affects more than five million adults annually in the U.S.,
• CU Engage, in collaboration with ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ’s National Education Policy Center, received funding from the Ford Foundation to launch a research hub that will contribute relevant and timely research about education policy issues,
• Awarded eight Innovation Grants to entrepreneurial staff for ideas to improve our campus community, better serve studentsÌýor support faculty,
• Developed an eco-friendly way to reuse the dirty water that results as a byproduct of brewing beer by converting it into an organic material that can be used to power batteries,Ìýand
• ÂÌñ»»ÆÞ alumni were three of the first four honorees inducted into the Colorado Space Heroes Hall of Fame.

These achievements represent only a small sample of whatÌýour students, faculty and staffÌýhave accomplished during the fall 2016 semester. So while we are all focused on finals and the upcoming holidays, please take time to celebrate your accomplishments and contributions. I appreciate greatly all of the hard work everyone has put into this semester, am excited about what the future holds for CUÌýand wish you all the best as we turn our eyes toward 2017.

Thank you again, and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish next year.

Russell Moore,
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs