Today, I proudly share the official Designing DePaul December 2023 eBook— our newest resource for information related to defining and designing DePaul’s future. This comprehensive eBook incorporates comments and contributions from the DePaul community. While our work with Designing DePaul is ongoing, this updated book speaks to the collaborative effort of our university community. Thank you for all the thoughtful recommendations you shared with us over these last few months.
Please take time to access the eBook – available for download or via Kindle – by following these steps:
My hope is that the university community will use this book as a guide as each of your areas develops its own strategic plans.
What Designing DePaul changes are reflected in the eBook?
Community members’ visions and voices brought fresh perspectives to each of our Designing DePaul focus areas. As you read the eBook, you will find some key updates based on community feedback, including the following:
- Reinforced connection between Designing DePaul and our Catholic, Vincentian mission. Through valuable insights and perspectives shared by the community, we have been able to improve the alignment of Designing DePaul with the core tenets of our mission, fostering a more harmonious and purposeful relationship between the two. This iterative process allowed us to meticulously strengthen the connection between each component of the Designing DePaul framework and our Catholic-Vincentian mission.
- Sharpened precision on institutional effectiveness and Vincentian pragmatism. We received a substantial amount of community feedback on how to recenter the student experience and thereby improve outcomes in all facets of the Designing DePaul framework. Changes to note for institutional effectiveness and Vincentian pragmatism include a reemphasis on DePaul’s unwavering commitment to DEI, the articulation of specific goals for closing the achievement gap for historically disadvantaged groups, prioritizing the Black Equity Initiative, becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution, elevating disability justice, and supporting LGBTQ students.
- The Hub - Defining Interdisciplinary & Translational Research at DePaul. We heard more about how the community envisions a facility at DePaul, where faculty can collaborate on interdisciplinary research ideas and receive the support, tools and resources needed to conduct leading edge research and bring innovative ideas to market. The interdisciplinary institutes that we initially outlined in Designing DePaul will now be part of the Hub, kicking off with research and development focused on poverty and inequality, sustainability, and AI. The Hub will be open to ALL interdisciplinary work at DePaul, which can be submitted through a formal application process.
- We are excited to share more detail about the decision theater, which we have named SPARK. This Catholic, Vincentian mission accelerator will further connect students to the greater community, establishing an avenue to bring what we are doing at DePaul to the community at large. SPARK, which stands for Strategic Partnerships for Advancing Research & Knowledge, will provide support in visualizing scenarios and idea outcomes using data, as well as a convening center for empirically based civil discourse focused on the viability and efficacy of ideas. While many institutions around the globe are involved in research to identify solutions for contemporary problems, SPARK will ensure the ones we pursue are always tied to our mission.
I will share more about how our university community can get involved in the Hub in the upcoming months. For now, please know how appreciative I am for the input we received - from ways to help ensure DePaul seizes moments of opportunity to new ideas around embracing the spirit of collaboration and deepening our impact.
As always, I value your thoughts and feedback. Please feel free contact me at president@depaul.edu. For the latest updates about Designing DePaul, please visit the initiatives website, where we post news and updates on a regular basis.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones, and I look forward to seeing you in the new year.