Letter from the Vice Chancellor

Established in spring of 2025, though continues to evolve as institutional needs change. Our division brings together offices whose expertise and impact extend across UCCS. Through university communications, marketing, and video production, we help shape and share the stories that define our institution and strengthen its reputation. Through project management and strategic initiatives, we connect people and ideas, translate priorities into action, and help complex, university-wide efforts move forward. Through executive support and operations, we create the coordination, structure, and responsiveness necessary to advance the university’s mission and serve our campus community effectively. 

Although our areas of expertise are distinct, we are united through a shared purpose: helping UCCS work more collaboratively, communicate more clearly, and pursue its priorities with focus and intention. Our team often operates at the intersections between vision and implementation, strategy and operations, and individual departments and university-wide goals. We help colleagues navigate change, bring clarity to complex work, elevate the strengths of our campus, and create the conditions for people and ideas to thrive. 

One of the things I value most about the UCCS community is how readily people show up for one another. Colleagues generously share their expertise. Teams reach beyond their usual circles to solve problems and pursue new possibilities. People step in when help is needed and celebrate when others succeed. Underlying it all is a shared understanding of why this work matters: to create an environment where students can learn with purpose, discover what they are capable of, and prepare to contribute meaningfully to their professions, communities, and the world. 

That commitment is at the heart of our division’s work. Some of what we do is highly visible; much of it happens behind the scenes. In every case, our work helps strengthen the university’s ability to serve its students, support its people, tell its story, and deliver on its commitments. We build connections, create alignment, bring momentum to important priorities, and help turn promising ideas into meaningful and lasting results. 

There is much ahead of us, some of it very difficult and some of it celebratory, which can be a hard place to sit within. Even as we navigate difficult decisions, I am energized by what we can accomplish when we bring our varied experiences, perspectives, and talents together. This is how UCCS moves forward, not through any one office, initiative, or individual, but through the collective efforts of people who choose to invest their time, expertise, and care in this university, its mission, and its future. 

I am proud of the work of this division, grateful for the contributions of every member of our team and delighted to welcome you. 

Robin A. Parent, Ph.D. 

Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Operations