Fort Lewis College’s Strategic Plan 2025–30 is woven like a braid, intertwining five transformative directions—Reconciliation, Academics, Student-Ready, Basic Needs, and Community Connections—into a resilient framework for growth. This braided approach symbolizes our commitment to collaborative governance and shared progress, where diverse threads of academic innovation, inclusive support, and community partnerships converge to strengthen our collective future.
With an Implementation Committee driving cross-campus collaboration and accountability, this strategic plan not only sets a bold vision for rural higher education but also reinforces our promise to empower every Skyhawk through unity, diversity, and excellence in education.
View the Strategic Plan 2025-30 (PDF)
Turquoise Blue: Protection and health, inspired by Diné traditions.
Bold goal: To be a regional and national academic leader and the school of choice for diverse, rural, and Colorado students.
Sage Green: Resilience and renewal, echoing Southwest flora.
Bold goal: To be a student-ready institution that supports a diverse student population, especially as a NASNTI, first-generation-serving, and aspirational Hispanic-serving institution.
Orange: Reconciliation, reflecting the vibrant desert sunsets.
Bold goal: To be a national model for Reconciliation in higher education.
Gold: Growth and vitality, drawn from goldenrod.
Bold goal: Advance economic mobility in our region through workforce development and community and Tribal Nation partnerships.
Purple Lupine: Community and diversity, inspired by wildflowers of the region.
Bold goal: Ensure all students have access to nutritious food and safe, affordable housing.
Learn about the Strategic Plan's Accountability Measures FAQs for students, faculty, and staff
Understanding key terms of the Strategic Plan
To help readers navigate the Strategic Plan with ease, we’ve defined important terms and concepts used throughout the document. These definitions provide context, clarity, and shared understanding for students, faculty, staff, and community members. Whether you’re new to Fort Lewis College or deeply involved in its work, this section ensures that everyone starts from the same page.
Alumni who maintain a strong and active connection with ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, participating in alumni events (experiential engagement) and demonstrating involvement in at least two of the following CASE-defined modes of engagement:
Their multifaceted engagement strengthens the college's visibility, success, and reputation.
The feeling and belief created through actions, words, resources, programs, and events that honor and support everyone's lived experience, helping them feel connected and valued as part of the campus community.
The overall environment and experience of community members, including how safe, included, supported, and respected they feel in their learning and working environment.
Any organized campus gathering that brings together two or more people for social, cultural, academic, or resource-based purposes.
Voluntary activities and actions that address community needs and foster a sense of cooperation and civic responsibility while benefiting on and off-campus ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ members and the broader community.
The quantifiable difference in retention and success metrics between demographic student groups (e.g., first-generation, Pell-eligible, and racial/ethnic subgroups) and their counterparts. Equity gaps signal where targeted action is needed to remove barriers and improve student outcomes.
Encompasses not only individual health but also the structures, policies, relationships, and environments that help individuals thrive. It is a collective responsibility and centers on the health and success of entire communities.
The active process of becoming aware of and making choices for a healthy and fulfilling life. It focuses on individual behaviors and lifestyle choices that promote physical, mental, intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual health.
A distinct division within an organization that is responsible for a specific set of tasks or functions.
At ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, an academic department is an academic unit organized around a specific discipline or area of study and serves as a "home" for faculty. An academic department initiates and is responsible for the curriculum and advising students studying the programs offered by the department. Each department has a personnel committee responsible for evaluating faculty for tenure, promotion, reappointment, managing other internal personnel matters, and appointing a term-limited chair who reports directly to the dean. Departments may also be responsible for hiring and mentoring faculty.
Other departments are organized around functions necessary for the operation of the college. For example, ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Skyhawk Station is responsible for student-facing interactions involving registration, transcripts, advising, and financial aid. Diversity Affairs is responsible for student wellness, belonging, and safety. ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ campus departments include Advancement, Human Resources, etc. Each department is an essential component of a campus system.
Fort Lewis College is committed to the principles of shared governance set forward by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) in 1966. We believe in the collective decision-making process and the representation of key constituency groups. Shared governance requires that all stakeholders (administration, faculty, staff, and students) be allowed meaningful participation in issues that impact them. It includes the ability to co-create, co-interpret, and co-enforce policies regularly.
Staff who, in their job descriptions, have responsibilities related to student well-being, academic success, or retention.
Reconciliation with and for Indigenous communities in the United States aims to address the historical and ongoing legacy of U.S. settler colonialism and repair relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples while respecting the self-determination and sovereignty of Tribal Nations. Fort Lewis College began in the late 19th century as Fort Lewis Indian Boarding School, a site of violent, assimilative, and other harmful practices prevalent in the federal Indian boarding school system.
Reconciliation at Fort Lewis College is a comprehensive process that acknowledges the institution’s troubled origins while establishing respectful and reciprocal relationships with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities. The ongoing work of reconciliation at Fort Lewis College is a shared responsibility that centers Indigenous voices, where non-Indigenous community members contribute by engaging with our history and actively participating in collaborative efforts to advance meaningful institutional change.
Our Reconciliation framework seeks an impact across four priority areas: Tribal Nation Building, Indigenous Culture and Knowledge, Language Reclamation, and Health & Wellness.
The ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Strategic Plan 2025-30 outlines five "Directions." These are five core areas for the plan to focus on, identified through a collaborative community-driven process, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee, and the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Board of Trustees.
Eight objectives state the plan's intended overarching impact and outcomes.
Five bold goals drive the strategic plan, one connected to each Direction.
Each Direction has a vision statement that explains what each direction means and our desired future state for each area.
Each Direction has three to four priorities. These sub-areas were identified as the priority topics/themes to address to make progress for the Direction. The priorities were approved by the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Board of Trustees.
Each Priority has 3-5 initiatives. These strategies or programs will enable ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ to achieve each Priority. The initiatives were approved by the ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ Board of Trustees.
Each Initiative has an Accountability Measure. These measures are like KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)—stretchy, ambitious, and achievable. They are collective, not individual, and are how ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ tracks progress and stays accountable to shared goals. The second draft was released in July 2025 and is currently under review, with a final version planned for October 2025.
Prioritizing practical skills, professional development, and career readiness alongside academic learning. (See CDHE's Career Connected Campus Designation Checklist)
Activities, programs, or learning experiences that complement what is taught in the classroom but are not part of a formal curriculum.
An instructional approach where two or more teachers plan, instruct, and assess students' progress toward curricular learning outcomes.
A type of experiential learning that fosters opportunities for students to work alongside community partners in addressing community needs and empowering their strengths. It is based on understanding mutually beneficial relationships and reciprocity of learning and action. Community-engaged learning understands that knowledge sits in many other places beyond academia and works to integrate multiple ways of knowing into course themes.
Culturally responsive teaching is a student-centered approach grounded in the framework of culturally relevant pedagogy that "not only addresses student achievement but also helps students to accept and affirm their cultural identity while developing critical perspectives that challenge inequities that schools (and other institutions) perpetuate" (Ladson-Billings, 1995). It entails proactive instructional design (including curriculum, policies, interactions, teaching strategies, and assessment) that considers students' lived experiences and cultural identities, and the sociohistorical contexts of their communities to support equitable experiences and equitable outcomes (Gay, 2000; Kiyama, Rios-Aguilar, & Deil-Amen, 2017).
At ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ, this represents our fundamental commitment to action. Through inclusive pedagogy, equitable policies, comprehensive training, and welcoming environments, we foster learning spaces that celebrate and support our students' diverse backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We approach this work with an asset and strengths-based mindset, recognizing the power of diverse perspectives.
Pertaining to curriculum.
A set of courses, lessons, and learning experiences provided by a school, college, or educational program developed to achieve a defined set of learning outcomes for that specific academic course or program. Faculty govern the curriculum within their area of expertise.
Often described as 'learning by doing' or 'hands-on learning,' experiential learning encourages students to build their understanding of knowledge through application and reflection. It reimagines a key assignment as a project or experience. It involves risk-taking and making mistakes, and its results are often uncertain. It also frequently involves social, cooperative, and open-ended forms of understanding. Experiential learning provides multiple entry points into the learning process and can increase student agency through inclusive pedagogy.
High-impact practices, or HIPs, are active learning practices that promote deep learning by promoting student engagement. High-impact practices encourage deep learning, creative and critical thinking, collaboration, and applying skills and concepts. According to the AAC&U, examples of high-impact practices include: first-year seminars and experiences, undergraduate research, diversity/global learning, learning communities, writing-intensive courses, service learning and community-based learning, collaborative assignments and projects, internships, and capstone courses and projects.
[Created by CTL & Majel Boxer, fellow, in fall 2024] At Fort Lewis College, equity-minded teaching responds to and values ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ students' diverse identities, intersections of identities, and learning needs. Equity-mindedness prioritizes inclusive access to learning for all students using universal strategies. It is an iterative, reflexive practice involving instructors with a growth mindset, rigorously designing courses, transparency, and cultural relevance, using evidence and data to identify and remove student barriers, and fostering student belonging and trust (Artze-Vega et al., 2023). As ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ focuses on healing and reconciliation within our strategic plan and our designation as a NASNTI, equity-minded teaching brings this work into the classroom to support students' academic endeavors. Moreover, equity-minded teaching is essential given our increasingly diverse student population and growing Latinx student population.
The objective of an industry-sponsored project is to create a unique, high-quality educational opportunity for participants, where the educational content will enhance the educational objectives of the program and class to which it is assigned and is aligned with employer-partner needs. (See https://dhr.colorado.gov/work-based-learning-quality-expectations)
An opportunity in real-world environments for exposure to the requirements of a particular occupation or industry, the work environment, and the behavioral expectations for success on the job. Such work experiences are not expected to provide formal training for occupational skills, although some skills may be learned. (See https://dhr.colorado.gov/work-based-learning-quality-expectations)
A pedagogical approach that focuses on the connection between curriculum and the environment in which students are learning. It centers around experiential and community-based learning, connecting students to culture, environment, and other qualities of place to increase student learning and connection to the curriculum.
A trauma-informed approach recognizes how common and impactful trauma is on individuals and communities, understands the signs and symptoms of trauma, and uses this knowledge to shape policies and practices.
Learning opportunities that occur in part or in whole in the workplace and provide the learner with hands-on, real-world experience. Work-based learning opportunities include but are not limited to internships, apprenticeships, residencies, and incumbent worker training. (See https://cwdc.colorado.gov/strategies/work-based-learning)
A completion-based award related to discrete skills within one or more industries. (See USDOL doc chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/TEN/2020/TEN_25-19_Attachment_1.pdf)
Any general business activity or commercial enterprise that can be isolated from others, such as the tourist or entertainment industries. Colorado looks at industry by dividing it into 14 economic regions and the 14 major sectors that drive our economy. (See choosecolorado.com/)
970-247-6550 aromans@fortlewis.edu
Strategic Plan Implementation Committee (SIC)
SIC ensures the plan’s goals are communicated and built into faculty and staff workflows and processes. It coordinates and supports actions to implement the plan across ÅÝܽ¶ÌÊÓƵ.