Coordinated Action Planning (CAP):
CONNECT!

The College of Design (CDes) conducts ongoing Coordinated Action Planning (CAP) to determine and refine strategic priorities. Our CAP process builds on prior planning efforts by members and friends of the College. Through broadly inclusive discussions, both free-form and guided by specific questions, CDes stakeholders have articulated the desire to become "whole"—to generate a more coherent values-based culture, while coordinating our programs and services to achieve these aims:
- Situate all aspects of the College on one campus (ultimately the East Bank of UMN's Twin Cities campus).
- Develop first-year, interoperable, transfer-friendly, interdisciplinary, and online/distributed academic programs.
- Redefine the College’s organizational structures (including administrative staff functions)
- Increase the diversity of students, staff, and faculty.
- Ensure high-quality experiences for students, staff, and faculty.
- Expand and increase research and revenues.
The resounding sentiment expressed through the CAP process is that CDes members want to feel more like a community, maintaining our distinct strengths while sharing an identity and sense of purpose. Our overarching goal is to support students as they prepare to become creative leaders in an uncertain world, advancing the common good through work that is socially responsible and environmentally sustainable. We are enacting human-centered, community-engaged research while transforming curricula and supports for students’ learning.
CDes students are encouraged to confront the grand challenges of our time. Every graduate:
- applies design thinking to issues big and small, confronting local, regional, and global communities;
- anticipates the social, environmental, and economic ramifications of each problem they tackle and every decision they make; and
- demonstrates the capability to implement unique ideas through projects or actionable plans or strategies.
CDes Coordinated Action Planning is ongoing. It proceeds through open Forums, Blue-Sky Brown-Bag Lunch seminars, and ongoing discussions among collegiate committees and working groups. Your input is important as we continue to CONNECT! The schedule of Forums appears below. You can also access notes and recordings as well as an overview of CAP process and progress.
Fall 2019–
Spring 2020
Forums
Wednesday, September 18
12:15–1:15 pm in
Rapson 225
Monday, October 21
1:45–2:45 pm in
McNeal 22
Wednesday, November 13
12:15–1:15 pm in
Rapson 225
Monday, December 2
1:45–2:45 pm in
McNeal 22
Wednesday, January 29
12:30–1:30 pm in
Rapson 225
Friday, February 28
12:30–1:30 pm in
McNeal 22
Wednesday, March 25
12:30–1:30 pm in
Rapson 225
Friday, April 17
12:30–1:30 pm in
McNeal 22
Wednesday, May 6
12:30–1:30 pm in
McNeal 22
Spring 2020 Blue-Sky Brown-Bag Lunches
Friday, February 14
12:00-1:00 pm in Rapson 225
Evolving Design Pedagogy: Mike Christenson and Malini Srivastava
Friday, March 27
12:00-1:00 in McNeal 274
Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Buildings through On‐Body Supplemental Heating: Lucy Dunne, Rolf Jacobson (funded by a CDes Research Grant)
Friday, April 10
12:00-1:00 in Rapson 225
Biodesign "Labrary": Blaine Brownell, Mary Guzowski, Lin Nelson-Mayson, Deborah Ultan
CAP Feedback
Your voice is important to our future-focused efforts. In addition to participating in these events, you can send comments for ongoing consideration.
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"MAKE US WHOLE"