Mines@150: Mission, Vision and Strategic Planning

Looking Ahead to Mines@150 

As Colorado School of Mines prepares for our 150th anniversary in 2024, dynamic and disruptive change is all around us.  We must navigate an increasingly competitive higher education landscape, respond to the changing education and innovation needs of industry and society, and not be complacent from current and past accomplishments.

MINES@150 is our plan to position Mines for future success. It calls for change, but also to stay true to our timeless mission, pillars and core values.  MINES@150 leverages our size, location, and history, ensures that our graduates will continue to be distinctive and highly valued, places Mines at the frontiers of STEM education, research and innovation, and elevates our status among the world’s top universities.

Based on the identified threats, a self-assessment and campus discussions, we know that to succeed as a mid-sized and uniquely focused university, we must:

  • Be a top-of-mind and first-choice university for students, public and private partners, and faculty and staff.
  • Expand offerings and diversify delivery, in particular for professionally oriented pre and post graduate education.
  • Grow the scale and impact of research, focus on thematic strengths, develop a more social research culture, diversify funding sources.
  • Strengthen affinity for Mines among our students, alumni and external partners.
  • Be more innovative and entrepreneurial, especially in the use of our resources
  • Attract private investment to support our key strategic initiatives

Mines@150 Goals

In 2024 and Beyond, Mines Will Be:

  • A producer of differentiated and highly desired STEM-educated leaders
  • A leader in educating STEM students and professionals
  • A go-to-place for use-inspired research and innovation needed for challenges facing industry and society
  • Accessible and attractive to qualified students from all backgrounds
  • A great community to learn, explore, live and work
  • A preferred partner for talent, solutions and life-long learning
  • The exemplar for alumni affinity, visibility and involvement

Mines@150 Vision

We, the Colorado School of Mines community, are united by our commitment to our timeless mission of educating and inspiring students from all backgrounds and advancing knowledge and innovations, with the aspiration that our graduates, ideas, actions and innovations will have a transformative impact on individuals and society, leading to shared prosperity and sustainable use of the Earth’s resources.

Mines Mission

For 150 years, our STEM-focused education and research produces the talent, knowledge and solutions to serve industry and benefit society – all to create a more prosperous future. We’re a community of entrepreneurial leaders and resilient problem-solvers who revel in challenges and work together in order to engineer change on Earth and beyond. 

Our Core Values

Inquiry and Innovation icon

Inquiry and Innovation

Inspiration icon

Inspiration

Challenge icon

Challenge

Opennness

Openness

Respect icon

Respect

Diversity icon

Diversity

Compassion icon

Compassion

Collaboration icon

Collaboration

Each of the values above facilitates our shared success, and the advancement of MINES and its mission; by our examples and by our encouragement we seek to foster these values throughout our community, and especially among our students, so as to inspire them to pursue excellence in our shared lives of inquiry and innovation.

Mines Pillars

Focused public mission

Great people (students, faculty, staff, alumni)

Honest broker of information

Collaborative pursuits of use-inspired innovation and discovery

Connections and partnerships, particularly with industry and mission-oriented agencies

Elite (but not elitist) institution

Challenging practical education and professional preparation

Immense pride

What We are Reading

Articles that inform our thinking and planning.

Under the M

What’s your take? Join the conversation about MINES.