The 4D Experience at the University of Denver is a university-wide strategic imperative dedicated to preparing students for lifelong learning, engagement, and thriving across four dimensions: intellectual growth, wellbeing, character, and purpose. Established in 2021 and led by the Chancellor, Provost, and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, the initiative has built a robust set of programs and structures designed to foster relationship-rich learning environments, infuse wellbeing into curricular and co-curricular life, and equip faculty and staff to support flourishing among students and themselves.

Two initiatives are especially representative of the 4D approach. The 4D Faculty Design Series, launched in 2024 in partnership with the Office of Teaching and Learning, gives faculty across DU’s colleges practical strategies to support student purpose, belonging, and wellbeing in the classroom, while also nurturing their own flourishing. The series earned a Net Promoter Score of 52% in its first two quarters, a threshold Bain and Company, who created the metric, consider excellent. The Compassion Lab, also launched in 2024, brings structured curricular experiences into classrooms that help students understand compassion in the context of their own lives and build the confidence and skills to enact it. In its first year, the Lab reached 95 students across five faculty members’ classrooms, with 92% of participants finding the content very meaningful and relatable. Broader 4D initiatives include the 4D Mentorship Collaborative, 4D Infusion Grants supporting faculty-led curricular innovation, and an annual 4D Innovations Cohort guiding faculty through a 12-week design-thinking process focused on student thriving.