April 2022
April 2022
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
April 8, 2022
Attendance: Venkat Reddy, Kelli Klebe, Chuck Litchfield, Rame Hanna, David Moon, Minette Church, Norah Mazel, David Weiss, Andrea Hutchins, Henriikka Weir, Lynn Gates, Deborah Kenny, Kathy Prue-Owens, Assma Sawani, Martin Key, Cortny Stark, Elisa Thompson, Curtis Turner, John Lindsey, Craig Bubeck, Suzanne Cook, David Diamond, Solveig Olsen, Kathrin Spendier, Claire Rau, Dylan Harris, Emily Mooney, Erica Allgood, Lei Zhang, Ilaheva Tuaone, Matthew Jabaily, Kate Angulski, Farida Khan, Thomas Aicher, Glen Whitehead, Laura Eurich, Karin Larkin, Dave Anderson, Joel Tonyan
Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:
Motion to approve the minutes from March 11, 2022 meeting by Karin Larkin
Seconded by Claire Rau
Motion passed with 18 in favor, 0 opposed and 0 abstentions
Reports of Visitors:
Venkat Reddy, Chancellor:
As we move towards the end of Spring semester, there are and will be lots of events happening. At the Board of Regents meeting yesterday, an undergraduate resident 2% tuition increase, a 3% compensation increase for FY23, and various student fee increases were approved. Also, the Engineering Renovation and Annex Expansion was approved. Rame Hanna, our new Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, made a presentation on the CWC survey to the Regents, which will be done every four years. Stephanie Hanenberg, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health & Wellness, made a presentation on mental health. Both presentations were well-done and well-received by the Regents. You have probably heard in the news that there are five finalists for the presidential search. We expect to hear an announcement at the end of April. The Cabinet has been reviewing the Future of Work Task Force report and all faculty are also encouraged to review it. In a job-based staff report, we are identifying remote from on-site positions. Friday, May 13th is Commencement, which will be held in-person with a mask option. We look forward to your participation in this exciting event. There is a bill in the legislature for collective bargaining, which will have a big impact on costs for the campus in relation to both HR and Legal position increases. Finally, we want to thank Chuck Litchfield for his work on campus for the past several years and wish him well in his new position at Stanford.
Kelli Klebe, Interim Provost:
Open Enrollment for Benefits starts April 18 and closes May 6, so be sure to give your attention to this important annual enrollment and note the changes for this year As previously mentioned, the Future of Work Task Force Recommendations are out and some of the academic recommendations include RPT Criteria considerations, faculty workloads, alternative work schedules for staff, and several recommendations concerning faculty communication to students. I’d like to thank everyone who has been working on committees for academic policies. Some good progress has been made and will continue to finish in the Fall. Raises have been set for faculty promotions for both IRC and TTF, but an amount needs to be set for the new Principal Instructor rank, which we are working on.
Chuck Litchfield, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance:
Chuck detailed more specifically the financial decisions made at the Board of Regents meeting yesterday. He said the next steps would be to put those decisions into the new budget model and see how it plays out.
Rame Hanna, Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
Rame Hanna introduced themselves by sharing a bit about their background as both a social scientist and diversity officer and providing information on their role as Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (VCDEI). They spoke about the critical importance of inclusive excellence and building UCCS’s lateral diversity infrastructure, to foster a greater culture of belonging on campus. Rame shared a bit about their experiences at UCCS during their first month including a focus on listening and learning to get a full sense of the complex and dynamic culture on campus and within the local community. They also shared about the numerous dialogues and engagement opportunities with students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Additionally, Rame recently presented to the Board of Regents a few CWC survey highlights that related to DEI as well as shared preliminary ideas for future DEI strategic action. In the late summer and early fall, they hope to facilitate a series of community dialogues to center the voices and lived experiences of the diverse community and better assess change efforts through mixed methods/multimodal analysis. Rame shared that they deeply value faculty assembly as critical partners and collaborators in helping foster a greater culture of inclusion at UCCS.
Officer Reports:
President-Elect’s Report
Minette Church reminded everyone to please take the MapMyUCCS Facilities Steering Committee survey. She also mentioned that Faculty Assembly nominations are close to ballot stage.
Past President’s Report
David Weiss mentioned that the Teaching Committee is in process. As the Faculty Fellow on Policies, he is working on several issues, including a grievance policy, multi-year contracts, and RPT.
Reports from Standing Committees:
Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget
No report
Faculty Minority Affairs Committee
IRC Faculty
No report
PRIDE
No report
Intercollegiate Athletics
No report
Committee on Disability
No report
Misconduct in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities
No report
Reports from Representatives:
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Motion 1
The EPUS Committee moves that the Faculty Representative Assembly endorses UCCS Campus Policy 300-016: Compensation Principles for Faculty.
(Motion passed with 26 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstention)
Discussion 1 – CWC Survey Faculty Report
Karin Larkin (Chair of the Faculty Assembly Women’s Committee) along with representation from the chairs of Faculty Minority Affairs Committee and PRIDE presented a report on the faculty results of the Campus and Workplace Culture (CWC) survey, which includes recommendations and observations. A lively discussion followed.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by David Weiss
Seconded by Farida Khan
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 1:40 p.m.