December 2021
December 2021
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
December 10, 2021
Attendance: Kelli Klebe, Chuck Litchfield, David Moon, Minette Church, Norah Mazel, David Weiss, Andrea Hutchins, Henriikka Weir, Lynn Gates, Margaret Hunt, Deborah Kenny, Kathy Prue-Owens, Assma Sawani, James Van Scotter, Cortny Stark, Elisa Thompson, John Lindsey, Darshika Perera, Jena McCollum, Craig Bubeck, Suzanne Cook, Solveig Olsen, Kristi McCann, Kathrin Spendier, Claire Rau, Erica Allgood, Wendy Haggren, Ilaheva Tuaone, Matthew Jabaily, Kate Angulski, Farida Khan, Glen Whitehead, Stephen Suh, Laura Eurich, Larry Eames, Karin Larkin, Dave Anderson, Joel Tonyan
Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:
Motion to approve the minutes from November 12, 2021 meeting by Larry Eames
Seconded by David Weiss
Motion passed with 19 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstention
Reports of Visitors:
Kelli Klebe, Interim Provost:
(Interim Provost Klebe presented a combined report to include information from Chancellor Reddy since he was unable to attend today’s meeting).
Chancellor Reddy announced that Dr. Nancy Marchand-Martella has accepted the position of our new Provost starting July 1, 2022. She currently serves as the Dean of the College of Education at Purdue University. The two finalist candidates for the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are on campus this week and we hope to see a positive outcome on this search. The University of Colorado Foundation experienced a 24.4% return on its investments over the past fiscal year, so we have some monies available for projects. UCCS gets a portion of the gains, which is about 15%, and our investments will be aligned with our 2030 Strategic Plan. News organizations ran reports this week on the $15 minimum wage resolution on our campus. Although we support raising wages for all employees, this is not feasible. Without additional funds, we would have to reduce student employment on campus by a sizeable number of students or the equivalent hours for each student employed would have to be reduced. We will be working on an online infrastructure as well as a part of broader structure on sustaining and increasing enrollment, retention and graduation numbers, which will be an important initiative. We are pleased that the regents added an additional person to the CU President search committee – Dean Lynn Vidler. The online Campus Climate survey closed on November 30th with a good response rate from all areas on our campus, which was much better than last time. The campus will be closed for the holiday week, with the buildings closed, reduced heat settings, no plowing, and the Kraemer Family Library will also be closed. Everyone is encouraged to stay home and take a much-deserved break from work. For any special needs or concerns, please refer to the proper contacts for more information. We have more in-person courses Spring 2022 compared to Spring 2021, although still lower than 2020. We encourage faculty to keep the modality that students see at registration and don’t change it since that is the information used for booking classrooms and students expect. If change is needed, then please work through your school or college. CU Next is a CU system program that will support innovation in pedagogy and was announced this morning. Request for proposals will open in January and proposals are due in April. It will require collaboration across CU campuses. There are two Faculty Fellow positions open in the Provost office.
Chuck Litchfield, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance:
Next week the Chancellor is going to the Capital Development committee with the Engineering renovation project for the budget. The governor’s budget did include a small amount of a 4.6% increase to higher ed, which will not amount to much money for the campus, unfortunately. There is also possible legislation out there to have restrictions placed on the university’s ability to prevent students from getting their transcripts or graduate if they have an outstanding balance owed. We do have a $2.3 million financial aid grant to bring students back who have financial issues. The Budget Office has been conducting in-person Lunch & Learn sessions on the budget this semester and will also be conducting them virtually in the spring. Please let us know if there is a better time option for these sessions for faculty in the Spring semester. Our total student attestation holds are now down to 296.
Officer Reports:
President’s Report
Covid appears to be better on campus and in the community currently.
President-Elect’s Report
The mask mandates for school districts are not in alignment with UCCS, which is causing increased anxiety.
Past President’s Report
This will be covered in New Business.
Reports from Standing Committees:
Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget
Faculty Minority Affairs Committee
Women’s Committee:
No report
IRC Faculty:
No report
Intercollegiate Athletics:
No report
Committee on Disability:
No report
Misconduct in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities:
No report
Reports from Representatives:
General questions were discussed concerning the salary study with Personnel & Benefits and Human Resources.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Discussion 1: – Evaluation of Teaching Task Force Report on Survey Results
A presentation of the report and general discussion occurred among the Faculty Assembly representatives. The main question arose of what action do the faculty want to take. Do they want FCQs below 1/3 weight? It was clarified that Faculty Assembly is an advisory body which supplies feedback to the Primary Unit level. The surveys indicate general faculty opinions, responses, recommendations and guidance. The document will be revised in an attempt to reach some agreement on the evaluation of teaching. Please send suggestions and comments to David Weiss, who will distribute a revision and bring it to the February meeting in order to develop a resolution.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by Larry Eames
Seconded by Lynn Gates
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 1:53 p.m.