February 2020
February 2020
FACULTY REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETING
February 14, 2020
Attendance: Tom Christensen, Suzanne Scott, Mary Coussons-Read, David Weiss, Melissa Benton, Monique French, Andrea Hutchins, Lynn Gates, Deborah Kenny, Kathy Prue-Owens, James Van Scotter, Andrea Bingham, Monica Yoo, Diane Stutey, Pam Carter, Darshika Perera, Suzanne Cook, Leilani Feliciano, Claire Rau, Roger Martinez, Kristi McCann, Wendy Haggren, Kirsten Ortega, Matthew Jabaily, Tabatha Farney, Edin Mujkic, Scott van Ness, Elizabeth Daniels, Tisha Mendiola Jessop, Dave Anderson
Call to Order / Approval of Minutes:
Motion to approve the minutes from December 13, 2019 meeting by Pam Carter
Seconded by David Weiss
Motion passed unanimously with 21 in favor, 0 opposed and 0 abstentions
Reports of Visitors:
Tom Christensen, Provost:
(Since Chancellor Reddy was attending the Board of Regents meeting, Provost Christensen presented Chancellor Reddy’s report along with his to the assembly).
Chancellor Reddy’s Report:
Strategic Plan 2030 was approved unanimously by the Board of Regents yesterday. Thanks to our faculty for actively participating in developing this plan. We will continue developing metrics for various outcomes we have identified, so your help is still needed. The campus winter closure went well and the support of various faculty, staff and student groups was appreciated. Upon a recent visit to the LinkedIn headquarters, we discussed the need to address Network Gap, where the success of an individual is determined by the zip code they grow up in, the college they go to, and the networks they develop. Our campus has access to LinkedIn Learning Resources, which should be beneficial to you. We are grateful to the El Pomar Foundation, Anschutz Foundation and Lane Foundation for providing us with matching grants to support our Cybersecurity grant to the Colorado Office of Economic Development. This could result in a $5.4 million investment in the partial construction of classrooms, labs, etc. in the Cybersecurity building. The work of the steering committee for the Incentive Based Budget model continues at a rapid pace. We added Christina Jimenez to the committee as a faculty advisor. We submitted to the city ‘The Clyde Way’ as our choice for the name of the Spine Road from the top ten names the students submitted for this project. The Town Hall we had on improving enrollments went well. Our goal is to increase the number of admitted students who enroll. We are starting to realize that we need to start thinking outside the box on Enrollment Management Strategy and we would like to hear more feedback on this topic. What should we take into consideration? Do we need a change in structure? Should this area be pulled out separately? It’s not just about recruitment, but also about admissions, retention, persistence and graduation, as well as increasing the career development support services and engaging alumni. It involves the entire Student Life Cycle.
Provost Christensen’s Report:
We will be offering several open discussion sessions for Instructors, to include the topics of a 3-level system and multi-year contracts. Watch your e-mail for the announcements of these scheduled sessions. We will also be offering two open discussion sessions on RPT processes and a notice will be sent out on e-mail for those as well. APS 1022 (RPT policy) did just finish getting revisions through Faculty Council. In regards to the topic of civics with the Board of Regents, they are looking at incoming freshmen and gathering more data.
Suzanne Scott, Executive Director of Budget & Planning:
Chuck is attending the Board of Regents meeting today. Fiscal year 2021 budget assumptions are still in flux. We have 3 scenarios we are using for planning purposes, each with varied percentage amounts to higher ed, CU and UCCS. The third scenario has the highest percentage (6%) going to all 3 components, and that is the one we’re hoping for and the lobbyists have begun to lobby for too. The Joint Budget Committee of the state legislature approved a 3% comp pool for Classified employees in January. Health, Life and Dental insurance will increase 5.6% for the university. Tuition rates are capped at 3%. The Fall enrollment projections currently show us at a 1.3% enrollment decline. Tuition rate increases with enrollment decline factored in result in a loss of $207 thousand. We will have more clarity on enrollment first-time freshmen in March/April. We are looking at a comp pool for faculty and university staff at 1%, which will cost about $2 million. There are no inflationary increases to operating, travel or fixed assets. Also, a reminder that the fiscal year 2020 budget cut of $5 million is still in play, with $1 million coming from campus cuts and $4 million allocated to campus departments. It will basically take 3 years to instill these budget cuts by taking $2.3 million in base cuts this year and rolling forward $2.6 million in base cuts into fiscal year 2021. There is a possibility that this base cut could still roll from fiscal year 2020 into fiscal year 2022. There is some good news about spring enrollment. We needed about 131,000 SCH and that is what we ended up with for spring. A reminder that the Annual Budget Reviews will be held from February 17 – February 19. We are working on a budget model website and e-mail address, as well as having regularly scheduled brown bag lunch meetings. We have also added a faculty chair representative to the Steering Committee.
Laura Borgelt, Assoc. Dean of Administration & Operations at CU Anschutz:
Laura called in to the meeting representing the CU Strategic Planning Healthcare Working Group to let the Faculty Assembly representatives know about their group’s work so far and to seek UCCS faculty input. Her letter to the assembly is attached for further information.
Lia Bonamassa and Chen Liu, Ernst & Young Online Education Consultants:
They informed Faculty Assembly that they are currently working with the CU system office in collaboration with the campuses to understand online learning across CU. They are working with the CU system and campuses to develop a set of strategic options for online learning growth, informed by market and internal data. Their presentation is attached.
Officer Reports:
Past President’s Report
No report
Reports from Standing Committees:
Personnel & Benefits:
Not met yet
Faculty Advisory Committee on the Budget:
Not present – no report
Faculty Minority Affairs Committee
Women’s Committee:
Meeting postponed; informational notice attached
Non-Tenure Track Faculty:
Meeting was cancelled due to snow closure – no report
PRIDE:
Not present – no report
Intercollegiate Athletics:
Not present – no report
Committee on Disability:
Not present – no report
Misconduct in Research, Scholarship & Creative Activities:
Not present – no report
Reports from Representatives:
None
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
None
NEW BUSINESS
Discussion Item:
The draft of the proposed Grade Forgiveness policy was discussed and many points of attention were brought up, including; consideration of program criteria; grade still appears on transcript; Financial Aid issues; Grad School rules; helps UCCS GPA; petition process; students advised and approved; etc. Susan Taylor distributed a FAQs handout with more information.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn the Faculty Assembly Meeting by Pam Carter
Seconded by Claire Rau
Motion passed unanimously
Meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.