From the Chancellor
January 2010
Dear Friends,
 Philip P. DiStefano |
The new year is opening with great fanfare at the University of Colorado at Boulder as we continue to make progress on our efforts to redefine learning and discovery through Flagship 2030, our long-term strategic plan. Our new Visual Arts Complex opened for classes Jan. 11 (see below) and 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students returned to campus for spring courses. In a few short months, our new Center for Community, a one-stop student hub for services, support and engagement, will open in time for the fall semester.
 Chancellor Philip DiStefano (center right) affirmed to President Obama on Jan. 6 that CU-Boulder would help fulfill a national shortage in math and science teachers. Obama praised CU's innovative programs. (AP) |
Last month, 2,278 students graduated, embarking on new lives of career and contribution in communities all over Colorado and around the world. Earlier this month, the work of our students made it into the national news when I visited the White House and assured President Obama that CU-Boulder is addressing the national shortage in math and science teachers through our innovative, interdisciplinary programs like STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
It was my privilege on Jan. 6 to be one of four public research university leaders invited to the White House to represent universities nationwide that have pledged to double the number of science and math teachers who graduate by 2015. I am pleased CU-Boulder is a recognized national leader through STEM (a partnership between disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences and our School of Education) in preparing a new generation of teachers in the disciplines that are at the vital center of our nation's competitive economic advantage. I also had the opportunity to meet with Education Secretary Arne Duncan while I was in Washington, D.C. to make the case for what CU is doing and how we can further the president's goals.
Boulder Daily Camera, Jan. 7: "CU-Boulder's vow to Obama: More science, math teachers"
 Painting students work in the new Visual Arts Complex during its inaugural week of classes. |
Visual Arts Complex opens
While science education is vital to our economy and the progress of our technical society, the arts embody the spirit and imagination of our civilization and thus are central to our educational mission. The new Visual Arts Complex that opened for classes this semester is a monument to this creative spirit. This great new facility will be home to the Department of Art and Art History and the CU Art Museum. It promises to be a national model for blending the arts and higher education, and it fulfills our Flagship 2030 pledge of "educating our students in all aspects of creativity." Nearly three-quarters of the building's construction costs were funded by student-approved fees, private gifts and a university contribution.
Boulder Daily Camera, Jan. 5: "CU's $63.5M Visual Arts Complex opens on Boulder campus"
2010 Colorado Legislature convenes
With the 2010 Colorado Legislature convening last week during uncertain economic times, CU is pursuing legislation to enhance the educational experience for our students while giving us the kind of flexibility we need to increase revenue and efficiencies. As an international destination for students, we are focusing on a bill that would remove international students from nonresident enrollment caps and advance our Flagship 2030 goals of building a 21st-century global learning environment. It's important to note that this will not limit access of any qualified Colorado resident student.
Colorado Daily, Jan. 6: "Chancellor's Letter: CU-Boulder serving Colorado, engaged in the world"
 Rich Noble, a chemical engineering professor, holds up a model of a zeolite membrane molecule. His research will help petroleum companies efficiently separate out specific molecules in the refining process. |
CU-Boulder a powerful economic driver
State investment in higher education is a down payment on economic recovery and development. CU-Boulder produces a highly skilled workforce, awarding more than 6,500 degrees a year and more than a third of all the doctoral degrees in the state, while our Deming Center for Entrepreneurship in the Leeds School of Business has helped make Colorado's Front Range one of the nation's most successful regions for new business development.
Meanwhile, 50 companies have formed based on technologies borne from CU-Boulder research in the last decade—more than half in the last five years. In addition, CU-Boulder's strong collaboration with federal laboratories resulted in over $340 million in federal research contracts in fiscal 2009—money which is reinvested in the Colorado economy. In 2009, $147 million in federal research awards went back into local salaries. In the last four years, $1 billion in expenditures resulting from CU-Boulder research contracts has been reinvested in the economy. The voice of our friends and supporters in carrying this message is invaluable in a time of reduced state support.
The Denver Post, Dec. 29: "CU-Boulder candidate for $650 million NASA project"
 Leaf Van Boven, associate professor of psychology, leads a discussion in "Thinking Critically about the Psychology of Violence and Peace." Small classes are one of the reasons CU-Boulder is rated one of the "Best Value Colleges for 2010." |
Support for alumni and students in a recession highlights CU's value
We also want to support our alumni and students in trying economic times—it may be free alumni career counseling as detailed in The New York Times (below), continuing to offer small classes during a time of reduced state support (50 percent of classes have fewer than 19 students), a financial literacy program for students, or a pilot textbook rental program to keep costs down for students.
The New York Times, Dec. 29: "You can go back again"
Associated Press-Pueblo Chieftain, Dec. 2: "CU starts student 'financial literacy' program"
Boulder Daily Camera, Jan. 7: "Boulder students can now rent textbooks at CU Book Store"
It's because of efforts like these, as well as affordable tuition and need-based aid, that CU-Boulder ranked as the No. 5 best value in the nation for 2010 among public colleges and universities in a project by USA Today and the Princeton Review published last week.
USA Today, Jan. 11: "Best Value Colleges for 2010 and how they were chosen"
We take pride when we are able to serve society in a time of need while educating our students in innovative ways and providing experiential learning opportunities called for in Flagship 2030. A new course gives students hands-on experience with nonprofits that provide food to the needy.
Colorado Public Radio, Dec. 7: "Teaching About Hunger"
 Capt. Rebecca Lange, a CU graduate, is greeted by cheerleader Kaitlin Nonko of Colorado Springs. |
I will sign off with a pair of my favorite New Year's stories that point out the engagement of CU-Boulder students around the world. Even as I write this, we are laboring under the shadow of the tragedy in Haiti, but as CU students and faculty join their counterparts from around the nation in finding ways to respond, I think we can all take pride that our students make a difference in places all over the world every day.
Boulder Daily Camera, Jan. 4:"CU-Boulder students cheer troops in Iraq over holidays"
9News, Jan. 3: "3 Colorado women making a difference in Africa"
With best wishes for the new year,
Philip P. DiStefano, Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder