Office of the Chancellor > Speeches, Columns and Letters > State of the Campus Address

State of the Campus Address
September 11, 2007

Chancellor Peterson.

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. I’d like to extend my appreciation to Professor Uriel Nauenberg and the Boulder Faculty Assembly for hosting this event.

A new year brings new beginnings, and we have several individuals in various leadership positions that I would like to introduce and welcome. First, Dr. Stein Sture, our new vice chancellor for research and dean of the graduate school.

Dr. Sallye McKee, our new vice chancellor for diversity, equity, and community engagement. 

I would also like to extend my thanks, to Dr. Susan Avery and Dr. Christie Yoshinaga-Itano for their leadership of the Graduate School and the Office of Diversity and Equity, respectively. They have both made very positive contributions to CU and its future.

I also want to recognize Vice Chancellor Paul Tabolt as he approaches his retirement, for his years of valuable service to CU. Paul has been instrumental in improving our facilities and environmental practices, running efficient business services and strengthening our relationship with the city of Boulder. Thank you, Paul, for everything you’ve done on behalf of CU.

Some of you may know that Joey White, my chief of staff, has also retired and is back with us for a few months to help with the transition. Joey has played a vital role in the chancellor’s office for the past 20 years. Working behind the scenes, she has worked with five chancellors and 16 vice chancellors and has been enormously helpful in assisting me in the transition to CU. Thank you, Joey, for all you’ve done for all of us here at CU.

There’s one other notable retirement that I want to acknowledge, Zan Johns is retiring as director of human resources at the end of this month. We extend our great appreciation to Zan for all she has done to enhance the workplace for our employees. 

I wish each of these individuals all the best as they transition to this new phase of their lives and the exciting adventures that lie ahead. 

As I reflect on this past year, I have several thoughts: First, it has been a whirlwind adventure, but one that has been tremendously enjoyable and rewarding. There’s been so much to learn about the university, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of the people associated with CU. Earlier this summer a group of us went on a four day, 10-city tour of southern and eastern Colorado. We held 21 events, and at every one of these we were met with tremendous optimism and positive feelings about where we, as a university are headed. While I probably shouldn’t be, I was amazed at the tremendous loyalty and commitment so many of the people we met with have to this great institution. 

When I accepted the position of chancellor, I was confident that we would be able to build our future on the strength of our people—our faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, and friends—and now, having been her for nearly 14 months, I am even more confident that we can do so, but this will require that we continue to invest in our future. 

That investment must take place in three forms. First we must strengthen our operations and infrastructure; second, we must do those things that will help us remain competitive; and third, we must invest in future initiatives that will propel us forward and allow us to fulfill the promise outlined in the strategic planning process we will be completing later this fall.

Year in review
As I mentioned in my end-of-the year letter last spring, the past year has been one of renewed focus and excitement. Throughout the university community, in almost every area critical to our success, we are moving forward to create a better, more positive environment, one in which our students, faculty and staff can succeed and thrive. Last fall, we enrolled one of the largest, most diverse and most academically qualified freshman classes ever, and this year’s freshmen class is even better qualified and more diverse. In just the past two years, our applications have increased by more than 17 percent. And these are students who are much more focused on academics and scholarship, and who will continue the tremendous legacy established by the many alumni who have gone before them. 

Our reputation as an institution with high-quality scholarship is strong, as evidenced by the numerous prestigious awards and the recognition our faculty have received for new discoveries, interdisciplinary projects, innovative technologies, books, and creative works. The commitment that our faculty has shown to the university is extraordinary. This past year, we continued to recognize that commitment and the many important contributions our faculty make to this great university, who continue to be recognized both nationally and internationally for their innovative teaching, their groundbreaking research, and for their creative works.

Examples of this recognition can be seen in the accomplishments of Professor Conrad "Koni" Steffen, director of CIRES and his team of University of Colorado scientists who have found clear evidence that extensive areas of snow and ice have melted in Antarctica, the Arctic and Greenland in recent years in response to increasing temperatures. Their work has seen extensive news coverage in national and international news media, received the attention of high-level U.S. Congressional delegations and committees, and is contributing substantially to the national and international-level debate on global climate warming.

In the selection of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, or LASP, under the direction of Dr. Frank Eparvier as PI and Professor Daniel Baker, director of LASP, to receive a $92 million contract from NASA and NOAA to design and build a satellite instrument package to help forecast solar disturbances that affect communication and navigation operations.

Through the recognition of Professor Philip Solomon from film studies, who is this year's recipient of the Creativity in Motion/Thatcher Hoffman Smith Prize, which celebrates a visionary work in process, recognizing the potential power of its original expression to affect and enrich the world around us.

Through the recognition of Professor Mitzi Lee who was honored in the American Philosophical Association's Book Award, the Association's highest honor for scholars under 40.

Through the work of Professor Julie Simson, professor of voice, who has been chosen to perform the major role in the world premiere of a new opera, "The Midnight Angel," at the Skylight Opera Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

And through the accomplishments of the Arundo Wind Quintet, our Graduate Quintet that won first prize at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, besting groups from Yale, Northwestern, the Eastman School of Music, and Juilliard.

These are just a few of the many outstanding accomplishments of our faculty this past year, which are far too numerous to mention here.

In our efforts to continue to strengthen our faculty in both quality and numbers, we have filled more than 80 faculty vacancies and 25 newly created tenure-track positions and provided the necessary startup funds for each of these. This has resulted in more than 100 new faculty joining us this fall, bringing with them their incredible energy and enthusiasm. We also took significant steps this past year to ensure that we could retain our very best faculty and move towards salary parity with our AAU peers. And, we added resources to support and expand our staff, creating a significant number of new positions and increasing the operational funds of many of the academic and administrative units on campus.

With respect to messaging, one of the first things we undertook following my arrival last year was to initiate a restructuring of our communications division, hiring several new individuals and revamping both the structure and focus. While we still have some work to do in this arena, I am pleased to report that we have made what I believe to be tremendous strides, being much more proactive in our messaging and dramatically increasing our responsiveness to issues and events as they arise.

Significant progress has also been made in our efforts to incorporate the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics as an integral part of the university. Athletics is continuing to set and maintain new standards of accountability and advancing the values of our institution with enthusiasm and renewed credibility. We can now look forward to all of our athletic programs representing the university in a positive and inspiring manner.

Working closely with the President's Blue Ribbon Commission, we have developed a number of new initiatives. Among these was the creation of a new leadership position for diversity, the vice chancellor for diversity, equity & community engagement. Following a national search, Dr. McKee was appointed to this position as a member of the senior leadership team and is assisting us in pursuing an agenda that will help to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone in our community. We are making notable progress toward this goal, and everywhere I look I see a community engaged in dialogue, discussion and healthy debate about how we can better foster ethnic, gender, geographic and intellectual diversity here at CU-Boulder. And of equal importance, we have balanced our commitment to diversity with our historic values of free speech and inclusion.

We are working hard to strengthen our relationship with the Colorado legislature, the Governor’s Office, and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education to build support from the state and to help them better understand the value this university brings to our state and nation. We were successful this year in securing from the state approval for a 7 percent increase in tuition revenue, which has helped to restore the level of funding received from the state to what it was in 2001.  We are also continuing to work closely with the city of Boulder on a number of issues of mutual interest and concern, including land use, economic development, and environmental sustainability. We have also had considerable success in fundraising efforts, which thanks to the efforts of our friends at the CU Foundation and many of you, reached an all-time high this past year of $44.5 million, a 40 percent increase over last year, and clearly exceeding our goal of $35.6 million.

We have a number of new and wonderful facilities on campus thanks to the support of our students, benefactors and the legislature, including the Wolf Law building, the ATLAS building, and the newly renovated and greatly expanded Koelbel building, which houses the Leeds School of Business. This facility is open for classes and will be officially dedicated next month. Construction of the Visual Arts Complex will begin soon as will the new Center for Community and the Biotechnology building.  In addition to these new facilities, the Student Initiative Outdoor Recreation Facility Project has provided much-needed and dramatic improvements to Farrand Field and several other recreational areas around the campus. All of these projects are shining examples of the good work underway to ensure that we can continue to provide the highest quality education in a modern and efficient living and learning environment.   

Campus safety continues to be a major priority. We have developed and implemented strategies for upgrading our safety systems in housing and other areas across the campus, along with educating the campus community about emergency procedures. Probably the most visible change is the implementation of a new emergency text messaging alert system, put into service over the summer. If you haven’t signed up for this text messaging service on your cell phone, I encourage you to do so. As you know, we used the system during the first week of school to great effect. I strongly encourage each of you to work within your individual departments and divisions to develop emergency plans, so as to be prepared for the unexpected.

Through the combined efforts of our faculty and staff, we have accomplished much more than I thought possible when I joined you as chancellor a little more than a year ago. These accomplishments have resulted in a momentum that is almost palpable and a strong sense of optimism about our future. I regularly hear comments from people, both inside and outside the university about the renewed sense of pride and optimism that exists here at CU, and we are regaining the confidence and respect of the people of Colorado, allowing us to better fulfill our role and mission.

Looking ahead
As we look ahead, one of the most significant accomplishments may well be the reaffirmation of CU-Boulder as the flagship institution for the state of Colorado. To solidify this role we must remain true to our mission and be certain that in addition to providing a first rate undergraduate experience for our students, we continue to sharpen our focus and strengthen our graduate education and research programs, while at the same time providing opportunities for the many other scholarly and creative works that characterize a great national, comprehensive research university.  

Since last fall we have been engaged in the development of a strategic plan we call Flagship 2030, Serving Colorado, Engaging the World. This plan is based on our statutory mission to be “…a comprehensive graduate research university with selective admissions standards …,offer[ing] a comprehensive array of undergraduate, master, and doctoral degree programs.” Many of you have been involved in this process or have provided input at one of the open forums we have held, or through the online web portal. Within the next week, I anticipate that we will have a draft of this strategic plan for campus review. This latest revision builds upon earlier drafts, incorporating the comments we received from the steering committee, “Colorado Thought Leaders,” and many of you. We will make this available to you on the Flagship 2030 website and will be hosting another campus-wide Open Forum on October 1, and at a meeting with the BFA on October 4, at which time I will outline in detail, 10 transformational initiatives that will help to shape this university for years to come. 

As I indicated earlier, a key to our sustained success will require that we first invest to strengthen our core operations and infrastructure; second, invest in those things that will help us to remain competitive nationally and globally; and third, invest in future initiatives that will propel us forward and allow us to fulfill the promise outlined in our strategic plan by these transformational initiatives.

Strengthening our core operations and infrastructure
In terms of the first of these, earlier this summer we began the process of moving the Alumni Association organizationally from the CU Foundation, where it has resided structurally for the past 10 years, back to the Boulder campus, specifically to the division of Student Affairs. We are pleased to welcome the staff of the Alumni Association back into the campus community under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Ron Stump, and to share their considerable enthusiasm for the innumerable opportunities to develop a closer relationship and stronger connections between the campus and our alumni.

Another high priority issue that we have initiated is the development of a comprehensive human resource system for faculty and exempt professionals. We have historically had an extensive HR operation for classified staff, but the employee resources made available to our faculty and exempt professionals are less extensive and need to be enhanced. To this end, I have charged Vice Chancellor Paul Tabolt with reviewing the services currently available and identifying what must be done to provide equitable service and support to all of our employees.

We must continue to enhance the diversity of our community in all its forms. I want to challenge each of you and our entire campus community to renew your commitment to diversity and to continue to create a welcoming and inclusive environment. Combining our life experiences, cultural backgrounds, and intellectual achievements will make us better university citizens, better scholars, and better people. I know that by working together we can continue to elevate CU to new heights of scholarship and teaching, and just as importantly, to new heights of shared humanity.

In the next couple of months I anticipate implementing some of the recommendations of the Child Care Task Force, the Task Force on Alcohol, and the Committee to Enhance Services to the Disabled.

And finally, in terms of strengthening our core operations and infrastructure, we will continue to ensure that we recognize and reward all of our employees and their achievements, to reinforce their importance and assure them that they are valued and are an important part of our university.  When I first came to CU-Boulder, I emphasized the need to recruit, develop and retain the highest quality people for CU. This will require that we recognize and reward people appropriately and that we continue to evaluate our compensation and reward system to ensure that we are able to retain those individuals upon which our future depends. “Recruit, recognize, and retain” is a formula that can lead to excellence in individual and departmental performance and overall success as an institution.

Remaining competitive
In addition to strengthening our core infrastructure and operation, we must invest in those things that will help us to remain competitive.

The first of these is to strengthen our academic mission internally. This involves creating 30 more new faculty positions this year, including five new endowed chairs. This will help to move us forward toward our goal of creating 200 new tenured or tenure track positions in a six-eight year period, 25 -30 of which are in new endowed chairs. Earlier this summer, working with Provost DiStefano and the academic deans, we developed a plan to double the number of fully funded endowed chairs here at CU and to provide matching funds that we believe will make this possible.  This is an ambitious goal, but one that I am confident we can achieve.

Along with these new faculty positions comes the need for additional staffing and infrastructure support. As was the case this past year, as part of the budgeting process, we will be providing additional staffing and operational support for the many units that support the academic and operational mission of the university. This, along with our efforts to strengthen the graduate and research programs, will help us to fulfill our mission as a comprehensive graduate research university with selective admissions standards.

We have already begun and will continue the implementation of the residential campus concept by renovating Arnett Hall and will complete the Kittredge community renovation by fall 2012. In the course of this development, I am confident we will engage our students as active learners from their first year throughout their entire undergraduate experience, in an environment that fosters community and supports their intellectual and personal growth.

As we continue the transition to greater autonomy as a university within the CU System, in the next year I plan to establish a Board of Visitors to advise me and the leadership of the university on ways in which we can continue to grow and meet the needs of the people of the state of Colorado, and to serve as informed, passionate advocates for our university across the state and the nation. 

I have and continue to be impressed with the long-standing commitment of our university in the areas of energy conservation and sustainability. As you may know, there are eight Leeds Gold certified buildings in the state. Two of these—and in fact the only two public buildings in the state with this certification—are here on our campus: the Wolf Law Building and the ATLAS Building. I believe that we can build on the groundwork that has been laid by so many of you and your predecessors by jointly focusing on campus operational issues associated with energy, environment and sustainability, and the many academic and curricular initiatives currently in place. I think it is important that we consolidate and define our role and mission in this arena.  Along these lines, in the next several weeks we will be assembling a group consisting of individuals from various schools, colleges, and organizations to engage in this process and better define our role and mission, and where we as a campus are going with respect to sustainability and renewable energy, such that we are not only practitioners of sustainability, but pioneers of new advances in the field through our research and scholarly activities.

New initiatives
The third area and perhaps the most important investment we can make is to invest in those things that will propel us forward and allow us to fulfill the promise outlined in our soon to be completed strategic plan. Foremost among these is to complete the strategic planning process and begin the implementation of the transformational initiatives outlined therein.

Since the formation of the Steering Committee late last fall, we have met with internal and external stakeholders, held open forums, and conducted interviews with “thought leaders” throughout the state. Last month I presented a conceptual draft of the plan to the Board of Regents and their feedback was both positive and encouraging. Since then, we have and will continue to conduct focus groups with business and community leaders, and we will hold two more open forums this fall before presenting a final draft to the Board of Regents at the end of November. 

The vision as outlined in this plan states that “The University of Colorado at Boulder will be one of the leading public research universities in the United States by redefining learning and discovery, and providing global leadership in education and research to the benefit of Colorado and the broader society.”

We have identified 10 transformational initiatives that will guide us toward this vision. While these have not yet been finalized and will require additional discussion this fall, in their current state they represent the work of nearly 400 participants and portend a defined direction for our university. 

These include the concept of

• Creating multiple entry and degree tracks for our students to provide opportunities for advanced study and accelerated degree completion for those entering with college credits
• Looking at operating the university in a year round mode to better utilize our existing physical plant
• Expanding the “residential college” concept that I mentioned earlier, to establish a new model of mentored, self-directed, and customized learning tracks that echo the desire expressed by today’s students to have more choices and more say in building curricula that suits their individual focus and ambitions
• Considering a requirement that every student complete two experiential learning opportunities prior to graduation, things such as a supervised research project, study abroad, honors or senior theses, development of a portfolio of creative work, fulltime engagement in community service, or a professional internship
• Looking at how we can enhance our already vibrant research activities to involve other regional universities, industry, government, and federal laboratories to promote initiatives of state and national interest, such as biotechnology, neuroscience, energy, atmospheric, space and geo-sciences, and computational science
• Focusing on interdisciplinarity and building high-level advocacy, along with professional and financial incentives for interdisciplinary teaching, research, creative works and scholarship
• Building CU as a Global Crossroads by bringing the world to CU, and CU to the world through faculty exchanges and international collaborations
• Examining new operating and financial models to fully develop the “enterprise” designation for operational flexibility and resource diversity that best meets our state role and mission, and enhancing our efforts to examine alternative funding strategies so that we are not continually subjected to fluctuating state support, this includes possible incorporation as a “public authority”
• And lastly, building out major properties such as the East Campus using an education-related mixed-use approach that emphasizes “green” development and operations

As I mentioned previously, we will be holding a series of open forums in the coming weeks and months to discuss these more broadly. I encourage you to attend these open forums, as each time we have one of these events we get more good ideas that strengthen the plan and sharpen our vision.   

Conclusion
To accomplish all we have laid out here will require that we continue to strengthen the confidence the citizens of the state of Colorado have in us as a university. As I have stated before, people support those things that they feel passionately about and believe are well managed. That passion and trust begins at home. I also I talked earlier about the commitment of our faculty. 

Representative of these two ideals, I am very pleased to announce today one of the largest gifts in the history of the University of Colorado at Boulder. Earlier this summer, Dr. Marvin Caruthers, Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who was awarded the National Medal of Science, committed to provide a naming gift in the amount of $20 million to support the construction of the new systems biotechnology building on the East Campus. We plan to begin construction on this facility in the near future. In recognition of this enormously generous gift and after approval by the Board of Regents, the new building will be named the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology building in honor of Professor Caruthers’ late wife, Jennie. This extraordinary action on the part of one of our long-standing faculty members, to invest in the next generation of great thinkers here at CU, is a visible expression of the confidence he has in the direction the university is taking and the importance he places on the quality of the science being done here at CU. Thank you Professor Caruthers!

In closing, I want to say how pleased and honored I am to be the chancellor of this great institution, and to be able to work with each of you. I am proud of what we have accomplished this past year. As I said at the beginning of this address, it has been a whirlwind adventure, but one that has been tremendously enjoyable and rewarding. There is, however, much more to do. In the coming months as we complete our strategic plan and begin its implementation, we will be starting a new era, one in which we will shape our university; we will be creating a new reality that will benefit each of us, our students, the citizens of the state of Colorado, the nation, and the world. 

I ask that you imagine this university 25 years from now, filled with people of all nationalities and languages living, learning, and working in a vibrant hub of year-round activity. Visualize students working alongside distinguished national and international faculty who are collaborating on innovative teaching techniques, groundbreaking research and creative works, with industry leaders, nationally renowned artists, and the very best faculty from other institutions. Picture our staff assisting students and faculty and conducting business operations with state-of-the-art technology and equipment on campus, across the country, or in an office halfway around the world. Envision laboratories, studios, and performance venues with people doing things that no one else has done or had even thought of, creating new knowledge and new artistic forms in new and unique ways. We can make all of this happen!

All I ask is that you involve yourself, your workplace, and your department, division or organization in helping to move this university forward. I ask your continued participation and confidence in the educational, business, and creative pursuits of this great institution. I ask you to join me in making this university a better place both now and in the future. Together, we can make our vision a reality for our children and our children’s children. 

Thank you all for your support and your many individual and collective contributions to this great institution, and for the contributions that we will continue to make in the coming academic year. It is an honor to serve you as chancellor, and Val and I look forward to the new challenges that we, along with you, will face together in the coming years.