Office of the Chancellor > State of the Campus Address 2002 > Administration (Quality for Colorado)

State of the Campus Address
September 25, 2002

Administration (Quality for Colorado)
With an eye to the future, for the past two years, I have been promoting the entrepreneurial "Quality for Colorado" plan, which I believe addresses the goals for our academic focus as well as our fiscal health. It is our major initiative and has received support from many quarters. President Hoffman has discussed applying its principles system-wide, if approved at the state level. The plan was approved by the Board of Regents last September and it has been endorsed by many of our constituencies.

For those of you who may have missed previous discussions, let me summarize its key points.

Quality for Colorado emphasizes "quality growth" rather than "enrollment growth." It is a four-year investment partnership among students, parents, the State of Colorado and CU.

Our vision for this plan revolves around five "keys to quality":

• An outstanding faculty
• Well-prepared, motivated students
• Strengthened core learning and academic community
• Selected areas of academic distinction
• Infrastructure necessary for success

Specifically, the plan would reduce and stabilize the size of the entering freshman class, improve the average academic preparation of these freshmen, increase the amount of financial aid to neutralize a special tuition increase, invest in the undergraduate learning experience by committing resources to core programs, invest in academic areas of high demand and national distinction, and increase enrollment of graduate students and transfer students.

In order to gain the necessary resources, we propose an increase in tuition for all students, a change in the state funding model for CU-Boulder, and increased private fund-raising.

Just this fall, we have demonstrated our ability to draw large numbers of students: we had more than 19,000 applications for the freshman class this year. And, clearly, this campus currently is dependent on enrollment growth for much of its resource base. But, nevertheless, we want to limit future growth at the same time that we enhance quality. That can only happen with the full support of our partners: students, parents, and the State of Colorado.

Just so you know how the resources would be spent, we plan to invest 30 percent of the additional revenue in financial aid, 20 percent in undergraduate programs, and 50 percent in programs of excellence and distinction, primarily for recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty.

Areas of investment will include core learning and related tools, such as improving learning in large-class sections, development of the writing program, undergraduate research, student advising, classroom technology and courseware, and libraries.

We also plan to invest in selective programs of academic distinction, including those with existing excellence, those with potential for greatness, and those that benefit Colorado.

Specifically, we plan to invest in some of our outstanding programs such as environmental science and sustainability, space sciences, and studies of the American West. We hope to support initiatives in some emerging areas of inquiry, such as chemical and molecular biotechnology, micro/nano systems for engineering and life sciences, information science and technology, and neuroscience. We welcome your input on these proposals.

As chancellor, I am committed to promoting this innovative concept – because I believe Quality for Colorado can help us take this fine university to the next levels of excellence and beyond. But I need your help, as members of the CU-Boulder community. I need your support as we seek to move the plan forward through the Colorado General Assembly in the coming year.

I am excited about the potential of Quality for Colorado – because I believe it will work for CU-Boulder, for its students and for the State of Colorado. The bottom line – a familiar concept for entrepreneurial people – is that Quality for Colorado can help us do a better job of educating our students and leading in the discovery of knowledge.

Even as we await state approval of Quality for Colorado, we have begun implementing many of the plan’s key concepts, making substantial investments over the past three years in faculty salaries, financial aid, graduate student support, research facilities, and undergraduate education, among others. In my opinion, we must take the initiative, regardless of funding levels or sources, to keep this university moving forward.

We also are working hard to enhance diversity and foster a sense of community and collegiality – at a time when world events frequently play out on our campus. Recent acts of intolerance and bigotry underscore the need to cultivate a sense of community in which differences are respected and diverse opinions may be heard without intimidation.

We also continue to work on improving collaboration and cooperation with the City of Boulder, on such issues as land use, particularly the South Campus, and impacts of enrollment growth, including transportation and housing.

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