From: Administrative E-Memo (memofrom@Colorado.EDU)
Date: Mon Dec 14 2009 - 18:17:12 MST
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:17:12 -0700 (MST) From: Administrative E-Memo <memofrom@Colorado.EDU> Subject: End-of-semester message from Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano
TO: Boulder Campus Teaching & Research Faculty, Staff,
Deans, Directors, Dept Chairs, System Administration
FROM: Office of the Chancellor
SENDER: Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano
DATE: December 14, 2009
SUBJECT: End-of-semester message from Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano
Dear CU faculty and staff:
As we approach the end of the semester and the holiday break, I would like
to thank each of you for your work over these past months in support of
Colorado's flagship university. We can all take pride in our many
accomplishments this semester.
I also would like to update you on a number of important campus issues
including the national search for provost, the upcoming North-Central
Association reaccreditation site team visit in February, and the budget
issues facing CU-Boulder this fiscal year and next.
The 18-member Provost search committee (http://bit.ly/5v4gwL) chaired by
Arts and Sciences Dean Todd Gleeson has met and is in the process of
receiving and reviewing applications and nominations. Applications received
by Feb. 1 will receive full consideration. As the chief academic officer,
the provost is at the center of all academic decisions and we are seeking a
candidate of national and international distinction who will lead the
university to new levels of academic success.
As I write this our campus is also preparing for reaccreditation by the
Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. Every 10 years
we are asked to demonstrate how we are accomplishing our role and mission
through a nationally recognized accreditation process. As part of the
reaccreditation process, we have prepared a comprehensive Self Study Report
(http://bit.ly/7irr6y) describing our programs, policies and practices
building on our Flagship 2030 strategic plan.
The 14 consultant-evaluators who make up the Higher Learning Commission's
accreditation site team are scheduled to visit campus Feb. 22-24. Many of
you will be asked to meet with members of this team. I encourage you to read
the Self Study Report in preparation to meet with site team members, made up
of our peers from across the nation.
Finally, I would like to give you an update on the status of our budget.
Like colleges and universities across the state and the nation we face
unparalleled challenges in marshaling the resources we need to carry out our
teaching, research, and service mission.
Declining state revenues during the recession have already caused us to
implement a $12.9 million budget reduction last July. With continuing state
revenue shortfalls, and even with backfilling support using stimulus funding
thanks to the efforts of Governor Ritter, all state public colleges and
universities, including CU-Boulder, are expecting to absorb additional
reductions through fiscal year 2011.
These cuts will not be easy and the final reduction amounts may not be known
for another year or more. However, we do know that we have a minimum level
of additional cuts to take of between $9.4 million and $12 million to
deliver to the President in April - to be effective on July 1, 2010.
Depending on the outcome of the next legislative session and the pending
rebound of the Colorado economy, we could well face additional reductions in
the following fiscal year.
These reductions take us out of the realm of convenient cuts at the margins
of our budget. Our past budget reduction strategy of equitable cuts
across-the-board is no longer possible to achieve the level of permanent
reductions we now face. We are in a moment in our history in which we must
make deeper and more narrow cuts than we have taken to date. As I indicated
in October at my State of the Campus address, (http://bit.ly/Hgya9)
discussions are currently ongoing with the provost, deans and vice
chancellors to begin to arrive at budget priorities. As the spring semester
arrives, we will broaden the dialogue to include faculty and staff
governance groups before I make my recommendations to President Benson and
the Regents.
Our goal in this approach is simple: to meet a difficult moment in the life
of the university, and in the process, to identify the most vital and
critical programs that will deliver the university to its next level of
success. We cannot preserve every program, nor can we employ all the people
vital to those programs. But moving forward, we can end the first decade of
this new century with a renewed focus on quality and excellence.
In closing, let me again thank our faculty and staff for another successful
semester, and wish all of you a healthy holiday season.
Sincerely,
Philip P. DiStefano
Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder
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