Provost's Post, September 2025

Welcome to the September edition of The Provost’s Post.

It’s been a challenging start to the academic year, as we saw last Friday when the campus experienced its second false incident report of the semester focused on Norlin Library. I want to thank our Norlin leadership team and libraries’ staff for their steady cooperation with our first responders and their concern for students and library patrons in both these incidents. I also want to thank our faculty and staff in Ramaley and Ketchum who helped evacuate the two buildings last Friday.

This second incident came on the heels of two well-publicized acts of violence that occurred locally and nationally, so I want to encourage all of us to engage in self-care and mutual support as a first priority. It is also helpful if faculty refresh on the emergency procedures outlined in our Fall Instruction Guidance, so that we can continue to respond to these and other situations with the consistency we’ve shown so far.

There’s plenty of positive news to focus on in this edition, including:

• A “Perspectives” piece by Elias Sacks, associate professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, outlining what’s on tap for this year’s Federal Governance and Higher Education Series
• A refresher on last week’s announcement of our new “hub and spoke” model of outreach and engagement
• Exciting news that we’re now ranked No. 1 for launching startups based on university discoveries

Stay tuned for announcements from my office and your colleges and schools about my “Conversations with the Provost” upcoming visits. Until we get to meet in person, thank you for your dedication to our academic mission of transforming lives as Colorado’s leading research university, and doing so with such abundant humanity and passion.

Warmly,

Ann

Ann Stevens
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs