Academic Organization, Structure and Rewards

The author proposes changes in the structure of the College of Arts & Sciences to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

The author proposes the creation of a nimble and flexible structure that will allow the campus to respond quickly and creatively to evolving interdisciplinary needs.

The authors propose returning the ATLAS building and the Center for Media, Arts & Performance to the campus for use as a campuswide resource overseen by a Council of Deans formed from all CU Boulder colleges, with a coinciding review of the TAM program.

The authors, along with various unit signatories, argue that the University’s largest college be reorganized by eliminating the current CAS Dean position, the Divisional Dean positions for Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities, and replacing them with three Dean positions of equal status tied to each of the three College Divisions.

The author suggests that administration and faculty work together through faculty governance to establish a structure, an affiliate base, and a reward system to create a campus-wide culture of writing excellence.

The authors argue that the campus should align additional financial resources (funding the administration wishes to supply to departments) more closely to departments that bring in more revenue. They suggest several models of professional masters programs at other universities that provide departments with more revenue that facilitates improvements within those departments.

The author suggests new placement protocols for students in pre-calculus, decreasing the minimum timeframes between math placement exam attempts, and providing study guides for the math placement exam, among other long-term measures, to improve math preparedness among students.

The author suggests that a viable mechanism for delivering novel, innovative, cross college academic programs lies in the development of Institutes for Undergraduate Education that deliver innovative programs using existing faculty in partnerships with extant colleges and departments.

The author makes a case for a unified platform for, and leadership of, the university’s online education offerings.

The authors call for greater expansion and coordination of CU’s digital asset management via its Collections Management Group and other shared resources and platforms.