At its regular meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus, the Board of Regents approved a building addition connecting the Leeds School of Business and the Engineering Center; heard a presentation from CU Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano about measures to make CU Boulder more affordable; authorized the purchase of 1135 Broadway St. in Boulder, Colorado; and more.
Leeds/Engineering building expansion
The University of Colorado Board of Regents Friday approved a $45 million building addition to the Engineering Center and the Koelbel Building, which houses the Leeds School of Business. New classrooms, assembly space and study space will be constructed, including an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub to physically connect Koelbel to the Engineering Center, as well as four active learning classrooms and an auditorium, which will provide a projected total of 560 new classroom seats outfitted with state-of-the-art technology.
Affordability and accessibility of CU Boulder
The regents reviewed the actions CU campuses are taking to keep a degree affordable and accessible to all qualified Colorado students. In a presentation on the cost of education, CU system VP and CFO Todd Saliman showed that the cost of attendance declined for students in five different income categories when adjusted for inflation over the past five years
In his presentation to the board, Chancellor Phil DiStefano reported that Boulder campus leadership, faculty and staff have worked hard to eliminate costs and hold increases in tuition down over the last five years to ensure an education at CU Boulder is available to all qualified students across the state. Those actions include the following:
- The Esteemed Scholars Program: 21 percent of our resident students today receive a scholarship from the Esteemed Scholars Program; 246 of those also receive a scholarship from the CU Promise Program for low-income students
- The CU Boulder Tuition Guarantee: put in place in the fall of 2016, sets four years of fixed tuition for all undergraduate students
- The growth in scholarship dollars by $12.1 million since fiscal year 2014 for a total of $40.1 million
- The Impact Scholarship Program: award students who show perseverance and success despite personal challenges
- The elimination of all course and program fees, which, when announced, had an estimated value of $8.7 million. When it was implemented starting in the fall of 2018, accounting for enrollment growth, the value grew to $10 million.
DiStefano reported that fewer than 50 percent of CU Boulder’s Colorado resident students graduate with debt. For those who do graduate with debt, the average is $25,100 while the national graduation debt average is $30,100.
Read a column from Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice Chancellor Kelly Fox about affordability and accessibility measures.
Acquisition of 1135 Broadway St., Boulder, Colorado
As part of the consent agenda, the board approved the purchase of 1135 Broadway, a property adjacent to Main Campus. The property is of strategic importance in terms of accommodating both current and future campus space needs and physical planning for the campus. The property consists of approximately 0.291 acres of land and a two-story commercial building consisting of approximately 13,887 rentable square feet.
In other board news
- The board voted by consent agenda to approve Regent Policy 5.D.2.(B), changing requirements for tenure appointment. Under the new policy, a recommendation of tenure based on excellence in scholarly/creative work shall include evidence of impact beyond the institution, and a recommendation for tenure based on excellence in teaching shall include multiple measures of teaching evaluation and demonstrated achievement at the campus, local, national and/or international level which furthers the practice and/or scholarship of teaching and learning beyond one’s immediate instructional setting.
- CU Treasurer Dan Wilson updated the board on the state of the university’s financial portfolio, specifically investment earnings, debt ratings and total debt. The university’s bond ratings by Moody’s are high at Aa1. Debt overall has declined to 4 percent of assets (with a policy limit of 7 percent) and Wilson expects this to continue to decline. Earnings on the portfolio have remained stable despite recent market volatility.
- The board congratulated Glen Gallegos on his reelection to represent the 3rd Congressional District for another term. Newly elected regents Lesley Smith (regent at-large) and Chance Hill (5th Congressional District) were also in attendance at the meeting.
- The board bestowed the title of regent emeritus on Kyle H. Hybl for his 12 years of excellent service and dedication to the University of Colorado on behalf of the people of Colorado, as well as the title of board chairman emeritus for his leadership having served four terms as chairman.
- The board bestowed the title of regent emeritus on Stephen C. Ludwig for his 12 years of excellent service and dedication to the University of Colorado on behalf of the people of Colorado, as well as the title of board vice chair emeritus for his leadership having served one year as vice chair.
Full details on all presentations are available on BoardDocs.
