On March 5, CU President Mark Kennedy and his executive staff gave the Boulder Faculty Assembly an update on the systemwide strategic planning process, and CU Boulder Provost Russell Moore shared more details about the reorganization of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Kennedy was joined by Angelique Foster, assistant vice president for strategic initiatives, Todd Saliman, vice president for budget and finance and chief financial officer, and Michael Lightner, vice president for academic affairs, who support CU’s four-campus system.
- Physics Professor Noah Finkelstein gave a presentation about “Transforming the Evaluation of Teaching.”
- Professor Adam Norris, who leads the assembly’s nominations and elections committee, reminded members of the election for an at-large representative.
The goal of the system administration’s strategic plan is to create a roadmap focused on systemwide strategic priorities for the next five years and beyond that are guided by conversations with regents, chancellors, faculty, staff and students.
Thus far, the process has resulted in four pillars: affordability and student success; discovery and impact; fiscal strength; and diversity, inclusion, equity and access.
Kennedy said several working groups would address each of the pillars, with some focusing on areas that are campus specific and others that are systemwide.
“We will be working with each campus on those goals,” he said. “I think (they) will mesh well with the campus plan you already have in place.”
Saliman said the working groups are looking at sustainability and deferred maintenance, and would determine next steps and prioritize them with the president.
A desired outcome is to gather ideas about systemwide efficiencies, which will be presented to the Board of Regents at their summer retreat, he said.
CU Boulder Provost Russell Moore provided BFA members with an update on what the CU Boulder campus is doing to prepare for the arrival of COVID-19 in Colorado.
“We have well-developed plans for research and teaching continuity,” Moore told some 60 faculty members in attendance at the meeting. “The 2013 floods tested us on those areas and they allowed us to flex some muscles and will help us prepare.”
He urged faculty to watch for upcoming updates about the campus’s planning efforts and to check the CU Boulder coronavirus webpage for more information and resources.
Moore also gave faculty an update on the campus’s strategic initiatives, including Academic and Financial Futures. He said Academic Futures, which is in the implementation phase, showed significant faculty involvement, having netted 150 white papers. The Financial Futures project has generated 500 projects through an “unparalleled” engagement process.
“I applaud those of you who have engaged in the Academic Futures and Financial Futures process. Campus engagement has been remarkable,” he said.
Moore outlined for the group the desire to move ahead on reorganization of the College of Arts and Sciences—a move that would be more fully announced after a meeting next week with department chairs in the college.
Under the proposed plan, the campus’s largest college would have a dean of the college and three more empowered divisional deans—a design he said would bring faculty into closer proximity to leadership to shape goals, decisions and outcomes.
Moore also fielded a question about his office’s budget, which stands at $7.2 million annually, with most of that going back to the schools and colleges, he said.
He also addressed concerns about a proposed change in the contract and working agreement for campus instructors, and Moore said he has asked for a review of the contract proposed by instructors.
Additionally, he engaged in a conversation about the professional rights and duties document, which is under significant revision, he said.
“You are the faculty. We are working to see that those rights and duties are assigned to faculty, and I include instructor ranks in that,” he said.
