The values driving CU Boulder’s work and AI on campus were the main topics discussed during the first Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA) meeting of the year, held on Sept. 3 in Wolf Law.

Update on the Campus Values Project

What are our values as an institution?

That’s the question that the Campus Values Project is looking to answer. The effort, co-facilitated by Sonia DeLuca Fernández, senior vice chancellor for leadership support and programming, and Jon Leslie, senior director of special projects, aims to build a consensus about what those values might be and how they will guide CU Boulder communities as they advance the university’s mission, vision and institutional priorities.

“Historically on this campus, we invoke values without knowing what they are because we haven’t agreed upon a set,” said Leslie, adding that this can lead to conflict. “The ‘so what?’ (of the effort) is really trying to create that umbrella that gives us a common frame of reference in which our communities can thrive.”

Since its launch in fall 2025, the project has collected hundreds of responses from students, staff and faculty about what they see as CU’s defining values and created an authoring committee to draft definitions of potential campus values. BFA and other shared governance bodies are reviewing and providing feedback, ahead of a more formal proposal later this fall.

“Your input at this point on the authoring committees’ work is super critical,” said DeLuca Fernández.

OpenAI survey results

In April, a survey was administered to faculty related to the OpenAI contract; 207 responded. The survey found that faculty are largely skeptical of the current OpenAI contract for various reasons and felt as though this agreement was an intrusion on their right to control pedagogy and curricular issues and a de facto endorsement of the OpenAI tool.

BFA Chair David Paradis has shared the findings with Chancellor Justin Schwartz, which coincided with the formation of an AI steering committee being formed over the summer. This committee is composed of representatives from across campus, including the BFA, and is charged with providing recommendations related to artificial intelligence to the chancellor.

Another survey will be administered in collaboration with other shared governance groups in October to understand how faculty, staff and students are using the tool—if at all—ahead of the contract’s renewal.

Other business

• Todd Haggerty, senior vice chancellor for business, finance and infrastructure, and Mandy Cole, associate vice chancellor for budget and finance and the deputy Boulder financial officer, briefed the assembly on the most recent updates to the financial stewardship initiative.
• The BFA voted to approve two motions introduced in April: an update to the campus operations and resources committee charge and an update to the BFA standing rules to improve representation for large units.
• Paradis invited all BFA representatives, committee members and involved faculty to a community gathering lunch on Sept. 24. RSVP is required.
• The assembly also briefly discussed the work of the collective bargaining working group, whether or not they want to respond to the Compact 2.0 request that went out to universities over the summer, and the "get out the vote" efforts on campus.
• External nominations for open BFA seats, including one BFA at-large vacancy, begin next week.

Learn more about the BFA and previous actions on the BFA website.