On Thursday, March 2, 2023 the BFA Assembly held it's monthly meeting at 4pm via Zoom. Members heard from campus partners on the following areas:

• Health & Wellness Services - this unit has recently made some changes in structure as well as to offerings for campus faculty & staff. Interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Jess Doty reviwed some of these changes and spoke with representatives about the unique needs faculty face in their roles. Doty spoke about resources they are offering to support faculty wellness as well as resources for faculty for student referrals. 
• Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group - Report Review - Committee Co-chairs, Daria Kotys-Schwartz and Steve Vanderheiden presented their draft report that offers a set of guiding principles and related recommendations for faculty salary procedure optimizations. FSPWG invites all CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ faculty to review the report and provide feedback by noon, Monday, March 20. They are also hosting open forums on two dates:
  • • Assembly presentation slides
    • Draft Report

BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy updated members on two business items that would be coming before representatives in the next month for review at April Assembly. The first was regarding plans for a Campus Curriculum Policy and associated campus Curriculum Committee to meet meet longstanding campus needs, the realities of the new campus budget model, Academic Futures, and the Common Curriculum. Beechy will be sending more details giving the backstory and details of the current policy draft next week.  A motion to approve will be introduced at the April General Assembly, allowing for the customary month-long official comment and revision period, with the vote to approve to be held in May. 

Additionally, Beechy announced that the Executive Committee was submitting a notice of motion on concealed carry based on the CUSG 97 LCR 08 Concealed Carry legislation from fall (which BFA members voted to endorse) but that will provide additional faculty perspective on the need for such a move in order to ensure the health and wellbeing for students, faculty, and staff on all campuses. BFA-R-1-030123 Ban Concealed Carry on CU Campuses will be revised and provided with supporting documentation during March and sent to representatives to share with their constituents prior to a vote in April. If the  resolution is adopted, it will be presented at the upcoming Regent University Affairs Committee meeting  April 15th, along with the resolution from the students.  

Assembly members were also provided information on two upcoming BFA co-sponsored events and asked faculty to save the date:

• CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Spring '23 AI Colloquium Series - featuring faculty conversations around the rise in interest in AI both within and outside academia. Campus faculty are invited to attend individual sessions or all three as it fits their schedules. Sessions will be held in the CTL lecture room E390 in CASE. Sessions will also be available to stream remotely via Zoom but no chat will be available. 
• Until We Are Free - A film screening and conversation with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi about the global struggle for women’s right and the β€œWomen, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran – Fri. April 7 at 5pm in the Chancellors Hall & Auditorium. The event is co-sponsored by Academic Affairs, Faculty Affairs, and the BFA. More details on registration will be forthcoming. 

Lastly, representatives were reminded that nominations are open for vacant At-Large Assembly representatives. These seats are open to and voted on by all eligible campus faculty. Both self-nominations and nominations are welcome. For more information, please see the BFA Elections webpage or contact BFA Secretary Vicki Grove at bfa@colorado.edu. 

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The Common Curriculum Planning committee submitted their final proposal to Provost Moore on October 7, 2022 for review. Campus faculty in each college and school* as well as BFA Representatives will vote by November 18, 2022 to approve the proposal.

**Update November 7, 2022**

Following the BFA October 20, 2022 presentation by Katherine Eggert, Sr. Vice Provost of Academic Planning and Assessment and Daryl Joji Maeda, Dean and Vice Provost Undergraduate Education, the "whereas" section of the resolution was modified based on member feedback to:

Be it resolved that the ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Faculty Assembly endorses the substance of the proposed common curriculum, particularly its statement regarding the purpose and distinctive nature of a CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ education. Be it further resolved that implementation of the common curriculum shall be led by faculty at all stages, with the ultimate establishment of a permanent campuswide curriculum committee chaired by faculty and with a majority-faculty composition. The BFA further encourages departments and programs to proactively update their learning outcomes and curricular statements in light of the common curriculum and its guiding ethos of β€œSustainable Futures: Self, Society, World.” 

The final resolution was voted on at the November 3, 2022 BFA Assembly meeting and was approved with 43 votes in favor; 3 abstentions; and 6 opposed. Please see related resources and a links below:

• BFA-R-3-100222 A Resolution Regarding a Campus Common Curriculum
• Common Curriculum Proposal Slides 10.06.22
• Common Curriculum Proposal: Learning Objectives & Outcomes 10.06.22

*CU Law will not be voting since the measure is for schools that teach undergraduate students

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At the October 6, 2022 BFA General Assembly meeting, members voted to support the . The measure was introduced at the September meeting for review and at last night's meeting members voted 46 in favor, 1 opposed, and 1 abstention to approve BFA support. CUSG will formally introduce the resolution to the Regents this month. 

The meeting began with a conversation with C.U. President Todd Saliman who spoke with members regarding several areas including faculty salary and pay issues and inflation, state funding and outreach issues that impact C.U.'s budget, and the importance of belonging for all campus members. There was also discussion related to the cost of the C.U. football coach contract buyout, athletics revenue impacts from a possible conference change and the large outstanding debt held by C.U. ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ athletics. 

There were also presentations by Katherine Eggert, Sr. Vice Provost and A.V.C. of Academic Planning and Assessment along with Daryl Maeda, Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education regarding the proposed Common Curriculum. The final proposal by the Common Curriculum committee was submitted to Provost Moore on Thursday, and will be on the committee's webpage soon. Along with faculty approval from each college and school (except Law), BFA representatives will also vote on the proposal per Regent Law requirements of faculty approval of curriculum. The BFA will be hosting a special session on Thursday, October 20 from 4-5 pm via Zoom to delve deeper into the proposal and it's impacts for implementation. The session will be open to all campus faculty. More information will be posted on the BFA website and sent to BFA representatives. BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy introduced BFA-R-3-100222 A Resolution Concerning a Campus Common Curriculum. The resolution will be under review for thirty days and is scheduled for a vote at the BFA November 3rd General Assembly meeting. 

Janet Casagrand, Chair of Administrative Services & Technology Committee (ASTC) along with Orrie Gartner, A.V.C and Deputy CIO updated members on several tech issues that impact faculty including: 

• Delays of 1-2 days for test scoring turnaround at the Student Testing Center due to staff shortages. Members were encouraged to leave test materials with managers only. 
• OIT transition from . The ASTC has worked with Orrie to create an .
• - the BFA has held several sessions on this issue last spring. OIT has a to help campus members review their personal data useage and . For those using mjore than 5GB of storage, OIT is asking faculty to delete any unnecessary items in advance of upcoming to OneDrive. The Google imposed deadline is December 31, 2022. 

Rolf Norgaard, Chair of the Instructor Track Faculty Affairs Committee (ITFAC) introduced to pieces of legislation to members. The first motion will formally change the committee name to Teaching Faculty Affairs Committee (TFAC) along with some small updates in membership and language. Additionally, the committee is introducing a resolution to require campus units to pay a salary increment to base upon promotion to teaching faculty. Members are asked to share both items with their constituents and are under review for thirty days. Any feedback, questions, etc. can be emailed to bfa@colorado.edu or rolf.norgaard@colorado.edu. 

• BFA-M-1-092822 ITFAC Committee Name Change
• BFA-R-1-092822 ITFAC Resolution on Promotion Raises

The meeting was extended by ten minutes in order for a final presentation by Lori Call, AVC Government and Community Outreach, and Derek Silva, AVC Business Strategy on the upcoming referendum for CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ South. The presentation was on the project history only since CU is not allowed to lobby around the measure. Call and Silva encouraged membes to review information provided on the upcoming referendum for full details.

The BFA General Assembly's next meeting is on Thursday, November 3, 2022 from 4-5:30 via Zoom. A meeting summary is sent to members the Tuesday following Assembly, and Meeting Minutes are sent the last Friday of the month. For any questions on BFA business or for BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy, please email: bfa@colorado.edu

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Members of the  BFA Climate, Science, and Education Committee (CSEC) have arranged a panel discussion at the 2022 Conference on World Affairs. The panel titled: Climate Change: A Global Challenge with Local Opportunities will take place on Friday, April 8 from 10:30 to 11:40 a.m. in UMC 235.

The panel focus will be to discuss climate action on a local level and how more of our community can play a role in developing and implementing those solutions.  Or as R. Buckminster Fuller said, "Think globally, act locally."  Panelists will be discussing how members of the CU campus and the broader ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Valley community are taking action to mitigate the consequences of climate change as well as build resilience against climate related disasters.

Panelists include:

Moderator: - Executive Director, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy & the Environment, CU Law

• Max Boykoff - Chair - Environmental Sciences Department
• Michael Jacobs - CUSG Environmental Board
•  - Sustainability Director ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ County
• Heidi Vangenderen - CU Chief Sustainability Officer 

To watch a recording of this Climate Change panel event, please follow these steps:

1) Watch the 5 minute video of the Dec. 2021 Marshall Fire using this link:


2) Watch the Climate panel discussion at this link and note that the audio does not start until after 54seconds have elapsed:


3) Fast forward when the Marshall Fire video comes on between 17:00 and 21:50 minutes.

Climate Panel Handout

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In February, members of the BFA Budget & Planning Committee (BPC) along with members from the BFA Climate, Science, and Education Committee (CSEC) agreed to create a joint subcommittee to create a resolution calling on CU's retirement fund company TIAA to divest from it's holdings in oil and gas. The group drafted a resolution, BFA-R-2-030122 Resolution for TIAA Divestment & Climate Reinvestment which was introduced at the BFA March 3, 2022 meeting as a notice of motion. The resolution expands on previous BFA resolutions and acknowledges Chancellor Philip DiStefano's 2021 "Call to Climate Action." It also calls on TIAA as the sole administrator of retirement funds available to CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ faculty to make a number of changes to the one Social Choice fund it offers, including developing a more robust selection of funds without holdings in the fossil fuels industry or deforestation-risk companies, and to reinvest in companies that invest in a climate-responsible and socially just transition.

After discussion on the resolution, BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy announced that the BFA would host a seperate session on Thursday, March 17 from 4-5pm via Zoom for further discussion on the resolution. This session will have a faculty focus, but is open to CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ students, staff, and faculty. BFA Representatives and their constituents have until March 31 to send questions, comments, and proposed edits for consideration. Emails and other questions on the listening session should be sent to: bfa@colorado.edu. 

BFA discussion regarding resolution for TIAA Divestment & Climate Justice Reinvestment - March 17, 2022 4-5 p.m.

Zoom Meeting information: 

• Topic: BFA Assembly - Special Meeting re: TIAA resolution**
• Meeting ID: 963 0295 1791

Related BFA Resolutions

• BFA-R-120116 Resolution to address climate change
• BFA-R-1-090519 Supporting youth climate action
• BFA-R-4-110719 Supporting CUSG's Resolution Declaring a Climate Emergency

**Please note in order to join the meeting you MUST be logged into your  

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On Thursday, November 4, 2021 at a regular BFA General Assembly meeting, members voted in favor of suspending the Bylaws in order to vote on a BFA resolution endorsing the CU Faculty Council resolution approved on October 29, 2021 regarding Academic Freedom and Diversity. Representatives approved the measure with 40 in favor, 0 opposed, and 1 abstention. The approved BFA resolution was forwarded to campus and system leadership. The Faculty Council resolution is in response to a motion by Regent Ganhal on "Recognition of free exchange of ideas and prohibition of certain mandatory training programs" scheduled on the November 4, 2021 Board of Regent meeting agenda. 

BFA-R-2-110121 Endorsement of CU Faculty Council Resolution Re: Academic Freedom & Diversity

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The BFA Executive Committee has named four faculty nominees for the CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ faculty seat on the CU Presidential Search Committee.

• Max Boykoff, Professor and Director of Environmental Studies; Institute Fellow, CIRES. Max leads the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO) while he leads the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Colorado Local Science Engagement Network and co-Directs 'Inside the Greenhouse'
• David Korevaar, Distinguished Professor of Music, Helen and Peter Weil Professor of Piano, and Chair of the Roser Piano and Keyboard Program of the College of Music
• David Paradis, Teaching Professor of History; Secretary, Faculty Council
• Emily Yeh, Professor of Geography and President of the American Association of Geographers

The Board of Regents will be reviewing all search committee nominees and announce the final search committee members in November. Regent Lesley Smith was announced on September 10, 2021 as Chair of the search committee. A decision on co or vice chair is pending. 

The search committee membership includes:

• At least two regents
• 1 dean
• 4 faculty (one from each campus) with distinguished records of achievement
• 2 students (one undergraduate and one graduate)
• 2 staff
• 2 alumni/ae
• 1 CU Board of Foundation member
• 4 community members

For full information on regarding the Presidential search process and related Regent Policies see links below:

 (please also see recently approved changes to )

For questions regarding the faculty nomination, please contact BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy. For all other questions, please see the on the CU Presidential Search webpage. 

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Dear BFA Representatives,

Please see the Call for Nominations letter by BFA Secretary Adam Norris for the internal phase for BFA fall 2021 elections. The dates for elections are as follows:

Phase I – Internal – Open only to BFA Representatives

• Nominations: August 24 – 31, 2021
• Elections: September 2 -3, 2021

Phase II – External – Open to all eligible campus faculty senate members

• Nominations: Sept 7-13, 2021
• Elections: Sept. 14-16, 2021

Please visit the BFA Elections webpage for more information. To find out more about individual committees, please visit the BFA Standing Committee webpage. Additionally this year we have two seats for faculty interested in serving on the CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Police Department Community Oversight Review Board, and four seats open for faculty interested in serving on the Honor Code Advisory Board.

Send nominations, self-nominations, or any questions addressed to BFA Secretary Adam Norris to: bfa@colorado.edu

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May 10, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

The ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ Faculty Assembly welcomes the news that President Mark Kennedy will work with the University of Colorado Board of Regents to bring about an orderly transition of the University’s presidency in the near future.  In October 2018, in response to a request from the Board of Regents, the BFA Executive Committee prepared a statement, β€œAttributes that Should Guide the Selection of the Next CU President,” and we are more certain now than we were then that what we called for has been and will continue to be relevant.  When the time comes, the BFA believes that it will be in the best interest of all four campuses of the CU system that the faculty have a robust role in the search for a new leader. 

Sincerely,

Bob Ferry

BFA Chair

Tiffany Beechy

BFA Chair-Elect

See the official PDF statement here

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The External Phase of BFA Standing Committee elections is now open. All eligible* CU ΒιΆΉΣ°ΤΊ faculty are welcome to self-nominate or be nominated for seat vacancies.

Please see the Call for Nominations letter by BFA Secretary Adam Norris for complete information.

To learn more about BFA Standing Committees you can review each committee's web page. See these pages to learn more about BFA Elections or How to Become a Member. Nominees will be voted on by BFA General Assembly voting members.

Dates for the External Phase are as follows:

• Nominations Accepted: Tuesday, September 8 through Sunday, September 13
• Elections: Tuesday, September 15th through Thursday September 17th 

Please send nominations/self-nominations or any questions addressed to Adam Norris at: bfa@colorado.edu

*Regent Law Article V defines eligible faculty senate members. See Who Is Eligible to Serve?  as well as the above letter from BFA Secretary Adam Norris for specifics.

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