CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty

BFA March 7, 2024 Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:14:45 +0000

BFA March 7, 2024 Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/12/2024 - 17:14

The �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Assembly held the annual meeting of the �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Senate on Thursday, March 7, 2024. This meeting occurs once a year during any spring Assembly meeting and is open to the full �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Senate. BFA Vice Chair and CU Faculty Council Chair Alastair Norcross presided. Members heard various updates from campus on the following items:

I. Buff Undergraduate Success (BUS) Update – Katherine Eggert, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Assessment along with Joe Thomas, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs provided members with updates to this project which includes a revised charge as of February 2024. It specifies a focus on "cross-functional and cross-campus collaboration that results in policy and process improvement for all undergraduate students and particularly for underrepresented students from historically marginalized groups from their first day on campus through the fourth semester." The group will work in concert with the Provost's and COO's priority projects to ensure there is not a duplication of efforts or multiple directions on the same project. The group has also added some new members including Jess Doty, Chief Wellness Officer, Amy Hutton, Chief Enrollment Officers, and Daryl Maeda, Dean and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. Eggert noted some improvements in CU �鶹ӰԺ's 6-year graduation rates up by 4% but still lagging AAU peers. A full list of current projects can be found on the March 7 Assembly BUS Update Slides. Eggert also noted ways faculty can help in this effort which included:

Please use course alerts!
Use Canvas to keep students apprised of grades and performance
Keep abreast of forthcoming Canvas course guidance and templates for faculty
Be aware of "high impact" courses that can stall students in academic careers. Examples include those courses that:
- are taken by a large percentage of first-year students
- have DFW rates of greater than 15%
- have equity gaps of greater than 10%
- Specific departments will be contacted
Check out Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) offerings

II. IT Decision Framework Model – Vice Chancellor of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Marin Stanek introduced a new IT decision framework model (also known as an IT governance model). The model will provide a more effective decision-making process, increased transparency, and to align IT strategies with overall institution academic and research goals. Currently CU �鶹ӰԺ uses a highly decentralized process that increases duplicative efforts and increases costs. CU lags behind most R1 peers in not having this type of model in place. Page eight (8) of the IT Decision Framework BFA 03.07.24 slides gives an overview of the framework. Faculty representation in the process comes in several areas including BFA representation on the Student & Academic Technology Committee by Janet Casagrand, the chair of the BFA Academic Technologies & Services (ATSC) committee. Additionally, Elizabeth Romero Fuerte, Asst. Vice Provost and AVC for Academic Technology and Student Success sits on both the ATSC and on the BFA Executive Committee. Faculty participating on departmental IT committees will also be called on for input and feedback.

III. APS 5060 Faculty Appointments – Alastair Norcross, BFA Vice Chair & CU Faculty Council Chair

Changes to this system administrative policy statement went into effect on July 1, 2023 and included making Teaching Professor titles an official option for campuses. �鶹ӰԺ currently uses these titles instead of Instructor, however final changes need to be made in HCM (HR management software) by system HR which is expected to happen sometime late spring or summer. Due to updates in this policy, CU Faculty Council is updating the CU Faculty Senate Constitution. Faculty are asked to be aware of the following:

Although the appendix of APS5060 outlines faculty titles, membership in the CU Faculty Senate* is defined by the Faculty Senate Constitution.
Faculty Council has completed revisions for the constitution, however approval of the revised document requires a 2/3 majority approval by all University of Colorado faculty senate members.
Faculty who are eligible to vote will receive the emailed ballot prior to April 1.
Faculty are asked to ensure your colleagues are aware of this process and encourage them to vote.

Additionally Norcross updated members on a current situation related to Lecturers hired at CU �鶹ӰԺ related to APS 5060 which defines Lecturers as temporary employees with less than a 50% appointment (which is generally one course). Instead most Lecturers on campus are hired to teach more than one course and have appointments of greater than 50%. System has asked �鶹ӰԺ to resolve this issue by fall. Provost Moore formed a task force to work on solutions and guidelines for this issue. Members include Katherine Eggert, Robyn Fergus, Shelly Miller, and Ann Schmiesing. Miller asked reps to contact her at bfa@colorado.edu if they (or a colleague) has ideas/experience in this kind of problem-solving.

IV. BFA Campus Updates

Climate Action Plan (CAP) feedback review – the comment/feedback period closed on March 5th.
Western District Energy Plant – The BFA has convened a shared governance team along with staff from Infrastructure and Sustainability to review the decision to upgrade this plant on main campus and determine if there is a better solution or additional recommendations to be made.
Chancellor Candidate Visits – Per two e-memos (March 1 and March 6) the CU �鶹ӰԺ Chancellor Search Committee has asked campus members to save the date for open forum(s) with candidate(s) the week of March 18. Miller has asked representatives to encourage their colleagues to attend to ensure there is faculty feedback on the candidate(s). At this time it has not been determined if there will be more than one, but if there are those sessions will be on different days next week at the times listed below. There should also be a virtual option for the faculty session(s). Final date details are expected soon.
- Faculty – 8:00 a.m., UMC Ballroom
- Staff – 9:15 a.m., UMC Ballroom
- Students – 5:00 p.m., Location on campus, TBD

V. Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) Resources for Open Access Changes – Steve Vanderheiden, BFA Faculty Affairs Committee Chair and committee member Melissa Cantrell, Ctr for Research Data/Digital Scholarship reviewed a resource document the FAC has created for faculty regarding recent changes in Open Access (OA) guidelines. Please share widely with your colleagues.

VI. BFA Announcements – Vicki Grove, BFA Secretary reminded members on two current BFA business items:

The 2024 Excellence Award winners have been announced and to save the date for the ceremony on Thursday, April 18 in the UMC from 4:30-7pm.
BFA At-Large Representative Elections are still underway and all eligible campus faculty are able to vote. Representatives are asked to remind their colleagues to vote prior to the election end date on Friday, March 15.

Please also see the CU �鶹ӰԺ Today article on the March Assembly meeting as well.

*At the University of Colorado, the “faculty senate” refers to all faculty who are eligible to vote and take part in shared faculty governance processes. The CU Faculty Council is the elected system-wide faculty governance body, and the �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Assembly is the campus faculty governance body. At most other institutions the “faculty senate” refers to the elected university faculty governance body. See the �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Senate page for more information.

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2024 BFA Excellence Awards Winners Announced!

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 20:54:19 +0000

2024 BFA Excellence Awards Winners Announced! Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/22/2024 - 13:54

The BFA Excellence Awards specifically recognize outstanding work and a concerted effort to make advances in the academy. The Chancellor provides financial support for these prestigious awards and a ceremony in the spring recognizes the winners and features a keynote by the Hazel Barnes Awardee for that year. This year's ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 18 from 4:30-7pm in the Glenn Miller Ballroom at the UMC. Please mark your calendars!

The �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Assembly is pleased to announce the winners of this year's Excellence Awards Winners

Excellence in Leadership & Service

Valerie McKenzie, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Alastair Norcross, Philosophy

Excellence in Research, Scholarly, and Creative Work

Jason Boardman, Institute of Behavioral Science & Sociology

Joost de Gouw, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences & Chemistry

Rebecca Safran, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Excellence in Teaching

Colene Robinson, CU Law School

.Cosetta Seno French & Italian

Bethany Wilcox, Physics

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December 7, 2023 BFA Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 21:47:54 +0000

December 7, 2023 BFA Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/08/2023 - 14:47

The BFA closed out fall semester with a final meeting on Thursday, December 7, 2023. Provost Russell Moore updated faculty on priority projects that Chancellor DiStefano had assigned Academic Affairs and Strategic Resources and COO to oversee. Academic Affairs priorities include:

reviewing the alternative college option (ACO) and Program for Exploratory Studies (PES) - current data is showing that these academically prepared undergraduate students who did not get into the college/school of their choice don't persist at CU �鶹ӰԺ.
improving academic support for students - ensuring that all first year students have access to equal programming. This includes:
- the best practices from Residential Academic Programs(RAPs) and Living & Learning Communities (LLCs) and
- wrap-around programming for students including things such as: tutoring, advising, and academic enrichment programs.

Additionally, the Provost spoke about how recent changes to two CU System Administrative Policy statements related to teaching faculty will impact campus this year. APS 5060 Faculty Appointments and APS 5053 Multi-year Contracts for Instructional, Research, and Clinical (IRC) faculty were reviewed by the BFA and Faculty Council EPUS committee over the last year, and were recently approved. APS 5060 will end use of the "instructor" title on the �鶹ӰԺ campus, and instead utilize a teaching faculty series (Teaching Professor; Assoc. Teaching Professor; and Asst. Teaching Professor). The necessary job code changes must be added and implemented at a System HR level. APS 5053 allows campus to offer 5-year contracts for teaching and clinical faculty. Deans will now have the option of awarding 5-year contracts at the time of reappointment or promotion. Faculty are asked to email the Office of Faculty Affairs for questions: facultyaffairs@colorado.edu.

Provost Moore thanked the BFA Administrator Appraisal Committee along with the BFA Executive Committee for working with him on his recent appraisal. Related to improved communication, Moore is now meeting each semester with the BFA ExCom and noted that a new communication from his office called "The Provost's Posts" will have updates from his office each semester. Questions from representatives included a call from the BFA CSEC asking Academic Affairs to take actions related to the climate crisis. Moore noted that one area being discussed is how faculty might develop curriculum for first year students in LLC's and RAPS about the Climate Action Plan (CAPS) and how it undergirds campus sustainability initiatives. Other discussion included encouraging academic units to utilize teaching faculty hires which allow for career path opportunities instead of multiple lecturer hires; the use of High Impact Practices (HIPS) related to the new budget model; and lastly how some deferred maintenance for classroom improvements needs to be systematically brought up to date.

Katherine Eggert, Sr. Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Assessment and Kristi Wold-McCormick, Campus Registrar spoke to representatives about a draft academic policy on Credit for Prior Learning. The Colorado Department of Higher Education(CDHE) has recently updated their policy on prior learning assessment. Combined with these changes, campus units have new curricular offerings that can work with industry and would like to offer related credit in those areas and lastly campus needs a way to check for competencies from non-traditional learning experiences. There are three categories of higher learning that will be considered (see presentation slides) including credit from: standardized exams; course challenge; and learning experiences outside of higher education. The policy spells out how departments and units will handle processes related to all three areas. The BFA Academic Affairs committee reviewed the draft policy with Eggert and Wold-McCormick and overall felt that the policy responds to the new state requirements and campus needs but still allows for department level autonomy. The BFA resolution is required per the policy on policies, and the AAC submits BFA-R-1-112823 Credit for Prior Learning to Assembly for consideration. Representatives will have until the end of January to review and share the draft policy with constituents and provide feedback. The resolution will be voted on at the February 1, 2024 Assembly meeting, and the policy will then be reviewed by Deans Council prior to going to the Provost for approval.

BFA Chair Shelly Miller discussed the BFA representative poll data on the Academic Calendar reform options that had been presented to members this fall. Miller sent a summary of the poll results to Chancellor DiStefano, Provost Moore, and COO O'Rourke earlier that day, which was forwarded to Assembly members. The data showed overall support for most elements of the two proposals, with the exception of two areas (mid-semester reading day & reduction from 72-70 instructional hours). Those two areas were more problematic for faculty and Miller recommended that Academic Affairs work with units offering lab classes to ensure a smooth transition since they will likely need to create alternate scheduling mechanisms compared to what has been offered in the past. Katherine Eggert noted that her understanding was that the Chancellor would be making a decision on this before the end of the semester. Please see the BFA Academic Calendar story for links to the poll results and FAQs on the two models. Miller also updated members on the two groups she represents faculty on: the �鶹ӰԺ Chancellor Search Committee process, and the Campus Sustainability Executive Council. Additionally, there is a Sustainability communications & engagement committee which has three BFA-nominated faculty members: Shideh Dashti, CVEN; Rebecca Dickson, PWR; and Irina Overeem, GEOS.

Assembly members then considered three previous resolutions introduced at November Assembly, and a new resolution introduced to representatives earlier in the week. See details below:

BFA-R-2-120423 Commitment to Campus Community, Acad. Freedom, Free speech w/Regard to Palestine & Israel - Due to the timely nature of this resolution, the Faculty Affairs Committee asked representatives to suspend the Bylaws in order to allow members to vote that afternoon. Members approved voting on the item, and the measure passed with 32 votes in favor; 6 opposed; and 9 abstentions.
BFA-R-1-100923 Resolution in Support of Urgent Climate Change Action - Approved 42; 2 opposed; 2 abstentions
BFA-M-2-100923 Bylaws Executive Committee Assembly Membership Voting Rights - Approved 41 in favor; 0 opposed; 6 abstentions
BFA-M-3-103023 Committee Chair Selection Standing Rules - Approved 41 in favor; 0 opposed; 6 abstentions

The next Assembly meeting is on February 1, 2024.

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BFA Intercollegiate Athletics Committee hosts Conversations with Athletics -

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 17:35:52 +0000

BFA Intercollegiate Athletics Committee hosts Conversations with Athletics - Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/26/2023 - 11:35

Please join the BFA Intercollegiate Athletics committee (IAC) for our next installment of the Campus-Athletic Conversation Series for AY23-24. Each session will include a presentation from an Athletic Department representative followed by discussion and Q&A. Topics for this academic year will include the athletic department overview, the safety, health and wellness of our student athletes, student-athlete academic success, and equity, diversity and inclusion. All CU �鶹ӰԺ Faculty & Staff are invited to join!

Our first installment of the Campus-Athletic Conversation Series is entitled “BFA Campus-Athletes Conversation Series #1 "RAPID: CU Athletics in a Changing Landscape" and will be presented by CU Athletic Director Rick George, on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm in the UMC Aspen Room.

Faculty and staff should feel bring your own lunch, however coffee and lemonade will be provided. There is limited seating, so please RSVP here (https://app.cubuffs.com/campus) if you plan to attend.

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BFA February 2, 2023 General Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:05:19 +0000

BFA February 2, 2023 General Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/02/2023 - 15:05

The �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Assembly held it's first meeting of spring semester on Thursday, February 2, 2023 via Zoom. The following items were on the agenda:

Katherine Eggert, SVP of Academic Planning and Assement gave members an update on the propsal for a campus common curriculum from fall and on next steps. These will include mapping of common curiculum learning outcomes onto existing curricula and First-Year Experience programs. A campus curriculum committee will be formed in the fall to evaluate the mapping and work with colleges, schools and Student Affairs to identify gaps. Common Curriculum presentation slides; Common Curriculum Proposal Acceptance

Rolf Norgaard, chair of the BFA Teaching Faculty Affairs committee (TFAC) announced that the BFA is launching a survey on governance, voting rights, and inclusion for teaching and clinical faculty on campus. The survey will be sent to eligible teaching and clinical faculty for two weeks with a summary of results being presented at an upcoming Assembly meeting. Please send questions to bfa@colorado.edu.

Melissa Cantrell, Data & Scholarly Communications Librarian updated Assembly members regarding recently announced federal guidelines from the OSTP (Nelson) Memo and the possible impacts for public access to all publicly funded research and data. The BFA is hosting joint listening sessions with CU Libraries and RIO for campus faculty and researchers aimed at providing more information and getting feedback on how campus can support them. These sessions are open to campus.

AI Developments and Academia - BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy and Janet Casagrand, chair of the Academic Technologies & Services Committee (ATSC) led a preliminary discussion related to recent, high-profile developments in AI. While there was concern regarding academic integrity, faculty are also very curious about the ramifications of powerful software, for every area of human endeavor. The faculty discussed near-term objectives such as shoring up the Honor Code but also discussed plans for a series of interdisciplinary symposia on the impacts of AI in faculty's respective fields. The Center for Teaching & Learning will coordinate with both the BFA and OIT to create these sessions.

The BFA voted on and approved four pending motions that were introduced at the December Assembly meeting for consideration:

Lastly, BFA Secretary Vicki Grove reminded representatives that BFA Assembly At-Large Representative election procesess would begin in February and that all faculty senate members are eligible to serve. A call for nominations can be expected later this month. Additionally, there are two open seats for �鶹ӰԺ faculty on the system Faculty Senate Grievance Committee (formerly P&T). These seats are for open to eligible faculty in non-A&S units. Please contact Jennifer Hendricks, chair of the BFA Grievance Advisory Committee at bfa@colorado.edu for more information.

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BFA December Assembly Meeting Overview with Address by Provost Moore

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 21:53:30 +0000

BFA December Assembly Meeting Overview with Address by Provost Moore Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/06/2022 - 14:53

The BFA held it's final meeting of fall semester on December 1, 2022 via Zoom. Provost Russell Moore addressed members at the top of the meeting and reviewed specific topics of interest to the faculty including:

Update regarding restricted proprietary and classified research funding – this type of research specific controls and facilities, which would need to be created off-campus. Creating a Classified Research Ready Roadmap report is currently in process and is expected in spring semester.
Supporting campus Iranian and Iranian American faculty, staff, and students – currently meeting with leadership and the campus Iranian community to improve services and support CU �鶹ӰԺ can offer.
Faculty Mental Health – campus faculty and staff can now access the telehealth service: Academic Life Care (ALC). Additionally campus is working on a training series for faculty to recognize student signs of distress and available campus resources.
Native American Campus Liaison – Sr. Vice Chancellor for DEI, Sonia DeLuca Fernandez is creating a hiring plan for this position that will be an external facing position to liaise with national Native American nations.
Equal Pay Equal Work Act (EPEWA) updates –
- Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group (FSPWG) report due in early spring
- HR will have structural salary compression adjustments for staff before the end of the year.
- Instructor Promotion Pay increases – Deans were asked to discuss unified approach to pay increases. ARMAC is gathering this information from public institutions and will have recommendations spring semester. Members also discussed a recent proposal to allow for teaching faculty to choose a 12-month vs. 9-month appointment.
- CFO Hagerty and CBO Fergus charged with creation of strategic compensation plan for campus.
Online Sports Betting – review of the 2020 campus agreement with PointsBet as featured in a recent NYT article. Member discussion included a suggestion to have campus academic units create guides/pointers for students to use regarding the use of online sports betting. (please also see the BFA resolution recommending that campus create a campus policy on sports wagering on CU �鶹ӰԺ NCAA team submitted by the Intercollegiate Athletics committee and approved by representatives last year)

In BFA committee updates and news:

The BFA Administrator Appraisal Committee (AAPC) has been newly reconstituted and Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, Civil, Architechtural, and Environmental Engineering was elected as committee chair. The committee will be conducting an appraisal of Provost Moore during spring semester, and has updated the committee charge to reflect the new processes. Rosario-Ortiz introduced a motion regarding these changes: BFA-M-3-11.14.22 AAPC Committee Charge Revision for review by representatives. Feedback or questions on the motion should be sent to him at bfa@colorado.edu. The motion will be voted on at the BFA February 2023 meeting.
The BFA Bylaws Committee introduced two motions requesting changes to the BFA Bylaws and Standing Rules regarding membership and eligibility for BFA Officers and At-Large Representatives. Additionally, the BFA Executive Committee is recommending similar changes to CU Faculty Council Bylaws and Faculty Constitution regarding membership and elgibility for Faculty Council Officers. These items will all be voted on at the February Assembly meeting. BFA representatives are encouraged to share these items with their constituents and send any questions or suggestions to Alastair Norcross at bfa@colorado.edu.
Representatives unanimously approved a motion introduced at November Assembly to revise the AST committee name and charge to Academic Technologies & Services Committee.

Members also heard updates on the 2023 FRPA (due Feburary 1, 2023 for work done during AY21-22) by Andrea Feldman, chair of the BFA Diversity Committee. See "What's New on the FRPA this year" for complete details. Additionally, BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy let representatives know that she has been attending faculty department meetings this fall to discuss options for including DEI work in unit annual merit review evaluation processes. Interested units should feel free to email her at bfa@colorado.edu to schedule a session for spring semester. Please also see the BFA DEI in Faculty Merit Evaluations webpage for DEI narrative examples and related BFA resolutions.

Lastly, members from the BUS-LIT Buff Undergraduate Success Team gave Assembly members an update on their work including projects completed in 2022 and projects to be completed by fall 2023. See presentation slides for more details.

Dates for BFA General Assembly meetings during spring semester are listed below. All meetings will be held via Zoom, except for the May 4 meeting which will be held in-person at the Chancellor's Hall in the CASE Building.

Spring 2023

Feb. 2
Mar. 2
Apr. 6
May 4

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Nominations Open for the 2023 BFA Excellence Awards

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 19:29:35 +0000

Nominations Open for the 2023 BFA Excellence Awards Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 11/02/2022 - 13:29

Excellence Awardees from 2020-2022 with Provost Moore and BFA Chair Beechy

The BFA is pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the 2023 Excellence Awards. The awards specifically recognize outstanding work and a concerted effort to make advances in the academy. The Chancellor provides financial support for these prestigious awards, which will be $5000 beginning in 2023.

The BFA will grant three awards in each of the following areas:

Nominations

Nominations are open from Tuesday, November 1, 2023, through Tuesday, February 21, 2023. Please see the specific award page for nomination packet requirements and recommendations for letters of support. Nominators/nominating committees are encouraged submit packets several days prior to the deadline for office review.

All members of the �鶹ӰԺ Faculty Senate are eligible to be nominated however, the selection process gives preference to nominees who have been with the University of Colorado for at least five years. Additionally, nominated faculty must be in good standing with the University to be considered. Although faculty may receive the award for a given category only once, they are eligible to receive awards in either of the other two categories in different years. Nomination packets that are not selected the year of submission, are automatically submitted for one additional year with approval of the nominator/nominating committee.

Excellence Awards Ceremony

Colleagues, family, and friends will honor the recipients at the April 19, 2023, presentation ceremony beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Glen Miller Ballroom in the UMC. The keynote address given by the 2022 Hazel Barnes Awardee, Mark Ablowitz.

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