BFA News

Fall 2024 BFA External Elections - Call for Nominations

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 19:28:24 +0000

Fall 2024 BFA External Elections - Call for Nominations Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 09/08/2024 - 13:28

Fall 2024 BFA Elections – External

Call for Nominations

September 9, 2024

The external phase of BFA Fall elections are now underway. The nomination process begins on Monday, September 9, 2024, and continues through Wednesday, September 18^th. Once nominations have closed, the current representatives of the General Assembly will vote on the nominees; this election will take place between September 19-20.

I strongly encourage you to consider nominating yourself or a colleague to a standing committee. BFA Standing Committees undertake important work on behalf of the faculty and others in the community on the CU Boulder campus. Also included in these elections are the open CU Faculty Council seats for Boulder faculty. The chart below indicates available Committee seats.

________________________________________

Number of BFA standing committee seats up for election, by affiliation:

Academic Affairs Committee: A&S or Non-A&S: 1
Administrative Technologies and Services Committee: A&S: 1; Non-A&S: 1
Administrator Appraisal Committee: A&S or Non-A&S: 1
Campus Operations & Resources Committee: A&S: 3
Climate Science and Education Committee: A&S: 1; Non-A&S: 2
Faculty Affairs Committee: A&S: 2; Non-A&S: 2
Grievance Advisory Committee: A&S or Non-A&S: 2
Student Affairs Committee: A&S: 1; Non-A&S: 1

Number of CU Faculty Council committee seats up for election (Affiliation: CU Boulder)

________________________________________

Check our Elections webpage and Committees webpage for information on elections, committee charges, composition, etc.

Nomination email packets should include:

1. affiliation (A&S or Non-A&S), home department/unit, and contact details;

3. brief statement of interest in serving on the committee (1-2 sentences max)

4. an e-mail header containing the phrase "BFA Election Nomination"

Please email your nomination packet(s) to bfa@colorado.edu by 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, September 18, 2024. Elections are completed by Assembly members on September 20, 2024.

Nominees will be notified by email when election results are available. The election results will also be posted on the BFA web page.

Sincerely,

Vicki Grove

BFA Secretary and Chair, BFA Nominations and Elections Committee

Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA)

Email: bfa@colorado.edu

*Non-A&S units include Business, CMCI, Education, Engineering, ENVD, Law School, Libraries, and Music

Who's eligible to run and serve on Boulder and CU system shared faculty governance bodies?

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Faculty August Contract Pay & Email Security Alerts for Fall 2024

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 20:32:09 +0000

Faculty August Contract Pay & Email Security Alerts for Fall 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/16/2024 - 14:32

BFA representatives were advised of two campus issues that could impact faculty at the start of the year and asked to share this information with their constituents and colleagues.

The first was about a new email security service called Abnormal Security email that is being rolled out this week by OIT. The rollout and details were announced in CUBT on August 12, 2024.

The second item is regarding faculty contract selection and the impacts to August pay. August 19th is the first date for AY24-25 faculty contracts, which means there are fewer paid days for August paychecks.The deadline to make changes to faculty contract pay (9x9 v. 9x12) was in July and was communicated to department HR liaisons in May and June. It's recommended that faculty use the CU System faculty contract calculator tool to ensure they know what to expect.

Please use the links above and view additional details from OIT and HR listed below.

What to Know about Abnormal Security for Email

This week OIT will be rolling out a new email security service, called Abnormal Security, to help protect personal information and university data. Abnormal Security further prevents email attacks that exploit human behavior such as phishing, social engineering and account takeovers. Abnormal Security only reviews emails that pass Microsoft’s 365 quarantine and so is an addition to our email environment and is in direct response to campus feedback about the desire for improved email security as we continue to be impacted by cyber-attacks.

Why is this needed now?

It takes on average 28 seconds from a phishing email’s arrival to a successful phish (Verizon DBIR 2024). On a recent August Saturday evening at 11:47pm, a phishing attack was launched against CU Boulder and within 65 minutes, 254 CU Boulder accounts were compromised because they fell for this attack. Such attacks put personal and university data at risk.
Over the past year, CU Boulder students have lost thousands of dollars to phishing attacks while faculty and staff have had their paychecks impacted, lost control of their personal data, and had their accounts used to attack students and other faculty and staff members.
During the past six months while OIT was piloting the service, Abnormal Security detected and would have stopped 793,000 advanced attacks from reaching members of our campus community including the recent August attack.
The start-of-semester time frame historically sees a significant spike in attempted attacks.
For questions regarding Abnormal please contact: oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357

What is the risk to faculty?

During the six-month pilot, OIT has seen a 0.0004% false positive rate out of all emails arriving to CU Boulder. A false positive is when an email is incorrectly identified as malicious and blocked. Abnormal Security is an additional layer on top of the Microsoft 365 quarantine service.
What is OIT doing to prepare for false positives? OIT reviews Abnormal Security logs daily for false positives, proactively contacts recipients if a suspected false positive is discovered, and continues to train the system to reduce this possibility.
OIT met with other universities who have implemented Abnormal Security and ensured our practices around reporting phishing and inquiring about suspected missing emails is in line with best practices.
OIT can always be contacted by any faculty, student or staff who believe an email they were expecting was not received. If the email was stopped because of Abnormal Security, it can be recovered if reported to the IT Service Center within 30 days of expected receipt.
OIT and Abnormal Security continue to train the system and measure false positives to continue to reduce the 0.0004% rate further to best support and protect the campus community.

August Faculty Contract Pay Info

All faculty contracts will begin August 19th which means there will only be 10 working days associated with August contract pay. Due to the lower number of working days for August, the contract payment schedule will allocate a lesser amount for August as opposed to September which is a full month of work with 21 paid days. All faculty should expect this to yield a lower paycheck for their August payroll, much like last year. HR has provided a contract pay calculator that faculty may access to assist with planning: https://www.cu.edu/docs/contract-proration-calculator. Faculty should contact their department/unit HR liaison for questions.

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BFA May Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Tue, 07 May 2024 22:20:34 +0000

BFA May Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/07/2024 - 16:20

View the May General Assembly Photo Gallery

The BFA held it's final meeting of academic year 2023-2024 on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in-person at the Chancellor's Hall in the CASE building.

Address to Assembly – Provost Russell Moore gave representatives updates on a number of areas that Academic Affairs has been working on this year including:

Dean Searches:
- Arts & Sciences – in conversations with leadership and A&S Faculty Senate (ASFS) regarding current structure and the path forward for search.
- School of Education – search for new dean will begin soon.
APS5060 Faculty Appointments –
- Lecturers – BFA Chair Shelly Miller is part of working group looking to resolve the current issue of departments relying on temporary positions instead of creating more permanent multi-year contracts as Teaching Professors.
- Teaching Professors – job codes have been created to match the new titles and new offer letters will be coming in the next few months.
Updates on campus
- Meeting new Higher Learning Commission accreditation processes with more frequent benchmarking requirements
- The financial outlook on campus is better than many peers since the lack of state support has required CU to work on different funding models for a long time.
Faculty 50 Years of Service – The Provost acknowledged both awardees for this year although they were not able to join the meeting:
- Martin Bickman, English
- Phil DiStefano, Education
APS 1022 – Standards, Processes and Procedures for Reappointment, Tenure, Promotion, and Post-Tenure Review. System Legal has recommended changes that include treating anonymous student letters as outside solicited feedback due to privacy concerns. The CU Faculty Council EPUS committee is asking for faculty feedback on this proposed change. The majority of representative feedback was not in favor of this change. EPUS Chair Ravinder Singh encouraged representatives to ask their colleagues to email feedback to the BFA in order to be passed on to VP of Academic Affairs Mike Lightner.

BFA FCQ Resolutions – Shelly Miller, BFA Chair

After receiving many comments on the campus FCQ process related to the resolution introduced in April, the BFA Executive Committee recommended withdrawing the resolution on open comments only, and instead to recommend campus create a task force to review the full FCQ process and make recommendations on the following questions:

What processes do AAU peer universities utilize for student course evaluations and for course improvement based on student course evaluations?
Do AAU peer universities utilize student course evaluations as part of faculty merit review and/or reappointment, promotion and tenure review? If so, how?
Are there academic units on campus that have enhanced their course evaluation processes based on recommended practices?
Should information be added to the FCQ instrument to provide students with a better understanding about how academic units utilize FCQ results, why student feedback matters, and how to provide constructive feedback, in particular for open comment sections?
How can the university better provide students with guidance on reporting inappropriate faculty behavior and on available campus support services?

Members unanimously approved withdrawing the open comments resolution. The new resolution will be voted on at the September 5, 2024 Assembly meeting. Representatives are asked to share this resolution with their colleagues and to provide feedback through August 23, 2024.

BFA-M-2-031824 Create the BFA Campus Operations & Resources Committee

Approved with 47 votes in favor; 0 opposed; and 3 abstentions. BFA Chair Shelly Miller appointed Peter Hamlington, Mechanical Engineering as chair, and the committee seats will be filled in September during committee elections. If you or one of your colleagues is interested, please email bfa@colorado.edu for more information.

Recognition for BFA & Campus Service for Rolf Norgaard, PWR and Andrea Feldman, PWR.

BFA Chair Shelly Miller presented Norgaard and Feldman with certificates of appreciation from the BFA for the many years of contributions to faculty shared governance and to campus policies ranging from Teaching Faculty (Instructor) rights, contracts, pay, and titles to recognition of DEI in the FRPA and departmental merit review processes. Norgaard and Feldman are retiring this spring. The BFA wishes them well!

BFA Elections Announcement

All three nominees were elected for a second term of one year. Please join us in congratulating:

Alastair Norcross, Philosophy – BFA Vice Chair
Vicki Grove, Germanic & Slavic Literature & Languages – BFA Secretary
Adam Norris, Applied Math – BFA Executive Committee At-Large Representative

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General Assembly April 4, 2024 Meeting

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 14:33:37 +0000

General Assembly April 4, 2024 Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/05/2024 - 08:33

The BFA held it's regular monthly meeting on April 4, 2024 via Zoom. Chancellor DiStefano was on hand to address faculty for the final time as CU Boulder Chancellor. Areas on his mind as the academic year is wrapping up included a concern about academic freedom in light of recent events this year as well as upcoming elections. DiStefano encouraged faculty to be empathetic and to remain open to civic discussion around hard topics. He emphasized that democracy is fragile but that CU Boulder has a critical role to play in educating tomorrow's leaders. During questions from members, DiStefano also said an important concern was the public perception of higher education.

When asked about things over his tenure at CU that he’s most proud of, the chancellor noted that shared governance is unique to higher education and that he's appreciated the guidance from the BFA along with other campus bodies that he's worked with over the years. DiStefano told members that he has great pride in where Boulder stands in relation to AAU peers and gives credit to faculty in particular for their work over the last fifteen years in research, scholarship and creative work. Additionally, he noted that during his time as Provost, he was also proud of work done with the BFA to begin improving conditions for instructors. In particular he noted the efforts of Cathy Comstock and Rolf Norgaard on the Instructor Bill of Rights. DiStefano also noted that previously fundraising in his role was not a main focus, but that through his efforts he more than doubled the amounts and noted that fundraising would continue to play a key role in the future.

Lastly, the chancellor told members that he’s looking forward to returning to the faculty and noted that back in the day he had been an original member of the BFA (known as the Faculty Council at that time). DiStefano received many thanks from representatives for his work at CU in both the room and chat.

Dr. D’Andra Mull, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, who joined campus last fall, reviewed the student affairs organization and the role they all play in the student experience. The mission of Student Affairs (SA) mission is to “..create a comprehensively excellent student experience through the development of dynamic programs, services and support structures that prepare Buffs to thrive as lifelong learners in a globally engaged society.” To achieve this her office is focused on student development through engagement, belonging, academic support, and high-impact practices. Mull walked members through an organizational chart designed to give faculty a better understanding of who they can go to for specific issues and how to contact them. Associate Vice Chancellor, Dr. Joe Thomas also spoke with members about his role in connecting and aligning Student Affairs with faculty and academics. He partners with Undergraduate Education on the common curriculum and other high impact programs with Buffs Undergraduate Success (BUS) group. Both Mull and Thomas encouraged faculty to reach out to them directly with any questions.

BFA Chair Miller introduced a resolution on behalf of the Executive Committee BFA-R-1-030424 to recommend that Academic Affairs form a working group next fall to review issues, benefits, and alternatives to the anonymous open comment section currently on the FCQs. Per CU Administrative Policy Statement (APS) 1009 any changes to campus FCQs must include input by faculty and students appointed by shared governance bodies. Concerns regarding the open comment section include: a lack of support and follow-up when students anonymously report misconduct violations instead of utilizing campus reporting procedures, as well as well-established data showing a negative impact on women and under-represented faculty from student biases in anonymous comments. Conversely, many faculty, including the BFA Diversity and Academic Affairs committees support the use of anonymous comments for constructive student feedback for courses and instructors. The BFA Executive Committee supports a full review of the issue and asks that the working group making recommendations to the Provost on the following:

Would the removal of the open comment section be an overall benefit or cost to both faculty and students?
What additions or changes to the FCQs should be made to provide students with the proper resources and information on reporting inappropriate behavior and alerting them to campus support services?
Should the university create an inventory of recommended practices for faculty to collect student feedback on courses and teaching methods that is reviewed annually and notes potential bias issues, and if so, how should this inventory be created and publicized?

The motion is under consideration for thirty days and will be voted on at the May 2 meeting. Representatives are asked to share the resolution with constituents and send all feedback and questions to Shelly Miller at: bfa@colorado.edu.

Lastly, Assembly members heard more about the CU Book Access program for course materials introduced last year. CU Bookstore Director Jessica Carlsen along with Assistant Director Matt Avena, and the Redshelf VP of Product, Tim Shea gave faculty an overview of the program. Goals include ensuring that students have materials on the first day of class, reducing the cost to students - in particular in certain fields, and committing to a reduction in the environmental costs associated with printing thousands of books each semester. Carlsen noted that the high success of the program has already allowed CU to lower the subscription price for all students. Representatives noted issues for faculty included a need for publishers to provide greater useability and to make offerings more faculty focused. Examples included issues like page number confusion between digital and hard copies as well as problems with annotations. Several faculty also pointed to “digital fatigue” that their students were experiencing. Shea welcomed faculty feedback and questions as they continued to improve the system. Carlson stressed that faculty are strongly encouraged to choose whatever course materials are best for their classrooms and noted that the cost of printed over digital will not affect students opting into the program. However Carlsen did want faculty to be aware that most publishers have greatly reduced the availability of printed materials which also impacts the availability of pre-owned items. Avena also offered a potential solution for students to request official photocopies of pages for a few dollars in case they found it useful to have both the digital and hard versions. See the presentation slides and email questions to bfa@colorado.edu and they will be forwarded to Carlsen’s group.

In conclusion BFA Chair Shelly Miller reminded members of the following BFA items:

Chancellor Finalist Survey – Please complete the chancellor finalist survey by Tuesday April 9: https://www.cu.edu/boulder-chancellor-search/finalist-campus-visits
BFA Officer Elections – Nominations are open until April 15. Elections take place via Qualtrics during May 2 Assembly. See the nominations page for details: /bfa/get-involved/elections
Join us for the 2024 Excellence Awards Ceremony on April 18 at 4:30pm – Open to campus. RSVP here /bfa/excellence-awards/2024-excellence-awards-ceremony
Climate Course Inventory Fellow – Applications open through Friday, May 3! /bfa/2024/03/20/climate-sustainability-faculty-working-group-leader-call-applications

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Boulder Chancellor Open Forum - Faculty Session - April 4, 2024

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 19:39:10 +0000

Boulder Chancellor Open Forum - Faculty Session - April 4, 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/03/2024 - 13:39

Please see the letter sent to BFA representatives and liaisons on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 and share widely.

Dear Colleagues,
Today President Saliman sent an email to all campus members with details on the selection of Dr. Justin Schwartz as the finalist for the CU Boulder Chancellor search as well as information on the open forums scheduled for Thursday, April 4th in the UMC Aspen Rooms.

OPEN FORUM SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 4 - all forums will be held in the UMC Aspen Rooms (or via livestream):
• Faculty – 8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
• Staff – 9:15 – 10:15 a.m.
• Students – 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Please attend one of these sessions in person or via livestream and encourage your colleagues to attend too. You can view details on the CU Boulder Chancellor Search – Finalist Campus Visits. Campus members are asked to complete a finalist feedback survey after these sessions.

As a BFA representative I ask that you ensure all your constituents are aware of the visit and the importance of faculty feedback. State law requires a 14-day waiting period in which feedback about the candidate is gathered and reviewed. The survey will launch on April 4 and remain open through Tuesday, April 9 at 5pm.

See this page for more information on the chancellor transition process. /students/chancellor-transition

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Shelly Miller PhD

Professor, Mechanical Engineering & Environmental Engineering Program

Chair, Boulder Faculty Assembly

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Traditional territories of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations
Associate Editor, Environmental Science & Technology
shellym80304.com

Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA)

Norlin Library – E138

303-492-6271

www.colorado.edu/bfa

The Boulder Faculty Assembly acknowledge that the University of Colorado is located on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute and many other Native American nations. Their forced removal from these territories has caused devastating and lasting impacts. Full CU Boulder land acknowledgment

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Climate & Sustainability - Faculty Working Group Leader - Call for Applications

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 20:12:29 +0000

Climate & Sustainability - Faculty Working Group Leader - Call for Applications Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/20/2024 - 14:12

The Boulder Faculty Assembly in conjunction with the Center for Teaching & Learning are pleased to announce a new fellowship to focus on climate and sustainability in education for AY24-25. Please see details below for the description and call for applications. Direct questions to bfa@colorado.edu.

Climate & Sustainability in Education

Faculty Working Group Leader

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in conjunction with the Boulder Faculty Assembly Climate Science and Education Committee (CSEC) seeks applications for a new, year-long fellowship, leading a faculty working group that will enhance synergies among CU Boulder’s course offerings in climate change and sustainability. The primary focus will be on creating clearer pathways for students to pursue climate change and sustainability education across multiple majors.

The current climate crisis and growing challenges related to sustainability have increased the urgency for new approaches to climate and sustainability education. CU Boulder currently offers numerous classes across all colleges that address climate issues. However, students rarely have clear pathways to pursue well-orchestrated credentials for their interests in climate change and sustainability. The successful applicant will assemble and lead a working group of approximately 6-10 faculty who will investigate how we can more effectively prepare students in these fields.

Through this program, faculty will catalog existing courses and explore synergies among them in order to arrange a series of incremental and stackable micro-credentials that can ultimately lead to a certificate or a major. In addition, the group will host a series of short presentations in an open community of practice, whereby faculty across the campus can share the challenges and opportunities they faced as they developed new courses and expanded existing courses to address issues of climate change and sustainability.

The successful applicant will organize a series of meetings throughout the Fall and Spring semesters of the 2024-2025 academic year. These meetings will occur at approximately three-week intervals and will provide a forum for in-depth conversations related to teaching climate change and sustainability on the Boulder campus. Additionally, there will be a few preparation meetings over the summer with times TBD. Working with members of the Environmental Center, the BFA Climate Science and Education committee, the BFA Academic Affairs committee and members of the CTL staff, the leader of this group will help CU Boulder enhance its reputation as a leader in climate and sustainability education.

This leadership position will come with up to a $10,000 stipend.

We invite interested tenured, tenure-track, and teaching professors to apply before Friday, May 3, 2024. Applicants should include: (1) a one-page statement of interest, (2) a CV, and (3) a brief statement from a chair or director expressing support for participation in the program and email items to: Kirk Ambrose at: ctl@colorado.edu.

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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 Boulder Faculty Assembly held the annual meeting of the Boulder Faculty Senate on Thursday, March 7, 2024. This meeting occurs once a year during any spring Assembly meeting and is open to the full Boulder 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 Boulder'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 Boulder 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. Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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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BFA February 1, 2024 General Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 18:02:42 +0000

BFA February 1, 2024 General Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/02/2024 - 11:02

The BFA held it's first Assembly meeting for spring semester on Thursday, February 1, 2024. BFA Chair Shelly Miller began the meeting by reading the CU Boulder Land Acknowledgment statement and recommending members connect with the Center for Native American & Indigenous Studies.

The first item on the agenda came from CUSG Tri-Exec Chase Cromwell regarding a recent piece in the Boulder Daily Camera and student efforts to get the CU Board of Regents to change the system policy allowing for concealed weapons on campus. The Board of Regents February meeting will be held in Boulder at SEEC. Cromwell also shared a link to data from National Higher Education Concealed Carry Status showing how CU ranks compared to peer institutions across the country on this issue. A recent story in the Denver Post gives a rundown of pending legislation at the state level that will likely impact what changes CU might make. Miller and Cromwell recommended faculty share this information with constituents and encourage them to reach out to their congressional leaders as well as to colleagues at other Colorado institutions.

Members discussed and approved BFA-R-1-112823 Credit for Prior Learning resolution that was introduced in December by the BFA Academic Affairs Committee chair - Garrett Bredeson, Sr. Vice Provost for Academic Planning & Assessment - Katherine Eggert, and Asst. Vice Provost & University Registrar - Kristi Wold-McCormick. Discussion included upcoming plans from the Registrar and Bursars offices regarding business processes for course challenges, as well as the distinct processes and needs individual departments/units will have for course challenge requests.

BFA Chair Shelly Miller gave members an update on the CU Boulder Chancellor Search committee on which she serves. Committee members are reviewing a large number of applicants and begin meetings on those this week. Additionally, Miller noted that the campus Climate Action Plan was scheduled to rollout and be open for public comment. She encouraged representatives to alert their constituents and asked faculty to review the plan and comment between February 5 to March 5.

CU President Todd Saliman joined Assembly members and spoke with them regarding several areas that the BFA Executive Committee asked about. The questions included:

How are you raising awareness of the value of a 4-year degree and breaking down barriers to higher education?
How are you and your office working with state legislators and Governor Polis to increase CU funding and work towards the elimination of TABOR?
Where will we find resources for climate action on our campus and how is system supporting the goal to drastically reduce our carbon footprint?

Regarding the first question, Saliman noted that state institutions are working together on a marketing campaign about preparing for college and attending in-state colleges and universities. The campaign is called "It's closer than you think" and is aimed at encouraging Colorado high school students to look in-state and to help families realize the cost is often more affordable than out of state. Additionally related to the second question, Saliman noted that due to a lack of funding and financial aid funding CU was working with state leaders to access surplus funding in TABOR for possible AP/IB credit funding for in state students to help with this. He also noted that the Governor's budget fell short this year, and higher ed presidents are advocating for increased funding. He also suggested members review a recent Funding in Higher Education report showing how state support had declined by 27%. Regarding climate action resources, Saliman noted that resources for these measures will come from each campus, such as the campus Climate Action Plan and follow through from groups like the Campus Sustainability Executive Council. Additionally, he will be creating a system group that will draw on what Boulder is doing and try to see what we can learn from each other and elevate the issue system-wide.

The final two items on the Assembly agenda included the annual report by the Faculty Athletics Representative, Joe Jupille. Jupille went over this NCAA-mandated position and the duties. He will be stepping down next year and encouraged representatives to consider running. The role has several key "buckets" he works in: Academic integrity and success; institutional control/compliance (with NCAA, Conference, and CU rules); student athlete well-being and campus-athletics relations. The position description is being updated now and Jupille expects a call for applications on campus to begin during 2024 so that the incoming faculty can shadow him during spring 2025. Please contact him directly for any questions: joseph.jupille@colorado.edu. BFA Intercollegiate Athletics (IAC) committee chair Don Oest also announced the third event in the committee's campus athletics series featuring Kris Livingston and a conversation on student athlete success and wellness on Feb. 14 from 3-4pm at the Center for Teaching & Learning in CASE.

And lastly BFA Secretary Vicki Grove announced that nominations are open for nine BFA At-Large Representative seat vacancies. Please see the BFA elections page for more information. All eligible faculty received an e-memo on February 1 regarding the seats and how to self-nominate.

Additionally, Assembly members may wish to review the CUBT story on the meeting. Meeting minutes will be sent to Assembly members by February 29, 2024. Contact the BFA office for any questions: bfa@colorado.edu

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BFA ExCom Approves Attributes for Next UCB Chancellor Statement

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 20:50:33 +0000

BFA ExCom Approves Attributes for Next UCB Chancellor Statement Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/16/2024 - 13:50

Over winter break, the BFA Executive Committee drafted and approved a statement noting attributes that committee members feel are critical and should guide the selection of the next campus Chancellor:

ATTRIBUTES THAT SHOULD GUIDE THE SELECTION

OF THE NEXT CU BOULDER CHANCELLOR

The Executive Committee of the Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA) expects the next chancellor of CU Boulder to be appointed from among multiple named finalists chosen by the search committee, all of whom have been vetted through campus meetings with interested faculty, staff, students, and members of the public, whose feedback on the candidates should guide the ultimate appointment.

Drawing on broad discussions and experience over recent years regarding the future of the Boulder Campus, the BFA Executive Committee supports the selection of a Chancellor who:

Supports and has common bonds with the faculty, who, through their inquiry, teaching, and service, express core academic values and function as the engine driving the university. CU Boulder’s chancellor should be a career academic with a national or international reputation for their research or creative work. Such a chancellor will understand the faculty’s commitment to academic values and inspire them to greater scholarly and creative achievements.

Endorses and respects the outcomes of a robust system of shared faculty governance. CU Boulder’s chancellor shall be committed to:
- a robust system of shared faculty governance at all administration levels.
- proactively creating opportunities for and ensuring the consistent and substantive involvement of faculty in establishing academic policy and making decisions that affect CU Boulder and the university system.
- transparency and effective communication and collaboration with faculty and other stakeholders, both in and beyond the university community.
- being an effective communicator and an engaged listener. A chancellor should bring the diverse campus community members together through their ability to tap into and leverage the collective and diverse ideas, talents, and experiences that make up the Boulder campus.
Supports and acts on their commitment to inclusive excellence as a core value that undergirds all that we do. We seek a chancellor who is committed to supporting and expanding campus initiatives for faculty, staff, and students on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Is an advocate for CU Boulder as a top ten center for excellence in climate crisis action. This includes a commitment to:
- accelerating the move towards renewable energy use for all campus operations in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
- enhancing and improving CU Boulder’s reputation as a top-ten climate change research and education institution.
Values the principles of a comprehensive research university locally, nationally, and globally. The CU Boulder chancellor should take an active, public-facing role in:
- communicating both the value to our civil society of a broad-based education and the contributions that CU-Boulder makes to Colorado and the world.
- recognizing and promoting the importance of global engagement, including research collaborations, student and faculty teaching and research exchanges, and a thoughtful and deliberate CU presence on the international stage.

Approved by the Executive Committee on January 12, 2024

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