Faculty Shared Governance

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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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 Boulder.
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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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 Boulder 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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APS 1025 Grading Policy Changes - College & School Faculty Poll

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 18:12:57 +0000

APS 1025 Grading Policy Changes - College & School Faculty Poll Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/12/2022 - 12:12

On February 22, 2022, Ravinder Singh, chair of the CU System Faculty Council Educational Policy and University Standards Committee (EPUS), sent a memo to the deans of schools/colleges on all four CU campuses. The memo asked the deans to conduct a vote of the faculty members of their respective schools and colleges to approve a revision to the current University of Colorado Grading Policy (UGP). The proposed changes are to APS 1025 and involve the changes to section II on Grade Symbols as listed below:

Grade Symbols
The instructor is responsible for whatever grade symbol (A, B, C, D, F, I, IP, P, P+, S, or U) is to be assigned. Special symbols, such as NC, W, and ***, and indications of registration or grade status are not assigned by the instructor but are automatically converted by the grade application system, explained under Special Symbols.

Grade - Credit points per credit hour

A - superior/excellent - 4
B - good/better than average - 3
C - competant/average - 2
D - below average - 1
F - failing - 0
I - incomplete - regarded as F if not completed within a maximum of one year
IP - in progress - thesis or multi-semester course at the graduate level only
*P+/P/F - pass plus/pass/fail - applicable for letter-graded courses where the student elects P+/P/F option. Faculty members assign letter grades which are converted as follows:
- P+=C- or greater
- P=D-, D, D+
- F=F
S/U - satisfactory/unsatisfactory - Applicable for non-letter graded courses only (e.g., experiential, field-based courses). Credit is awarded for S. Neither S nor U is included in gpa. Faculty members assign an S or U as follows:
- S=course requirements are satisfied, or expectations met
- U=course requirements are not satisfied, or expectations not met.

In addition, for consistency and clarity, “pass/fail” has been replaced by “P+/P/F” throughout the
document, and the revision includes minor, necessary edits: change wishes to opt, change a course to
an eligible course, and reorder items under the Procedure section (item 4 is now item 1) (see the link
above for details).

The addition of the "P+" was made during the pandemic and the "S/U" component was approved by the Boulder Faculty Assembly at the February 3, 2022 meeting, along with revisions to the campus grade replacement policy. CU Boulder colleges and schools are in the process of conducting those polls.

Per Regent Law and Policy, the faculty of each campus school and college are to be polled in order to implement the proposed revisions to the University of Colorado Uniform Grading Policy.

Per Regent Policy 5.A.1.B:

(B) Tenured and tenure-track faculty with appropriate participation by instructional, research, and clinical faculty, have the principal responsibility for decisions concerning pedagogy, curriculum, research, scholarly or creative work, academic ethics, and recommendations on the selection and evaluation of faculty. The development of general academic policies shall be a collaborative effort between the faculty and administration.

(1) The faculty shall have the principal role in originating academic policy and standards related to: the initiation and direction of all courses, curricula, and degree offerings; admissions criteria, grading and standards for continuation; regulation of student academic conduct; and determination of candidates for honors and degrees.

Additionally, Regent Law Article 4.A.1 states that :

Article 5.A of the Laws of the Regents specifies the shared governance principles of participation. A school or college faculty shall collaborate with the dean in the shared governance of the school or college. Subject to specific Board of Regents requirements, voting membership of a school or college faculty shall be determined by its faculty.

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BFA Executive Committee Endorses CU Faculty Council Statement on Ukraine

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 22:51:30 +0000

BFA Executive Committee Endorses CU Faculty Council Statement on Ukraine Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/31/2022 - 16:51

On March 28, 2022 the BFA Executive Committee endorsed the below statement by the CU Faculty Council regarding the recent invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation:

Dear Colleagues,
The University of Colorado Faculty Council condemns the Russian Federation’s unprovoked and inhumane invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation. At the core of our deep concern and outrage at this act of aggression is our commitment to the values and principles shared by independent nations, such as Ukraine, and the University, which include the ability to engage in open debate, the pursuit of truth and understanding, and a commitment to human dignity, compassion, and self-determination.
Not only are we profoundly concerned about the welfare and safety of the entire Ukraine population, who remain in desperate need of humanitarian aid, but we are also concerned about our academic and scholarly colleagues who are unable to escape. We join our colleagues all over the world, including those in and from Russia, who are speaking out against this criminal invasion, and we endorse all actions taken by the University of Colorado to support members of the CU community who are being impacted by this tragic situation.

Sincerely,

The University of Colorado Faculty Council Executive Committee

CU Faculty Council Ukraine Statement

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Spring 2022 BFA Officers Elections - Call for Nominations

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 17:17:22 +0000

Spring 2022 BFA Officers Elections - Call for Nominations Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/28/2022 - 11:17

Spring 2022 BFA Officer Elections

The following seats will be up for election in April, and will be voted on at the April 28 Assembly meeting via Qualtrics. These seats are open to any BFA Assembly representatives. Nominations will run from March 28 through April 13. Please see the call for nominations by BFA Secretary Adam Norris for complete details. These seats are for one 3-year term. In addition to serving on the Executive Committee , the duties for these seats are as follows:

BFA Vice Chair - The Vice Chair will assume the duties and responsibilities of the Chair in the case of absence or incapacity. In addition, the duties of the Vice Chair include but are not limited to the following: 1. serve on the Bylaws Committee; 2. publish updates to the Bylaws and/or Standing Rules approved by the Assembly; 3. welcome new chairs of standing committees and explain their role in the Assembly and on the Executive Committee; 4. meet on a regular basis with the chairs of the standing committees of the Assembly; and 5. convey the charge and convene the first meeting of any ad-hoc committee or task force that is formed by the Executive Committee.
BFA Secretary - The Secretary will chair the Nominations & Elections Committee. In addition, the duties of the Secretary include but are not limited to the following: 1. serve on the Bylaws Committee; 2. provide the chairs of standing and special committees with a list of the members of said committees; 3. assist the BFA Coordinator in updating the Assembly Roster; 4. welcome new BFA representatives and explain their role in the Assembly; and 5. welcome new BFA standing committee members and explain their role on said committees.

Please submit via e-mail your nomination packets to the BFA Secretary Adam Norris: bfa@colorado.edu, by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, April 13. Nomination packets should include the following:

confirmation (separate e–mail is fine) that the nominee is willing to serve;
the name of the nominator (or list as self-nomination - always welcome!);
a personal statement from the nominee that will help BFA members understand why they are running and what the Assembly might want to know about them;
an e–mail header containing the phrase "BFA Officer Elections";

The list of nominees will be posted on the BFA Election webpage along with their personal statements. BFA Representatives will be asked to cast their vote via Qualtrics on Thursday, April 28, 2022 before 5pm. Results will be announced at the Assembly meeting.

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BFA Assembly Considers Revisions For Two Academic Policies on Grading

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 20:16:23 +0000

BFA Assembly Considers Revisions For Two Academic Policies on Grading Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/18/2022 - 13:16

On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy sent the following message to BFA representatives:

Dear BFA Reps,

I write with a time-sensitive pair of proposals regarding grade policy that we will be voting on at the February 3rd General Assembly.

1) The first concerns the grade-replacement policy that we adopted in 2019, aspects of which present equity concerns that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. By bulletpoint, the proposed changes to this policy are:

Make grade replacement automatic rather than opt-in by a deadline
Lift the limit on credits allowable for grade replacement

2) The second proposal creates a new designation, S/U (“Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory”), to disambiguate “Pass/Fail Only” classes from the three-part system now implied by P/P+/F, according to which a “P” now implies a grade below a C-.

PDFs giving the history of these policies, rationales for the changes, and a memo endorsing them from the deans are attached here.

Please distribute these widely among your constituents and send questions and feedback to bfa@colorado.edu by January 30. We hope to address any major concerns prior to the Assembly meeting so that our discussion that day can be focused and informed. Additionally, we have created a Proposed Grading Policy Changes FAQ on our website that you can share as well.

Thank you for your attention to these important policy matters at a busy time. I believe it is important for us to consider them promptly, as they concern both equity and student success.

With best regards,

Tiffany Beechy, BFA Chair

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BFA Approves Attributes to Guide the Search for the Next CU President Statement

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 14:37:35 +0000

BFA Approves Attributes to Guide the Search for the Next CU President Statement Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/21/2021 - 08:37

On Monday, September 21, 2021 BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy announced to BFA Representatives and Assembly Liaisons that the Attributes That Should Guide The Selection of the Next CU President had passed. This document will now be forwarded to Board of Regents Chair, Jack Kroll along with CU Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair Lesley Smith. Please see Chair Beechy's message to Assembly members below:

Dear BFA Representatives,

Thank you very much for your participation in the drafting of the faculty statement regarding the upcoming presidential search. We had a 96% participation rate, with 49 yes votes, zero no votes, and 4 abstentions, so our recommendation will now be forwarded to the Regents, to our shared governance partners on campus, and to the systemwide Faculty Council. I hope we all stay engaged as the process moves forward.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Beechy, BFA Chair

Boulder Faculty Assembly

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Traditional Territories of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations

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