Fourteen eager CU-Boulder faculty and staff members jumped on a bus and headed to locations around Colorado for the first Colorado Traveling Seminar.
Their goal for the May 18-22 trip was to learn more about the state and meet the people the university serves.
The bus drove faculty members to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountain Steel Mill in Pueblo, a tour of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Alamosa, the Rokhra Mushroom Factory in the San Luis Valley, Colorado Mountain College near Glenwood Springs, Copper Mountain Ski Resort and many other stops along the way.
Those on the trip had the opportunity to meet and talk to many people, such as steel workers in Pueblo, prison officials and inmates in Canon City, West slope newspaper publishers in Paonia, a group of high school students having breakfast at a diner in Alamosa, faculty at Western State College in Gunnison and a casino owner in Black Hawk.
"This was a good turnout for our inaugural trip and just the right size to meet people on a small group level," said Peter Spear, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Faculty members on the trip included Spear, William Wei of history, Daniel Stoljar of philosophy, Diana Oliveras of the Williams Village Academic Program, Mutsumi Moteki of the College of Music and Hartmut Spetzler of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
Other faculty and staff members on the trip were Ann Laffoon of communications, Eileen Gordon and Kent Zimmerman of the Alumni Association, Maria Franquiz of education, Roslyn Dauber of journalism and mass communication, Obdulia Elisa Castro of Spanish and Portuguese, John Behrendt of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Kuan-Yi Rose Chang of the Anderson Language Technology Center.
"I think all of us came back feeling much more connected to the state of Colorado and the people we serve," Spear said. "And I think the people we met have a better understanding of who we are -- that CU faculty are real people who care about Colorado and its students. While we were at it, those of us on the bus came to know and appreciate each other better. It fostered a real sense of CU-Boulder as a community," he said.
Most participants were faculty members who joined the campus community within the last few years. They were nominated for the trip by deans and department chairs within their field.