The chancellor鈥檚 summer tour visited four cities along the Western Slope to explain how CU听Boulder is a part of their communities鈥攁nd we鈥檙e a part of theirs, too.
The tour began on May 16 in Vail, where Chancellor Phil DiStefano greeted an audience of a few dozen alumni and prospective students and talked about the ways CU benefits Eagle County. For example, students in CU鈥檚 Masters of the Environment graduate program teamed up with Vail Resorts to help it reach its commitment to send no waste to the landfill by 2030.
At all the Colorado visits, which also included , and , DiStefano talked about ways the campus is making education more affordable. This fall, thanks to additional state funding, there won鈥檛 be a tuition increase for new freshmen. This welcome news comes in addition to the university鈥檚 tuition guarantee program, where tuition for incoming freshmen remains the same for their first four years on campus.听听
Chancellor Phil DiStefano, head football coach Mel Tucker and Athletic Director Rick George in Carbondale, Colorado
鈥淭his shields families from unexpected tuition increases,鈥� DiStefano said, 鈥渟o they can plan and budget for college.鈥�
New head football coach Mel Tucker and Athletic Director Rick George were also along for the tour to discuss the upcoming football season and the ways in which the Athletic Department has improved health and wellness for student-athletes.
Tucker, who just logged his first visit to the Western Slope, said he is ready to return the CU Buffs to national prominence.
鈥淚 look at it like this: Why not CU?鈥� Tucker said during an . 鈥淲hy not us? When I hire people, or the best people I worked for, they don鈥檛 say, like, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 or we can鈥檛 or we haven鈥檛.鈥� They鈥檙e always trying to figure out how we can. A can-do attitude. What do we have to do to get it done? Let鈥檚 figure it out. That鈥檚 my attitude.鈥�
In Grand Junction, DiStefano told the event鈥檚 audience and the town鈥檚 Sentinel newspaper editorial board about the . Since 2008, CMU students have been able to earn a Bachelor of Science engineering degree from CU Boulder by taking classes delivered at the Grand Junction campus. Soon, students will be able to work toward degrees in the new Electrical and Computer Engineering program in addition to the two existing options, mechanical and civil engineering.
And just prior to DiStefano鈥檚 May 17 visit to Durango, he explaining our local impact鈥攆rom researchers studying environmental impacts from the recent 416 Fire to providing fossil kits for local schools.
The second leg of the chancellor鈥檚 summer tour will take place June 18鈥�19 in Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Longmont.
