Assembly also introduces its own anti-concealed carry motion听
The Boulder Faculty Assembly got a first look at the newly posted 听Thursday鈥攁 vital first step in changing the unit-based practices that can lead to highly differential salaries for faculty members within the same academic unit.
In a 40-plus minute presentation to the assembly, co-chairs of the working group, Daria Kotys-Schwartz of mechanical engineering and Steve Vanderheiden of political science, outlined the background, process and outcome of the group鈥檚 work, which commenced last April under the joint sponsorship of the BFA and the provost鈥檚 office.听
鈥淟ack of equity is corrosive,鈥� said Kotys-Schwartz. 鈥淚t鈥檚 harming our culture and the climate of our academic units.鈥澨�
Other negative impacts of salary inequities Kotys-Schwartz cited included promoting faculty disengagement and higher rates of faculty turnover that 鈥渢hreaten the university鈥檚 research and teaching objectives.鈥澨�
The working group concerned itself with a clear task, said Vanderheiden鈥斺�淭rying to define what salary inequities are鈥濃�攁nd arrived at a definition offered in the report: 鈥淔aculty salary inequities are salary disparities between faculty within a comparison group that cannot be justified by differences in career merit.鈥�
Kotys-Schwartz said the working group鈥檚 work鈥攚hich she said was far from complete and would need extensive follow up鈥攈ad created a compendium of policy documents from nearly every academic unit on campus鈥�236 documents from 77 units that included bylaws, salary committee procedures听and evaluation guidelines. The group recommends this collection ultimately be made available as a campus resource.听
The group agreed on several hypotheses on the main drivers of salary inequity鈥攖hat merit review practices matter, along with hiring and retention practices; that auditing is an opportunity to detect or correct hiring/retention practices; and that transparency is important at all points in salary processes.听
Vanderheiden previewed data from the report that showed that over the past 10 years, 鈥淭he faculty raise pool [available for unit-level distribution] has averaged 2.3%...while inflation has averaged 2.5%.鈥澨�
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e able to do with raise pools isn鈥檛 enough to keep our faculty,鈥� he said.听
Extensive discussion focused on the report鈥檚 methodologies and recommendations, including challenging aspects of the campus鈥檚 approach to retention of tenure-track faculty, wherein faculty are put into the position of having to threaten to leave the institution to receive a competitive salary in their discipline. The role of favoritism in how units devise and make retention offers to select faculty and the disparate impact that approach has on faculty was mentioned, as was how retention raises are charged to departments.听
Kotys-Schwartz encouraged faculty to widely distribute the report and to on it at the working group鈥檚 webpage by noon March 20, and to register to attend Zoom open forums on , from noon to 1 p.m. and , from 2 to 3 p.m.
BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy ended that section of the meeting with a thanks to the committee, saying, 鈥淚t听took a village to make this happen.鈥澨�
New BFA notice of motion to end concealed carry听
Beechy also announced that the BFA鈥檚 executive committee was submitting a notice of motion asking the Board of Regents to rescind the current policy that allows individuals with permits to carry concealed weapons on all four of CU鈥檚 campuses.听
The BFA motion not only endorses a previous and nearly identical CU Student Government (CUSG) resolution, it adds the faculty perspective on the need for such a move in order to ensure 鈥渉ealth and wellbeing for students, faculty听and staff on all campuses.鈥�
The Colorado Supreme Court in 2012 invalidated the portion of an existing CU regents鈥� policy that prohibited all firearms on campus. The decision held that the university鈥檚 campuses were subject to the Colorado Concealed Carry Act. The regents modified the weapons control policy to allow concealed carry in accordance with the ruling.听
The Colorado Legislature last year modified the act to permit the governing boards of institutions of higher education to enact rules governing concealed carry on their campuses.听
Last October, the BFA endorsed by a vote of 46-1 a motion听by CUSG to reverse the policy. The motion has also been endorsed by CU Boulder鈥檚 Staff Council and the Graduate and Professional Student Government (GPSG). Supporters of the CUSG resolution have also testified at subsequent regent meetings, calling for an end to the practice of concealed carry.
Beechy said the new BFA resolution will be revised and provided with supporting documentation during March, then sent to representatives to share with their constituents prior to a vote in April. If the resolution is adopted, it will be presented at the upcoming Regent University Affairs Committee meeting April 18, along with the resolution from the students.
In other BFA action
Beechy updated members on plans for a Campus Curriculum Policy and associated campus Curriculum Committee to meet longstanding campus needs and the recommendations of the Academic Futures report, as well as the adoption of the new campus budget mode and the Common Curriculum.
Beechy said she would send more updates next week, giving the back story and details of the current policy draft. A motion to approve will be introduced at the April General Assembly, allowing for the customary month-long official comment and revision period, with the vote to approve to be held in May.
Members of the assembly also were invited to attend on AI and ChatGPT and their impact on teaching and learning.听
The BFA heard a short presentation from CU faculty member Shawhin Roudbari of environmental design on a planned April 7 special film screening and in-person event with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.
Beechy announced that nominations for at-large seats in the assembly are open through March 10. Nominations and self-nominations are welcome, and should be emailed to bfa@colorado.edu along with a two-to-three sentence statement of interest. See the BFA Elections webpage for details.
