In the final Town Hall of the spring semester, Chancellor Venkat Reddy and a panel of campus leaders shared updates on campus happenings, new leadership and ongoing searches, enrollment and more.
The Town Hall opened with the announcement of UCCS’s first land acknowledgment, developed by The Office of the Vice Chancellor for DEI working closely with our campus stakeholders and local Indigenous communities. Vice Chancellor Rame Hanna will be reading this new land acknowledgment at our upcoming commencement ceremony this Friday.
After Kathy Kaoudis, Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance, shared upcoming budget cuts, Chancellor Reddy spoke at length about the importance of enrollment management, attracting out-of-state students and international students, and most of all working together to become more diverse and financially healthy.
“We will continue to be transparent, get your feedback and take all ideas into consideration as we look into the future. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same team, whether we are administrators, faculty, staff or students. We are the Mountain Lion family. We will do what it takes to make this family successful,” said Chancellor Reddy.
Campus leaders then provided updates from their areas and responded to questions submitted by the audience. Take a look at the key takeaways below.
Commencement
- Commencement is this Friday, May 12 at the Broadmoor World Arena. With a record-breaking 1,200 graduates expected to participate, there will be two ceremonies. The first ceremony starts at 10:30 a.m. and is for all graduates of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. The second ceremony starts at 2:30 p.m. for graduates from all of the other colleges.
- This year UCCS will have its youngest-ever graduate walk at commencement. At just 17 years old, Annika Mote will be graduating with a degree in Applied Mathematics.
Beam Signing
- A beam signing ceremony held on Friday, May 5 marked the halfway point of construction for the new Anschutz Engineering Center. CU Foundation Trustees, faculty, staff and students joined this longstanding tradition by signing the beam.
- The 24,000 square foot center, which will open in January of 2024, will help accommodate growing numbers of students in the EAS college, including students pursuing new aerospace degrees. Chancellor Reddy thanked the trustees for helping celebrate this milestone, along with President Saliman and Regent Spiegel.
Leadership Position and Search Updates
- Mark Ferguson recently joined our UCCS family on April 26 as the new Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Planning and Facilities Management.
- Searches continue for the Dean of the Graduate School, led by Dean Kevin Laudner, and the College of Business Dean, led by Dean George Reed. Interviews are expected to be completed for both positions soon, with decisions in late May or early June.
Regent updates
- The University of Colorado Board of Regents approved a tuition increase of 5% for UCCS, changes to student fees, and a compensation pool increase of 4% total with a 3.5% merit pool and 0.5% available for Equal Pay Act adjustments, compression, and market equity adjustments.
- The Board of Regents also approved a new Associate of General Studies degree for UCCS. This is not a declarable degree, but a retroactive certificate for those students who started at UCCS and earned at least 70 credits over the last 10 years but didn’t complete their degree. It provides a path for students to receive a credential for work they have completed and improves these students’ outcomes for employment.
- They also approved a new Graduate Certificate in Power and Energy Systems, offered through the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.
COVID-19 Update
- The university’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students, faculty and staff will end effective May 15. While vaccine requirements are ending, the university will continue to provide COVID-19 testing for students.
Listening Sessions
- The series of four Listening Sessions held by the chancellor concluded Wednesday, May 3 with a virtual meeting. The most recent topics included campus communication strategies, faculty workloads, student mental health and more. You can read more about the topics discussed in a forthcoming Communique wrap-up.
Town Hall Survey Results
- With more than 300 responses, 76% of respondents indicated they would prefer to keep the virtual town hall format, and the majority of people, 48%, said they would prefer an every-other-month schedule. The results of the survey will influence scheduling moving forward.
Enrollment Update
- Jose Cantu, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management, provided a short update on fall enrollment at this point in the process:
- Freshman enrollment is up by 9.1%. Transfer population is down by 14 students. Students enrolled in master’s programs are up by 8.3%.
- Housing is 40% up from last year, 15% compared to the base year of 2019, indicating the formation of a healthy incoming cohort.
- Fall registration is down by 4.7%, but is expected to increase as students register for courses.
Mythbusters
- In the new segment for Town Hall introduced in April, panelists took time to address misinformation and misunderstandings floating around campus.
- Myth 1 – The Regents said that UCCS is now offering two-year degrees: The Associate of General Studies degree is only for students who meet particular criteria. UCCS will not be offering two-year degrees.
- Myth 2 – CU Denver and Boulder are getting higher pay raises than we are: Though the University of Colorado is a system, monies do not flow between campuses. Each campus relies on its own financial health when determining pay raises. What has been approved is a compensation pool, and within that the merit raises differ. At UCCS, out of the 4% pool, 3.5% goes to merit. For CU Denver, out of their 5% compensation pool 3% goes toward merit. Every 1% increase in the compensation pool equals $1.1 million from the campus budget. The campus is making a $4.4 million investment in our faculty and staff compensation.
- Myth 3 – There are more budget cuts coming for our campus: As of right now the budget cut amount is $3.3 million dollars based on revenue and on enrollment numbers being down by 0.9%. If enrollment numbers continue to go down, more budget cuts may come.
Parking 2024
- There will be free parking in all 500 series lots, but you must register for a parking pass. For employees who earn up to $70k a year there will be a 10% discount on all pass types.
- There will be a forthcoming communication with further information.
Other Campus updates
- Announced in the last Town Hall, the new UCCS Textbook Affordability and Access Program is coming this fall. Faculty are reminded that textbook adoptions are due by May 19.
- Juneteenth 2023 is a floating holiday. Faculty and staff are reminded to submit and take this leave by June 30. Starting in 2024, Juneteenth will be a fixed holiday.
In his closing remarks, Chancellor Reddy addressed the financial challenges the campus faces.
“Please know that we are working hard to support all of you and are trying to make the best decisions possible,” said Chancellor Reddy. “Not only will we enhance our financial health for the campus, but more importantly we’ll commit to our core mission of providing access and affordability and helping our students transform their lives for the better because of the hard work everyone of us is doing.”