In the first Town Hall of the spring semester, Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet and campus leaders shared updates on finances, enrollment and other campus happenings.
Sobanet began the Town Hall by introducing Homer Wesley, who will serve as the Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs starting March 1. Homer served as the Vice Chancellor of Student Success and Enrollment Management at UCCS from 2010 to 2016. He recently retired after eight years as Vice President for Student Services at Pikes Peak State College. “His experience with our campus and with our community is invaluable,” said Sobanet. “I look forward to having your expertise in this interim role.”
Sobanet thanked vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Carlos García, who will retire on February 29, for his contributions to UCCS. “I want to thank Carlos Garcia for your many many years of dedicated service both here at UCCS and at CU Boulder. You’ve been part of the CU family for such a long time and made such a difference here and at CU Boulder,” said Sobanet. “Your retirement is really beyond merited for all that you have done for us, and you will be missed.”
Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Jose Cantu provided an update on spring enrollment and Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Kathy Kaoudis discussed two priorities of the campus budget: addressing the use of one-time funds and ongoing expense reductions.
Campus leaders then responded to questions submitted by the audience.
System Updates
- The Board of Regents approved three new certificates for UCCS at the February meeting: An undergraduate and graduate certificate in Geographic Information Sciences and a graduate certificate in Space Cyber Enterprise Management.
- At each BOR meeting, UCCS leadership presents progress on a certain set of CU System Strategic Plan metrics. UCCS presented progress with hiring and retaining faculty and staff — and specifically with underrepresented minority and veteran faculty and staff. UCCS is meeting all metrics in this area.
Enrollment
Spring Enrollment
- Compared to this time last year, the UCCS student body headcount is down 1.24 percent, but Student Credit Hours are up 0.21 percent. The UCCS Budget target for enrollment is down by 0.2 percent. “That’s very flat, but in an interesting way, looking at prior spring semesters, it leverages us now for the future for us to go upward,” said Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Jose Cantu.
Fall 2024 Admissions
- New student applications are up 10.6 percent. Admits are up 4.2 percent. “The admissions team is working very hard right now all across not only the state of Colorado but all over the nation,” said Cantu. “Everyone around the nation is waiting for the FASFA to open up. That’s very key.”
Budget Update
- ViceChancellor for Administration and Finance Kathy Kaoudis highlighted two structural issues UCCS need to address with its budget: the annual on-going campus base budget and the reliance of one-time funds for ongoing activities.
Annual Campus Budget
- At the February Board of Regents meeting, leadership presented initial estimates of the Governor’s budget scenario (scenario A) for the FY 2024-25 campus budget. In January, UCCS received updated information with planning parameters for Scenarios B and C. These scenarios are based on factors such as potential state support increases through the Governor’s budget request, tuition rate increases, enrollment forecasts, and known and potential expense increases. Scenario A is typically the least favorable to campus, B is in the middle, and C is the most favorable. Each scenario will be further discussed in UBAC on Wednesday, February 21 at 10 am.
- “We have a spending problem on the campus,” said Kaoudis. “We’re not bringing in enough revenue, in spite of all the amazing work that Dr. Cantu and his team are working on in terms of enrollment and the work that Carlos García’s team is doing in terms of retention. We’re not bringing in enough revenue to cover our expenses.”
- All three scenarios show that campus expenses exceed revenue, and each scenario contain different tuition increases. UCCS revenue comes from two primary sources: state support and student tuition. Because expenses are growing faster than revenue, UCCS will need to cut expenses thoughtfully and intentionally. To balance the budget under these three scenarios, these expense reductions range from $1.1 million to $7.5 million, 0.6 and 4.2 percent of the $180 million annual general fund budget. The estimated range for reductions is wide because the Governor’s budget varies greatly between the three scenarios.
One-time Funds
- The second area for planning is the use of one-time funds for ongoing activities. Leadership identified one-time funding as an area for campus attention and proactive planning last year. The UCCS budget team spent late fall and early winter examining the details to better understand when these one-time funds will end for each initiative.
- The projected budget is based on flat enrollment. “Our enrollment management and our retention teams have worked so very hard. We are really lucky right now that we are flat,” said Kaoudis. “We would be in a worse place were it not for all the great work of Dr. Cantu’s team and Carlos García’s team.”
- “It is all of us who are involved in retaining our students so that they persist to graduation,” said Sobanet. “Thank you, because the work that we are all doing to help keep our students here is so incredibly important. As we hear these different numbers and get into the data, it is still just so important to remember that these are human beings that we are educating and pulling into our worlds so that they can transform their own lives and the lives of their families and of our community.”
Other Campus Updates
SGA Elections
- The Student Government Association elections take place March 4 through 8. Chancellor Sobanet encouraged students to get involved and to vote.
MLK Days of Service and Action
- Inspired by the federal holiday in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., UCCS recently held the MLK Days of Service and Action as an opportunity for campus to invest in the health and harmony of the community. Participants volunteered for service projects and participated in educational workshops focused on activism, advocacy and King’s teachings.
- “I just want to say thank you to the Division of DEI, the MLK committee, and to all of those who were engaged in not just planning but participating in the activities across campus,” said Sobanet. “It really helps build community, so it makes a difference.”
Million Dollar Club Inductees
- UCCS recently celebrated the following nine faculty as Million Dollar Club Inductees. Members of the club have acquired one million dollars or more in sponsored research funding.
- Dr. Katie Anderson-Pence
- Dr. Lissanna Follari
- Dr. Guy Hagen
- Dr. Jena McCollum
- Dr. Christopher Layne
- Dr. Eugenia Olesnick
- Dr. Deborah Pollard
- AVC Jevita Rogers
- Dr. Kathrin Spendie
“Dream House”
- The Ent Center for the Arts launched its latest Theaterworks performance, “Dream House,” by Eliana Pipes. The play follows two Latina sisters on an HGTV-style reality show as they sell their childhood home. The play runs until this Saturday, February 18.
UCCS Athletics
- UCCS student athletes completed their 39th consecutive semester with a 3.0+ department GPA, achieving a 3.3 GPA for the Fall of 2023.
- UCCS Athletics finished 11th overall out of over 120 schools in the NCAA Division II Learfield Director’s Cup after the Fall rankings.
Wrapping up her campus updates, Chancellor Sobanet thanked Carole Woodall and the faculty and staff for facilitating learning opportunities at the Engaging Palestine/Israel Teach-in that took place Feb. 8.
“Everything that we do is to advance our academic mission,” said Sobanet. “Teach-ins, vigils, lectures and work in the classroom cultivate reflective thinking and civil discourse, and that helps us create a culture of respect. And as an institution of higher education, it is our responsibility to create that space for this deep learning and civil dialogue and to engage in difficult issues with one another. Our collective pursuit of knowledge is an academic endeavor, and at the same time it is a human endeavor as we journey towards fostering empathy and a more interconnected world.”
Before Q&A, campus leaders addressed misinformation or misunderstandings that might be floating around the campus in the segment formally known as MythBusters.
- The Excel Centers are not moving into the library. The math excel center will temporarily be located in the library while the engineering building is renovated.
- The current budget situation cannot be solved with reserve funding. If UCCS continues to spend at past year levels and spend down reserves to make up the budget gap, UCCS will not have a way to rebuild those reserves. Reserves will help the work to balance the base budget. But if UCCS drains the reserves without adjusting spending, the campus will not have a cushion when another emergency occurs The core structural issue is that UCCS does not have enough revenue to cover base expenses. “We are an amazing Mountain Lion family. We’re all optimistic. We’re hopeful people. And that’s how we got here,” said Kaoudis. “Our spending levels are still based upon our enrollment years ago and yet our enrollment has dropped. And so we have to address that structural issue, and when we do that then we’ll be setting ourselves up for success going forward.”
- Furloughs will not be implemented to address the base-budget gap. Furloughs are a tool to address temporary situations. Furloughs might help reserves, but they will not address the core budget situation.
During the Q&A session, campus leaders shared information about the Compensation Strategy Project and departmental expectations during a time of budget cuts, the vision for the student affairs office after García’s retirement, graduate school cost and support, the sustainability of auxiliary centers, and other topics.
In her closing remarks, Chancellor Sobanet thanked attendees for their contributions to the success of students and the campus. “I am so grateful to be a part of the Mountain Lion family. And thank you for all that you do,” said Sobanet.