CU President Bruce Benson complimented faculty and staff during an April 20 town hall meeting while highlighting the university’s progress and the importance of continuing to operate efficiently.
“This year, five or six percent of CU’s entire budget will come from the state,” Benson said. “That’s ridiculous. We’ve instituted cuts and put in efficiencies. You’re teaching more, advising more and doing more of everything. I just want to tell you that you’re doing a great job and helping keep costs down.”
Benson was effusive in his praise for UCCS, citing enrollment growth, the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences, the 50th anniversary of the campus, athletics, partnerships with Ent Federal Credit Union, the City of Colorado Springs and the U.S. military as examples of campus efforts to make Colorado Springs and southern Colorado thrive.
He also outlined three percent salary pool increases, improvements to retirement plans, private fundraising successes and initiatives to improve online education as well as a new Douglas County-based campus, CU South Denver. The new CU South Denver facility, the former home of the Wildlife Experience, offers 150,000 square feet of space. Its donation to CU was valued at $40 million.
He cited state funding levels that increased to $185 million this year but should be in the $450 million range.
And while Benson’s comments were laced with statistics, he was also quick to leave them behind.
“CU is a huge factor in this state,” Benson said. “But it’s not just numbers. It’s what we create that matters.”
Future initiatives include changes in Colorado laws about fees charged at CU-affiliated hospitals as well as ideas to improve state funding, an online education initiative and continued emphasis on private fundraising.
— Photos by Jeff Foster
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