Members of the UCCS Faculty Assembly conducted their first meeting of the spring semester Feb. 10, discussing topics ranging from the strategic plan to the provost search and voting to support legislation expected to benefit non-tenure track faculty.
Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak was first to address the group, formally asking Faculty Assembly to submit the names of four members willing to serve on a search committee charged with finding a replacement for Provost Peg Bacon, who announced her retirement plans Feb. 7.
Search committee members will initially review a job description for ads to be placed in academic publications, Shockley-Zalabak said, but the university is not rushing to make a selection by Bacon’s July 1 departure date. David Moon, senior associate vice chancellor, Academic Affairs, will serve as interim provost if the committee hasn’t made a choice by then.
Shockley-Zalabak gave a brief overview of the latest round of campus input to the university strategic plan, announcing that the campus community submitted about 1,500 suggestions to the various divisions during the process. By Feb. 20, the executive committee will look at recommendations and decide which will become part of the proposed plan, pending final review.
“We will have aspirations and opportunities that are not in the plan,” Shockley-Zalabak said.
The plan needs to be flexible enough that campus leaders can take advantage of unexpected opportunities. Yet a substantial plan with definite direction must be completed for submission to the CU Board of Regents which will review it.
Brian Burnett, vice chancellor, Administration and Finance, said the methods and strategies used to implement the previous strategic plan were successful so campus administrators will use the same approach with the upcoming plan. He gave an overview of new construction, emphasizing the university’s environmental commitment, as three new buildings will aim for LEED gold certification. Groundbreaking for two new residence halls is scheduled for April and groundbreaking for the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences will be in June.
In her provost’s report, Bacon said two more candidates for dean of the college of Letters, Arts and Sciences will be interviewed, and that all candidates were informed of the personnel change in the provost position.
Faculty Assembly President Katie Kaukinen, associate professor, School of Public Affairs, reported that tuition assistance benefits will be extended to include university employees’ dependents. UCCS had already adopted the policy. It will now apply to all CU campuses.
President-elect Andrea Hutchins, associate professor, Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, made an appeal for nominations for Faculty Assembly officers for the 2013-14 academic year. A listing of the positions may be found at http://www.uccs.edu/Documents/facassembly/Approved%20December%2011%20Bylaws%20_FINAL.pdf .
On behalf of the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Committee, Co-Chair Mary Bethe Neely, instructor, Department of Chemistry, made a motion that the Faculty Assembly support Colorado House Bill 12-1144 which, if passed, will allow Colorado universities the option of granting full time NTTF multi-year contracts.
The assembly unanimously approved the motion. The full text of the bill is available from the Colorado General Assembly website at http://www.leg.state.co.us/CLICS/CLICS2012A/csl.nsf/fsbillcont3/7820234AB393E07D87257981007E0D50?Open&file=1144_01.pdf.
Leave a Reply