Mhm. >> This meeting will come to order. If I could everybody take their seats. Regents and guests, this meeting is live-streamed and recorded. Regent McNulty, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? Ladies and gentlemen, please join me as
we pledge allegiance to our nation's flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. Thank you. Let me get organized here. Today, the CU Denver land acknowledgement statement will be read by Juan Diaz, who is the vice president of the CU Denver Student Government
Association. Juan? Awesome. Good afternoon. My name is Juan Diaz, the vice president of the Student Government Association. Thank you for allowing me to speak on your behalf. We honor and acknowledge that CU Denver is situated upon the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of
the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute nations. We also acknowledge that this land served as communal and ceremonial spaces for more than 48 indigenous nations. As these words of our acknowledgements are spoken and heard, let us acknowledge the
painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory and pay our respect to the diverse indigenous peoples still connected to this land. Thank you very much. Thank you, Juan. Next is the approval of the agenda for
the April 16-17, 2026 Board of Regents meeting. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Is there a second? It is boo- been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All in favor of approving the Board of Regents meeting agenda, please say I.
Those opposed, say no. The motion passes. Next, we will hear from CU Denver on extracurricular engagement and club sports programming. I will turn it over to Chancellor Christiansen to introduce our speaker. Great. Thank you so much, uh Mr.
Chairman, and and welcome to the CU Denver campus for the board. We're so happy to have you back here again. So, um as you know, CU Denver is a different campus than some of our others. Uh we do not have uh Division 1, 2, or 3 uh sports, but we uh
collectively work very hard to create an environment of inclusion and opportunity for our students. And one of the ways that we do that is through our club sports programs, and so we're really proud to be able to present that to you today. Uh Dr. Genya Herndon, who's our
ABC for Student Affairs, will give you an update, and then we have a video to share that that helps emulate some of these things. And of course, you see Milo, the Lynx, our mascot here, uh who turned 13 years old this year, if I remember right. Excellent. All right. So, Dr. Herndon.
It was a fun birthday. We have a teenager. Uh so yes, thank you [laughter] um for the opportunity to allow Milo and I to share a brief update on club sports, and more importantly, why this program continues to be such a meaningful investment in the CU Denver student
experience. I want to start with how this began, because that matters. In 2013, our students voted overwhelmingly to fund club sports through student fees. That decision was not just about athletics, it was about community. Students were very clear.
They wanted a stronger sense of belonging at CU Denver. And that context is critical for us. We are a non-traditional, urban, and largely commuter campus within a tri-institutional community. Community does not just happen here by
accident, it has to be intentionally built. Club sports has become one of the most effective ways to do that. At its core, club sports delivers on three things that we know drives student success. First, belonging and connection.
Students build identity not only within their individual teams, but as part of the broader Lynx community. They represent CU Denver, they compete, and they create a shared sense of pride that can otherwise be difficult to cultivate in others at other environments.
Second, leadership and engagement is embedded in co-curricular experiential learning. These are student-run organizations. Students are managing budgets, organizing travel, recruiting teammates, and navigating competition. They are developing real-world
leadership skills in a way that is experiential and deeply meaningful. Third, wellness and holistic student experience. We know, both from a national research and our own data, that engagement in recreation and wellness activities is strongly correlated with
persistence and success. Students who feel connected and supported are four far more likely to stay, and our dat- our data reinforces this. From 2017 to 2020, participation in club sports grew consistently, about 10% year
over year, demonstrating strong and sustained student demand. More importantly, when we look at retention, semester-to-semester retention rates for club sport participants ranged from 81% to nearly 90%. Fall-to-fall retention consistently
exceeded 80%, outper- outperforming institutional averages. And what's most telling is how we measure this. We simply ask, "Did the student remain enrolled after participating?" And overwhelmingly, the answer is yes. That tells us something important. When
students find their people, they stay. Club sports helps solves one of our most persistent institutional challenges, how to create a cohesive student experience in a decentralized campus environment. It brings a traditional college feel into a non-traditional setting without
requiring students to live on campus or participate in varsity athletics. It creates moments of connection, identity, and pride, things that are often intangible, but absolutely essential to retention. And while those broader trends are important, I want to bring this to life
with one specific example. Our club basketball team, just one of the teams you're going to learn more about, had a cohort of 58 students, and then one-year retention rate was 95%. 95%. That's not just a statistic, that is a clear signal. It tells us that when
students are deeply connected, when they have community, purpose, identity tied to their experience here, they persist, they stay, and they succeed. And more importantly, that connection doesn't end at graduation. One of our students who helped build our basketball program, Shawn Burns, remains actively engaged as
an alum in the role of assistant coach. That continued connection speaks to the kind of lasting impact these experiences create, not just while students are here, but in how they stay connected to CU Denver long after they leave. And that's exactly what club sports
creates, not just participation, but belonging, not just activity, but connection to an institution. What you're about to see in the video is a glimpse of all of that, the energy, the commitment, the relationships, and the pride that these students carry as
part of their CU Denver experience and beyond graduation. Because ultimately, that is what retention is and long-term connection is. And this is what it looks like in practice. I think club sports is is really at the heart of a lot of the community on
campus. It's always been a student-run organization. We're up to having almost three teams of varsity and a developmental team. Now, we have a homecoming game. We play Pueblo, Air Force, Mines, UCCS.
There's been wonderful like community growth as well with the the team being as big as it is. I think this year, you know, hosting that homecoming week against uh Colorado Springs and having, you know, over 400 students show up and and support and cheer and get really
loud, kind of just uh awestruck, cuz, you know, it really went from a group of, you know, seven guys playing basketball saying, "Hey, we could take this a little more seriously." to, you know, um running a very organized team and involving the rest of the university
and the rest of the community. If I was to characterize this year's team, I would characterize it as well-rounded and hungry. You know, I think all these boys want to win. That's kind
of the expectation we've instilled. We expect focus um in the boys to lock in, and and they give it to us. And that is how we are have been able to execute so well. We are about to go to a tournament in Madison, Wisconsin. It's called NIRSA.
And we're going to bring our, I think, 15 guys and it'll be, you know, they'll be a wonderful pool play at the massive University of Wisconsin campus and we'll get to compete against some of the the best basketball teams in in the country for for club sports. The ability for it to be like this student-run team
is something that creates and encourages so much growth um for the people who do want to sign up and like help lead and run the basketball team. I I feel really confident in in the future of this team. >> Just the trajectory that the club is on. This club is always growing and that's
what I hope to continue to see while also keeping the roots that make it special and such a beautiful thing to be a PART OF. WOO! 1 2 3 BUFFS! THANK YOU. THE BOYS WOULD HAVE LIKED TO COME. HOWEVER, they're actually on a flight on their way to a national
tournament. So. Wow. CONGRATULATIONS. >> [applause] >> ONE LAST QUICK COMMENT, we very much appreciate UCCS being our victim at >> [laughter] >> our first ever homecoming this this past fall. The game was
fantastic. And so I just I want to thank Dr. Herndon and and all of our staff who are focused in in cultivating these kinds of opportunities for our students and and you see a unique culture that's being built and we're really proud of that. And thank you, Milo. >> Yeah, I was going to say I think we've
got a rebuttal on the other side of the room. >> [laughter] >> Just to mention those were uh club sports and you know we spend a lot of time on club sports but also Division II where our where we've had five our Mac championships in this past [laughter] year. So just want to lay that out there and I just want to mention that not only
did you grill me in person here, Dan Maxey's been texting me since that video started. >> [laughter] >> I'm having enough of that. I love competition among campuses. Regent McNulty, I think you had something. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um Chancellor, Doctor, I am uh anytime I have the
chance to take it, I do. Uh I strongly believe in the value of athletics and being involved to the development of young people. Uh my children are involved. Um I fully intend for them to continue to do that. Um but it is it is about community, finding a sense of belonging, finding those people that
will help carry you through the hard times and our student athletes do that together. Whether it's uh club sports or D2, D1 championship sports um or intramurals. Um all of these things I think are really important to develop uh
on our campuses and appreciate the fact that you guys have flagged this for us here today. I um I I I I appreciate what you've done and I hope that there's more to come. So thank you, Chancellor. Thank you, Doctor. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. Couldn't agree more, Chair. I mean
Regent McNulty, I played on I played on the intramural CU ice broomball team and we won the championship and I'm still friends with most of the guys that I played with and that was a long time ago. So I do believe it creates great
relationships. So thank you for sharing that. Next we will hear public comment from those who have signed up. Each person will have 2 minutes to speak. We ask that each speaker conclude their thoughts when their time is up. >> [snorts] >> There's a timer that will count down on
the screen in front of you. I will also let you know when your time is expired. We also ask that no one approach the table. If you have materials to distribute, please provide them to the board office. And if I could ask the board office staff to raise your hand so people know where to go with any materials.
Um and thank you for your cooperation. Our first speaker today is Chloe East and she will be followed by Elizabeth McKinney. CHLOE. >> [cheering and applause] >> ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. UM MY NAME IS Chloe East. I am an associate professor
of economics at CU Boulder where I study the labor market. And I've been part of the CU system for a decade on both the Denver campus for 9 years and the Boulder campus for 1 year. I also serve as the vice president of
United Campus Workers Colorado. Over my decade at CU, I've seen firsthand how pay and inconsistent employment contracts make it harder for dedicated staff and faculty to do their jobs. I've seen the consequences, high
turnover in critical roles like academic advising, and real disruptions for students who depend on that continuity. At the same time, higher education is facing unprecedented challenges. Many of us feel increasing pressure and
uncertainty in our work. As somebody who studies immigration and ICE, I feel this very acutely today. I also know that many of my students and colleagues do not fully feel safe or supported in their workplaces. Now, on top of that, we're confronting
difficult choices due to the state's budget shortfall. In the face of all this, collective bargaining is the constructive path forward. It creates a clear, formal framework where workers have a seat at the table and can partner in making decisions
about their workplaces. Shared governance works best when it has structure and accountability. Research shows that collective bargaining strengthens shared governance and I would know since I'm a labor economist
um by providing enforceable mechanisms that ensure workers' voices are actually heard. It doesn't replace shared governance, it makes it real. CU is an outlier in not granting its workers collective bargaining rights. Many of our peer institutions like
Michigan, Oregon, California, etc. grant collective bargaining rights to their workers. Today I'm asking you to grant us this basic right. Give us the right to collective bargaining and have a seat at the table. Thank you. Thank you. >> [cheering and applause]
>> Uh Elizabeth McKinney followed by Nate Wassil. >> [applause] >> Elizabeth McKinney, please. And she'll be followed by Nate Wassil if I'm pronouncing that correctly. All right. Good afternoon. My name is
Elizabeth McKinney and I'm a third-year PhD student in information science at CU Boulder. I'm also the current elected UCW communications officer. I have more than 10 years of programming experience. I was previously a software engineer at Microsoft and I currently do AI research. The decision to sign the
OpenAI deal is ignorant, deceitful, and malicious. Shared governance procedures were ignored but it is faculty and grad students who will deal with the consequences. I teach introductory programming and students are turning to ChatGPT not just for help understanding code but to write it for them. These students cannot
identify when AI makes mistakes and they are failing to build critical thinking skills because of tools like ChatGPT. ChatGPT EDU will make it almost impossible to create a learning environment without it. CU should not be working with OpenAI. While our country is murdering school
girls in Iran using the very technology that OpenAI creates you spent $2.1 million on a system that is contributing to our water crisis, decreases critical thinking skills, has led several people to suicide, reproduces biases and harms against marginalized groups, and you didn't even ask if we actually wanted
it. What else could that $2.1 million have been spent on? How can you guarantee privacy when the FAQ directly contradicts the language in the contract? How can you claim that sustainability is important but your solution is to put the burden on individual users? How can we continue supporting students to make ethical,
critical decisions including refusal to use AI when the CU system is broadly endorsing it? Shame on you. This deal shows that collective bargaining is more critical than ever. Without collective bargaining, we have no recourse when shared governance is ignored. Regent Elliot Hood, I voted for you and you have delayed introducing our
proposal on collective bargaining over and over. UCW has secured the endorsement of shared governance groups like CU Boulder GPSG, student government, and Boulder Faculty Assembly. Here is a stack of over 200 petition cards from my colleagues who also support collective bargaining. This is what the people want. Introduce
collective bargaining now. Thank you. Nate Nate Wassil is next followed by David Parady. I am asking you to protect us. I'm a student at CU Boulder and I am horrified at this board's handling of this OpenAI contract. The lack of privacy
protections and transparency is going to cause immense, measurable harm to all of the universities under the CU system. OpenAI is built on theft. There are lawsuits from dictionaries to news agencies over the copyright infringement
that OpenAI has undertaken and they take this data, they scrape this data, and they try and sell it to you. And you are paying them $2.1 million to add your students to that data set. We also are enabling them to turn over all of this data that they scrape from
our students to any law enforcement agency that just asked nicely. It took 3 months from when the contract was signed to when the general public found out about this deal. Even professors were blindsided by it.
Most professors were blindsided by it. The Office of President emails that announced it also made direct contradictions to the language of the contract and even with the amendments, there are still many issues that many professors have highlighted. I'm asking
you to take direct action to stop that. I'm asking you to ban CU institutions from giving student data to any AI agency for them to train on and abuse. And I'm asking you to greatly increase the transparency that you have because
no one understands what's happening with this deal. Thank you. THANK YOU. >> [applause and cheering] >> DAVID PARROTT FOLLOWED BY Jessica Ellis. Good afternoon. David Parrott is chair-elect Boulder Faculty Assembly.
Recently 89% of our assembly voted in favor of a resolution calling for collective bargaining policies to be enabled by the Board of Regents. Thank you Regents Hood and Spiegel for
introducing those ideas to the Regents. This summer working groups from Boulder, Denver, and perhaps Colorado Springs will evaluate the most effective ways for collective bargaining to operate with shared governance in general,
faculty governance in particular. In preparation for this work, we have started reading studies and holding information sessions. As we listen to faculty at other institutions, one point is already clear. When implemented thoughtfully, collective bargaining can enhance shared
governance. It can ensure that the administration pays attention to its obligations to consult faculty from the beginning when addressing matters such as AI contracts that affect our educational mission mission. It can also enforce policies and
procedures that protect academic freedom, a growing concern of faculty in an age of surveillance. Additionally, collective bargaining bodies, and this is probably the most important point, can become valuable partners with the Board of Regents to
improve state funding for higher education. This happened most recently in Massachusetts where the faculty union was instrumental in persuading the State House to increase funding for education and transportation. Consequently, the University of
Massachusetts no longer has to operate at a $400 million a year disadvantage compared to the average of its AAU peers as we have done for over the last decade. So, I ask all of you to set aside any biases that you might have toward unions
and to work with shared governance groups to develop region policies that enhance collective bargaining's ability to improve the entire University of Colorado system. And here are another 100 signed cards in favor of collective >> Thank you FOR YOUR COMMENTS. >> [applause and cheering]
>> JESSICA ELLIS AND she'll be followed by Shayna Kasha Dorian. Good afternoon. It's me again. My name is Jessica Ellis. I'm a staff research assistant at CU Anschutz and the proud president of United Campus Workers Colorado. I'm here again to talk about
collective bargaining, which is a long overdue labor right that thousands of workers benefit from at other public universities across the country, but not us at CU. Just yesterday I was talking to one of my coworkers. Um this is someone who has spent nine years as a research assistant
at Anschutz and is now applying to PhD programs. I can't speak highly enough of this coworker. She has built our department into the respected institution we are today. She is a brilliant researcher and very importantly a successful grant writer. But one thing became immediately clear
in her search for PhD programs was that there was no way she was going to stay in Colorado. >> [snorts] >> The PhD stipends at our competitor universities made the choice for her. Universities such as Michigan, California, and dozens of others are universities that have collective
bargaining agreements and by inviting workers to the table have developed stipends that keep up with the cost of living far better than ours have. And they're outcompeting us. This is only one example, but there are tens of thousands of brilliant graduate students, staff, and faculty who make
the choice on where to spend their talents every year and collective bargaining keeps us relevant. Not only does collective bargaining raise the standard of living and improve working conditions, it also signals to applicants and to current workers that they are valued. And I mean really
valued. Valued enough that they can speak openly about workplace issues and grievances and find solutions without fear of retaliation. Valued enough that they can come to the classroom and to the lab fully present without worrying that just being there is costing more in child care than
they're bringing home in wages. Collective bargaining works. It improves equity in the workplace. It improves the standard of living for workers at all levels and it's the right thing to do. But you don't have to hear it from me. I'm also holding another 100 signed petition cards from my colleagues who support bargaining and this this is who
you should listen to. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] [cheering] >> Shayna followed by Larry Eames. Good afternoon. My name is Shayna Kasha Dorian. Great job on the name. I'm university staff in human resources and previously was an academic advisor at CU
Boulder. I'm here to stand in support of collective bargaining. I could speak to personal hardships I've endured, but I want to talk about something more tangible to those in the room. In a unit of just 60 people, we had 20 vacancies over 3 years. That's one out
of every three positions gone. On my team of eight, seven seats turned over in that same time frame. Every single vacancy had the same cause. We were not paying people enough to stay. This is a budget crisis hiding in plain sight. Every time someone walks out that door,
the university doesn't just lose an employee, it's losing money. >> [snorts] >> According to data from the Society for Human Resource Management, replacing a single employee costs between 50 to 60% of their annual salary in direct recruitment costs alone. When you factor in lost productivity,
onboarding, training, and ramp-up time, total losses can reach 90 to 200% of that salary. A majority of advisors in this unit start at 50,000 a year. At a minimum, each of these vacancies carried a $25,000 price tag just to refill the seat. Multiply that across 20 vacancies
and you're looking at over a half million dollars lost in 3 years. And the financial cost is only half the story. Students are paying the price for this revolving door. In my past 3 years, students on my previous team have experienced anywhere from two to six advisor changes. That's a new advisor nearly every semester. That breaks
trust, creates inconsistency, and undermines the very mission this university is supposed to serve. And all of this is happening for one reason. We do not pay people enough to stay. Collective bargaining is the solution. When staff have a meaningful voice in our working conditions, we can negotiate for the wages that reflect the value of
our work and finally have a seat at the table. When people can afford to stay, they stay. When they stay, the university stops hemorrhaging money on recruitment and retaining. Students get the consistency and continuity they deserve. Investing in your workforce through collective bargaining costs a fraction of what it costs to keep replacing them. This is
not just the right thing to do, it's the fiscally responsible thing to do. I'll leave you with this, 100 petition cards signed by my colleagues in support of collective bargaining. Thank you. >> Thank you. LARRY EAMES FOLLOWED BY EMMA BUNKLEY. Hello and thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Larry Eames
and I'm a librarian at UCCS as well as an a research center director. I've been both tenure track and IRC faculty at UCCS and over the last 6 years, I have seen so many colleagues leave because of burnout and low pay. As our ranks shrink
and we can't rehire, we must take on more and more work for the same low salary to keep up with the needs of our faculty and students. To be clear, I love what I do. I love working with faculty on established research and I love working with students as they
discover something new for the first time. I want to be able to do what I love sustainably. Collective bargaining is a crucial path to ensuring we can keep the talented folks we have here in Colorado. Collective bargaining means a
system for negotiating conditions, workload, compensation, job security, and more for a sustainable CU. Collective bargaining gives us, the employees and you, the Regents alike, a framework that supplements and enhances shared governance.
Collective bargaining is a crucial component of a stronger, better CU system that flourishes into the future by helping us attract qualified people and retain them by ensuring they can continue to afford to live here.
These are another 100 signed petitions from my colleagues, all of whom love their work and love where they get to do it, and who want collective bargaining rights to make sure they can get to keep doing it. Thank you for your time. Thank you. >> [applause and cheering]
>> Emma Bunkley followed by Katherine Mormon. My name is Emma Bunkley. I'm an anthropologist and tenure track assistant professor in health and behavioral sciences at CU Denver. I'm here to speak in support of collective bargaining.
This semester I had a student in need of services from black student support. Our department worked hard to put this student in touch with CU Denver offices that previously existed only to learn these offices were dissolved in January 2025 in anticipatory obedience for Trump's
anti-DEI agenda. I believe the folding of these offices would not have happened with collective bargaining or shared governance. Faculty are the ones interacting with students on a daily basis. We are the first people students approach with their needs. The dissolution of CU Denver's
DEI office and office of black student support happened without faculty knowledge or input without shared governance. Collective bargaining and shared governance are not at odds with each other. They strengthen and reinforce each other ensuring that faculty and student needs are not dismissed by upper
administration. CU Denver is proud to be a Hispanic serving institution, an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander serving institution, and a first generation serving institution. These designations are used in advertisements, yet I don't see
administration doing anything to support the people who are classified as such. Our students need and deserve offices like black student support for their success. As faculty, I would have worked hard to ensure the preservation of our DEI office as would have the majority of
my colleagues. We know how important and necessary these services are for the success of our students. I see collective bargaining as a critical path, similar to shared governance, that allows faculty to make decisions that are best for our students and ourselves. And I
have a stack of 200 petition cards from my colleagues at CU Denver who also want collective bargaining rights. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Katherine Mormon followed by Maria Elena Buzek. Hello. My name is Dr. Katie Mormon and I
am an associate teaching professor in the ethnic studies department here at CU Denver. In eight years at this institution, I have given my all. And I have witnessed students and colleagues give theirs time and again. I have witnessed this not just in the
classroom or at meetings and not merely in our formal roles as teachers, learners, colleagues, and scholars, but fundamentally as human beings wishing to be in better relation to one another. This deep care and commitment goes well beyond what is assumed to be the regular
business of the university and certainly beyond the stipulations of our contracts. It manifests in stocking snacks in your office for those who are hungry, in sitting down to help a student practice active reading skills even after they have dropped your class
because they need to care for an ailing grandparent, in having an emergency meeting with a colleague to brainstorm how they can negotiate their contract after agreeing to teach yet another section but still being unable to afford health insurance as a single parent,
in painstakingly shepherding students through application processes, in spending way more than the 10 or 20% service allotted in your contract to ensure you've met with every possible administrator about how the university can better serve LGBTQ+ or disabled
students, or in saying goodbye to yet another beloved colleague who has been driven out by the wage and working conditions here at CU. But our care and commitment should not be mistaken for exploitable loyalty to this university. The university would
cease to function without the labor, care, and commitment of its contingent faculty whose numbers average 65% across campuses. Thus, it is time for you, CU Regents, as well as system and campus leadership to give your all.
This is There's one simple way to do this. Give us our collective bargaining rights and give them to us now. Here is another 100 cards. Thank you. Maria Elena Buzek [screaming] followed by Jackie Campasanto.
>> [applause] >> Hi. I'm Maria Buzek. I'm a professor of art history in the Denver campus and I'm also a CU President's Teaching Scholar. Um I am uh not going to repeat what my amazing colleagues from across the system have
just said in regards to the excellent points um uh of collective bargaining, but I'm going to talk from a more personal place, a little bit more off the cuff. Um and that's because I have been in support of collective bargaining and a beneficiary of it for 30 years since
1994 when I started grad school at the University of Kansas. Um in fact, I was a part of a group of graduate students who created the KU graduate students union which is still running. Um basically, my experience of
being a part of a union and of collective bargaining was like night and day coming in without any kind of a contract and coming in without a union um versus um existing with one. I grew up in Detroit, part of a union family. I'm a first generation college student. And so to my
mind, joining a union or forming a union was really a no-brainer. Um not only did creating a union and collective bargaining give us a living wage, it gave us health insurance, but it also, as many of these folks have spoken to today, gave us a better relationship with the university.
Gave us a better relationship with our faculty um where when you open the books, when you speak across the table to one another, uh you can make better and more informed decisions uh that positively affected everyone uh and of course the institution itself. In fact, the KU graduate student union successes
in organizing back in 1994 led to 30 years later, very recently in 2024, the KU faculty organizing and they've just arranged their first contract. And so I did want to speak to uh Colorado and of course to the Regents and our
administration who lead it. Colorado should never be behind Kansas. Uh And so I have another 100 stack of um uh postcards from my colleagues uh to encourage you to join the collective bargaining effort. Thank you. Thank you.
Jackie Campasanto followed by the Reverend Dr. Sandy Blake. Jackie Campasanto. So sorry for being loud and annoying. >> [laughter] >> I think so. And I hope you forgive me for reading a bit due to uh poor eyesight.
>> [clears throat] >> Hello. My name is Jackie Campasanto and I'm a librarian at the Auraria Library and a faculty member of CU Denver. I read some arguments against the Regents voting on collective bargaining, particularly that the taxpayers of Colorado should instead vote on this.
However, when you look at the funding, the group that makes up the largest fund is our students. Our students pay for our universities to function. Our students deserve our best. We can't give that to them when our colleagues are constantly leaving for better opportunities.
And this isn't theoretical. Just last week at the library, we had a set of second round in second round interviews for a certain position and next week we have another set of second round interviews. It takes a toll to work like this. How long can the CU system endure a
revolving door of employees? How long can we function, not well, but at all, with new faces who have no institutional knowledge? When will the inefficiencies of constantly hiring and training new employees so deeply incapacitate us that the CU system loses its last shreds of
prestige? Not even Boulder and Anschutz's renown can hold up against a crumbling system. If we as employees are overwhelmed and burdened with multiple job vacancies, then we can't give our best to our students. And what our students deserve, what they pay for,
it should be a top concern of the board. So let's talk for a moment about Regent authority. The state constitution grants the board broad authority over all aspects of university governance. The Regents already set policies around evaluation, compensation, and grievances
for the entire workforce of CU. Collective bargaining is not some radical change to this established practice. Collective bargaining is foremost a democratic framework for a workplace. We want our universities to be great places to work. And bargaining means building a strong CU system and building it
together. And here are 200 signed petitions from my colleagues who also want collective bargaining rights. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Dr. Sandy Blake followed by Murray Smith. Dr. Blake.
Uh well, I mean we may come back to Dr. Blake. Murray Smith, are you ready to speak? Here I am. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, too. >> [laughter] >> I have an entirely different issue. I uh sympathize with all of the issues that I've heard today.
Uh I am My name is Sandy Blake and I'm a retired clergy and a member of the Interfaith Immigration Network. And I'm speaking to the to the this the CU uh
governing committee that they need to cancel the contract with Key Lime Air as [snorts] long as it continues to deport immigrants from Colorado for ICE.
I say this as a citizen of Aurora and uh my representative Jason Crow keeps telling us that 20% 20% of people in Aurora in his district
are born in another country. So, that is a lot of of friends and neighbors. A lot of friends and neighbors that I care about and we care about each other very much. We meet each other
in our neighborhoods. We meet each other many times in the businesses that they conduct in in Aurora. 10% are owned by immigrants in Aurora. They are so important to our economy in Aurora.
So, we interfaith people believe in the dignity and the humanity of all of people, including many of the immigrant students, I'm I'm sure that are going to the University of Colorado. They need to
know that you are supporting them. And this is a moral issue for us, and I think it's a moral issue for the whole country. So, I'm also a concerned alum alum of CU Boulder.
I don't know if you can believe this, 1964, the summer of '64. Dr. Blake, I'm going to have to ask you to wrap up. >> My senior uh last semester cost me $350, by the way. I lived at home. So, but I >> Dr. Blake, I'm afraid we're going to
have to stop now. We're over time. Thank you, though. I just request that you you'll you you will stop the deportation of the people that we love and care about in Colorado. Thank you. Murray Smith.
Murray Smith, followed by Dana Miller. >> [applause] >> Good afternoon. My name is Murray Smith. I'm a candidate for CU Regent in CD2 and a 2015 CU Boulder grad. I'd ask the Regents, what is the point of public comment? Your constituents are
speaking loud and clear. Nobody's speaking for KeyLime. Nobody's speaking for Open AI. The comments are overwhelmingly in support of collective bargaining. I've heard administrators saying collective bargaining is bad for workers making $30,000 a year.
I don't know how that could be possible. That's far below a living wage in the front range. CU should be paying living wage to its employees. That means over $50,000 a year. CU needs to invest in the academic advising that will help more students
graduate in 4 years. That's the key to affordability for students is getting them out sooner. Collective bargaining will attract and retain the advisors that you need to do that. We need to give employees a seat at the table for dignified work.
Let's be clear, collective bargaining is coming. What the Regents have to decide is if they're going to be part of deciding how it's implemented or if they're going to wait for other Regents to replace them. Thank you. >> [cheering] >> DANA MILLER. DANA MILLER, followed by
Jeffrey Gollub. Thank you so much for those comments. Um hello, Regents. It's Dana Miller again. How are you? So, I would like to read from a recent letter to the editor that was uh published in the Boulder Daily Camera
just a few days ago by a CU student named Sidra Eskins. She asks, "What values does CU truly hold dear? Our vision is to transform lives in service to a just and sustainable world.
This is the statement emblazoned across the about CU webpage in large and bold front font. I'm sorry. Yet, for the more than 300 undocumented students who attend CU Boulder, this rings hollow and
false. The empty promise of an institution that has chosen profit over people and capitulation over compassion. Despite ongoing protests, you have decided not to do anything about KeyLime.
Imagine this, if you are a student at a university that consistently promotes its ideal of a world that is equitable, just, and fair. You came to CU because you believed the same. But you came here as the child of an
immigrant. Taken uh excuse me, um when you are unlawfully taken to a detention facility across state lines, no one from the university will protect you from the inhumane criminal torture that ICE agents
enact on bodies that look like yours. Because as much as CU claims to envision an equitable, just, and fair world, in the end, it has elected to remain complicit in human rights violations. So, what values
do CU really hold dear? The ones that have been plastered on every webpage, incoming student pamphlet, social media post promising a kinder and brighter future? If so, then end this uh contract with
and take steps to build a campus that is safe for every student. >> Thank you for your comments. >> regardless of their citizenship. Thank you. Jeffrey Jeffrey Gollub, followed by Yelena Gordiyenko. Jeffrey?
Here he comes, I think. Hi. My name is Yelena Gordiyenko, and I am a librarian at Auraria Library. Um I've been a librarian at Auraria for 6 years, and I'm also a faculty member at CU Denver. I love many things about working for CU
Denver, uh but I feel that one area where the university lags behind as an employer is where it comes to employee rights. The CU system has a collective bargaining unit, which currently has no bargaining
rights, uh which largely defeats its purpose. I have in the past worked for both unionized and non-unionized employers. One unionized employer that I worked for was a large urban university, and I just want to share my experience
about that. I can say with confidence that the presence of the union there was a big source of job satisfaction >> [sighs] >> for my co-workers and for me, and it contributed to its stable and productive work environment.
Uh most of my co-workers were union members, and the university thrived. Its academics and operations were bolstered by employee high employee morale and also relatively low employee turnover. Um the union provided collective
bargaining rights for the employees, which in turn provided necessary worker protections and improved workplace rights. Those two elements, workplace rights and worker protections, are necessary for employee satisfaction, but they benefit
the employer as well by ensuring heightened workplace morale and decreased turnover. Uh United States labor history has shown us repeatedly that increased union protections for employees benefit our society as a whole
by promoting financial equality and by extension social equality. And so, thank you for listening to me. I have here a stack of 200 cards from my colleagues who have signed uh in support of collective bargaining at
CU. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Is is is Jeffrey Gollub Great, Jeffrey. Come on up. He'll be followed by Kristen Eldreddy. >> [clears throat] >> My name is Jeffrey Gollub. I'm an associate teaching professor in
philosophy at CU Denver. I paid a campus parking violation while I was drafting this remark. I remember musing how I have committed a violation by forgetting to pay to come to do my job. It made me think of people for whom a violation like this could be enough to tip their financial scales beyond recovery.
It reminds me of what Astra Taylor says about insecurity, that while inequality can divide vertically, we are a part of a system that cultivates insecurity horizontally across all of us. No one is free from risk. Every one of us knows the feeling that the floor could fall
out from under us at any moment. But to paraphrase Taylor, where insecurity affects all, its harshest edge is reserved for some. Last year, two of my former colleagues at ICB, where I spent 10 years, had their jobs severed on this edge. After 10 years of their own service and while
expecting their first child, they were both let go. I feel a bit of shame appropriating their story as my tool, but if we're to understand that ourselves in this moment, we need to see that we all stand on the same floor that they had. It's just that some of us have resources to manage it, while others literally cannot
think of anything else. To be an IRC faculty member is to work arm in arm with our tenured colleagues, and while we all work tirelessly to keep this institution running, many faculty must supererogate just to be able to stand on the floor. As Taylor argues, this is not simply
about inequality, it's about feeling. To be IRC is to feel our particular allotment of insecurity in the depths of our bones. I feel the loss of my colleagues, and I feel it could have been me. Maybe it should have been me instead of them. But because it wasn't me, I'm here to say this: Insecurity
unites everyone. We need to learn to lean into this insecurity that we share and use it as a reason to unite us, most especially those who are most vulnerable. I have 200 of those people in my hand here. I and they and we are calling for collective bargaining rights. We're
calling for contracts that value and protect us. We're calling for a dismantling of the culture of manufactured insecurity. Thank you. THANK YOU. KRISTEN ALDREDGE, FOLLOWED BY Flynn Zook. >> [applause] >> Hello. My name is Kristen Aldredge, and
I'm here as a community member and an alum parent to address CU's continued complicity with ICE. Please allow me to start by quoting from CU's website. At CU Boulder, we welcome all students,
including undocumented, DACA, and asset-eligible students. As well as a posted statement by President Solomon. We remain steadfast in our support of CU's dreamers who study and work across
our four campuses and in our communities. So, I would like to ask, how do you as CU leadership reconcile continuing to do business with a partner that's publicly known to transport shackled immigrant
prisoners around the US and beyond through its contractual relationship with ICE? The standard response we received from CU leadership is based on deflection. Basically stating that the university
does not require potential contractors to provide information about other business relationships, inferring that updated publicly known information won't be considered. It simply doesn't appear to matter that
the airline that transports CU's student athletes may also be transporting to detention facilities the very students and their families who CU espouses to support and protect. This is not a neutral business
relationship. It reflects a choice that that CU is making on who it aligns itself with and what values it's willing to compromise. You cannot position CU as an inclusive institution of higher learning while maintaining contracts
with companies that supports systems causing harm to your own students and communities. Thank you very much. >> [applause] >> Flynn Zook, FOLLOWED BY MEL BARANOVICH. >> [applause] >> HELLO. MY NAME is Flynn Zook. If you
have not heard, or if you do not know me, you have definitely received my emails. I am here to address the university's lack of professionalism and transparency with regards to the AIA contract with OpenAI. I stand by the previously stated points of my fellow speakers,
and though I rest assured agree with all of them and support them, I also stand with the over 600 students, faculty, and staff who have filled out our surveys across and disciplines who veto the
entering of this contract by CU as a system without consulting its constituents. From the beginning, this contract has had shockingly little information spread about it outside of student efforts, faculty efforts, entirely led by grassroots efforts. To
this day, a month and a half, two months after this announcement was made, we still have students and faculty who do not know that this change is being implemented. There have been no forums provided by university leaders to discuss or address a major decision using students' tuition dollars.
University leadership has consistently dodged student and faculty concerns repeatedly. During a faculty assembly meeting that I was invited to to discuss this OpenAI contract, I was told by our chancellor to address my concerns to the system's
office through email, something I had already been doing and had received little to no response, and when I finally did receive a response a few days later, was a very boilerplate response that actually answered no questions and just repeated the story and the narrative that has been perpetuated throughout the announcement
of this contract. The chancellor continued to shift fault through for this contract even though his name is signed to the announcement. Not to call you out directly, you're just the only one I've had contact with because no one else has responded to my emails. We have consistently been given the
runaround, costing students and faculty time, effort, and resources doing a job that we should not have to do. This is your job. If you're here to listen to students, if you're here to listen to faculty, we shouldn't be as 15 DAC students are taking time out of their day to come and talk to you. Thank
you for your comments. We're going to have to wrap up. Thank you. >> [applause and cheering] >> Mel Baranovich, followed by Ewan Baker. >> [applause] >> Good afternoon. I'm Mel Baranovich, they/them, and I'm a research services professional at the College of Nursing on the Anschutz campus.
I want to continue to encourage our regents to put forth and approve collective bargaining rights for CU employees. We are a public university. Taking care of university staff means taking care of your community. However, I feel that is no longer possible to care for university workers without granting us the right to
collectively bargain. My colleagues and I are accomplished, educated, and trained professionals. We contribute to health research, clinics, and programs that often have direct, measurable, and positive impacts on our communities, including our communities' most vulnerable folks.
When we don't receive pay that reflects our skills, it affects our ability to stay at our jobs, and it affects our quality of life. Many of us make sacrifices that result in longer commutes, less time with our families, because wages have not kept up with the cost of living.
Additionally, the process of increasing pay and getting promotions takes place behind closed doors. Even our supervisors cannot properly advocate for us and our skills. I value being able to work with the skilled and caring people at this university, but without higher wages and
a more transparent pay structure, we will not be able to keep going. We deserve a seat at the table. Here is yet another stack of 200 cards of my colleagues and coworkers who want collective bargaining for themselves at the University of Colorado. Thank
you. Thank you. Ewan Baker, followed by Jed Brown. Hi. My name is Ewan Baker. Um I'm a student here at CU Denver, and I'm also a 3D animation major. Um I'm a storyteller and I'm an artist,
and I'm here speaking on behalf of the peers who are frustrated of the part with the partnership between OpenAI and CU. I want to start by saying I'm not entirely anti-AI. But the choices that we make using it can have massive consequence. OpenAI, the company we close we chose to
partner with, has also partnered with the Department of War. Their reputation is not grounded in transparency and truthfulness. ChatGPT is reported to consistently lie, hallucinate, and endanger the well-being of its users. This is not a kept secret. If you ask
students and educators, many of them will echo the criticisms. This is a company who we still Is this a company who we still choose to work with, whether it be now or going forwards? The integration of AI into the campus and the students' learning will also be a cause for concern. I think we can all
all agree that college is hard, and for young people like me, it is our first time really being pushed into build and learn all sort of all sorts of foundational skills. AI, like a drug, can help, but it can also be but it can also ruin futures if
used incorrectly. It's addictive, and it makes learning opportunities bypassable. We as students are here to do the hard things and to be challenged, and AI negates that. Seeking input from peers is necessary, and building student communities and
connection is already difficult with the internet. Fighting to maintain positive social social culture and engage with each other is already hard, and AI is only making that harder. On a federal level, AI is poorly regulated, which is all the more reason
we need to be regulating it here on campus. Training students to use it, creating structural specific structural and specific rules around its use, and being transparent with students the student body on its implementation. The consequence isn't losing money, it's losing students.
Thank you. THANK YOU. JED BROWN, JED BROWN, followed by Jacob Tatro. I'm Jed Brown, associate professor of computer science and co-president of the AAUP chapter at the Boulder campus, here to address the OpenAI deal. This
contract betrays Regent Law 5, denying faculty principal responsibility for matters of pedagogy, curriculum, and academic ethics. The BFA chair was not briefed until the evening before the public announcement during the reception for Dr. Timnit Gebru's talk in the Chancellor's auditorium about the deep
links between AI and eugenics, research that underlies the Sundance film Ghosts in the Machine. Go watch it. Per the contract, OpenAI shall own student-generated content after de-identifying it, contradicting public statements made by CU. After outcry, CU negotiated an addendum repealing this
language, now falsely claiming that CU owns student-generated content. Not true, students own their IP. The contract labels OpenAI a school official, holds CU liable for use by students and requires CU to indemnify OpenAI. Nobody knows how to prevent
these products from coaching people to suicide and overdose, reinforcing delusions leading to stalking, harassment, sexual violence, and somatic symptom disorders. Yet, CU now has a conflict of interest in needing to indemnify OpenAI for behavior that has been attracting a deluge of the lawsuits.
CU is providing financial incentives for AI-based pedagogy without shared governance and despite research showing harmful effects on learning and persistence with cognitive biases and addictive psychological effects akin to gambling. These products embody the strongest covert racism against speakers of African American English that has
ever been experimentally recorded. Jim Crow was bad, y'all. I can ask a clansman whether a student's writing conveys ideas clearly. Is this what we're doing? These products are epistemic nihilism, consistently failing tests of construct validity. Even when right, it's for the wrong reason, and the errors are career-altering
misconduct. Over a thousand lawyers have been sanctioned for Rule 11 violations by filing fraudulent AI-generated briefs. Amazon decries the blast radius of AI-generated code causing infrastructure failures. Nobody wants to implement safety engineering protocols sufficient for reliability.
Panicking CEOs call for world leaders to suppress critique from respectable >> up? >> people with PhDs, yet we are to assume that transformative publishable results will magically a fall upon naive users to protect us from being Thank you for your comments. submission in the
quality as human, be curious, confuse epistemicide. Jacob Tatro, followed by Jade Kelly. Uh hello, my name is Jacob Tatro. I'm a student at CU Denver and a member of the Digital Animation Center. Uh I'm here uh speaking on behalf of my fellow students
on the um OpenAI contract. Uh as you've been able to see, uh it the lack of transparency with this contract has been very uh alarming and um I have been witness to especially
Flynn Zuk, uh as he has tried to gather resources and inform all of our fellow students about this ongoing like contract. And seeing I as one of the people that sees some of the benefits of AI, I do not
believe that it should be uh encouraged to be in a contract with as it limits our critical thinking learning and overall does not really benefit us. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause and cheering]
>> Jade Kelly. Thank you, Chair. My name is Jade Kelly. I am the proud president of CWA Local 7799. A Colorado Civil Rights Commissioner, a mother to three badly behaved cats, and most importantly for here today, a proud campus worker at CU Boulder for the past
11 years. I served this university in the computer science department at the National Center for Women in Information Technology, and now for the past three years as program advisor to CU student government. I was also elected to staff council, including two years as co-chair where alongside my fellow workers and Regent
Heidi Ganahl, we won the first paid parental leave policy for university staff before family was passed by the voters. And we pushed for critical improvements to the employee tuition program that was so broken that fewer than 4% of staff could use it. At one point, it was easier to get CU tuition covered by
working at Starbucks than it was working at CU. I believe in shared governance, and I've dedicated my entire career to CU. But I'm here on my vacation time to have your ear for just 2 minutes and say with the voice of my union behind me, collective bargaining is how we protect
our students, staff, faculty, and institution, and everyone who sacrifices daily to keep our university running. Unions do not replace shared governance, but instead strengthen shared governance. At the 164 universities with collective bargaining agreements we researched alongside Regent Hood and
Regent um Spiegel, um shared governance is still strong, collaborative, and it's still essential to the success of public higher education. That's why 96% of CU Boulder students voted in the past USG election to support expanding collective bargaining to faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate workers.
Because when campus workers have a real seat at the table, we are when we are able to negotiate in the same way that the private sector can in Colorado, when we have when we are treated with dignity instead of as disposable, student learning conditions improve and our entire university benefits. Our policy simply gives campus workers
the right to choose who represents us, file for an election in the same way the private sector can, and be able to sit across the table from our employer and to have our voices heard collectively, to be seen as human. And as we're being lauded on all four campuses, I have 2,000 signatures here from Boulder,
Denver, Colorado Springs, and Anschutz. Please listen to these folks. Nothing about us without us. THANK YOU, JADE. >> [applause] >> THAT CONCLUDES OUR PUBLIC COMMENT. I WANT TO thank all of our speakers for taking the time to share their thinking with us. I want to now do our chair's report. Want to thank everybody for
being here and welcome to the April meeting of the CU Boulder Regents. It's great to be at CU Denver today in the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship. Thanks to those of you joining us in person and those joining us virtually. I want to begin by congratulating our host
campus on earning its designation as a first-generation serving institution for the second time from the state of Colorado. This designation recognizes CU Denver's excellent work to support first-generation students and help them thrive at CU. UCCS has also earned this
designation for the second year in a row, and across our campuses, the university continues to work to put a CU education within reach of anyone who wants to achieve that. While I'm on the topic of UCCS, I want to take a minute
to call out the tough and important work Jennifer our chancellor, Jennifer Sobanet, and her team are doing down there to stabilize the budget, and more importantly to drive a vision of what that institution will be into the future. I can't stress enough how important the campus is to our community
as I'm a member of the Colorado Springs community and our entire region in Southern Colorado and the state. I stand in full support of the work going on to ensure the campus continues to be the strong, healthy contributor it has been since the 1960s.
Our efforts at the state capitol this legislative session also demonstrate our long-standing commitment to increasing opportunities for Colorado students. Despite a tough budget year for the state, our CU team has worked tirelessly to advocate for CU higher education and
students statewide. We're incredibly grateful for the team's work on the state budget this year. They've gone above and beyond to protect funding for issues that are critical to Coloradans, including making sure we can continue to help doctors and other medical
professionals find their way to rural communities. They've also done important work advocating for our CU-backed bills, including the university's bill on concurrent enrollment, which would expand opportunities for students statewide while also saving them time
and money. You can read more about the bill in President Saliman's March newsletter. Expanding opportunities for Colorado students is something the Latin American Educational Foundation has been doing for 76 years. I had the great honor of
joining Regent Spiegel, President Saliman, Chancellors Christenson and Sobanet, and others at the foundation's annual gala last weekend. CU is proud of our long-standing partnership with LEAF. Of the more than 130 LEAF scholars this year,
34 enrolled at CU across our campuses. They join the thousand or so LEAF scholars who have attended CU over the years. It was a wonderful evening celebrating an outstanding organization that invests in Colorado Latino students through scholarships, educational
opportunities, and community partnerships so these students can can achieve their highest potential. While on the subject of great achievements and high potential, I want to give a shout-out to all of our CU-affiliated athletes who competed in
this year's Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. The university was well represented across our campuses with eight Buffs, two Mountain Lions, and a CU Denver Lee Links competing in the Olympics, and three Buffs competing in the Paralympics. The strong
performance across the board in Italy, we had some gold medal finishes, too. Brett Bolden, a sophomore at CU Boulder, helped Team USA capture its fifth straight Paralympic gold medal in para ice hockey. And UCCS student Ellie Kight
Cam skated skating with UCCS alum Danny O'Shea helped USA figure skating win gold in the team event. We're incredibly proud of these Olympic medalists and everyone who competed on the world stage representing the University of Colorado.
We're also incredibly proud of our Buffs women's basketball team and their coaches for another terrific season and for their NCAA tournament appearance. We love cheering them on this year, and we can't to see them go even further next year. Finally, I want to give a very special
thank you to Buff's women basketball assistant coach Shelley Sheets for helping us navigate a very long and adventurous journey home from the NCAA tournament in Nashville. We were all grateful to Shelley for her help keeping the wheels on the bus and on the plane,
literally so to speak. At least that's what Regent McNulty tells me. And with that, I'll turn things over to President Salovey, but I believe that we had a couple comments before that. Regent uh Van Druff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to make a comment on one of the things you mentioned there. Um one
of the biggest challenges a budget gap brings is a need to focus on that gap and an understandable tendency to tunnel vision into that. And Chancellor Sobanet, I have been in awe of your disciplined focus on continuing to build a future in the
midst of this tough situation. And I want to express my belief that it will reverberate to the benefit of future generations of mountain lions and Coloradoans. So, thank you. Thank you. President Salovey. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you,
Chancellor Christiansen, for welcoming us to CU Denver and to everyone on your team and and our team who help is helping make all of this possible. So, thanks to everybody for their hard work. So, uh so I got to spend uh the day with you a
few weeks ago and and some of the other folks in this room learning about some of the extraordinary things happening here at CU Denver. So, uh one of the I got one of the cool things that we got to tour was your quantum lab where um where you are working to make
direct workforce connections between quantum science and industry within Colorado. So, really inspiring work going on there. One of the other things we got to see was the Lynx Connect space, which is awesome, and I encourage any everyone to
stop by. It's a one-stop uh one-stop shop for student resources, and it's an incredible resource here on the campus. And um and and it and it really helps connect our students to not only opportunities here on campus, but helping them make
that leap to entering the workforce as well. So, thank you for your work on that. Had great meetings with with faculty assembly and staff council and student government leaders. And um I don't know if some of those folks are in here, but but thank you for for the
good meetings and great conversation and um and frank dialogue. And one of but to to top it all off, we heard about the incredible work going on here at CU Denver with students with your student success transformation initiative. And this is super cool, and
it's all it's all about delivering for our students and helping our students um be successful here at CU Denver. As as a Chancellor Christiansen says and as the board says and as I always talk about, too, our job is to not just get folks in the door, it's to get them across the
finish line. And um and that's exactly what that initiative is all about. So, thank you to you and your team and the faculty here at CU Denver and the staff who are working so hard to to help our students be successful. Uh I've I spent a bit of time in
February uh in in Washington, D.C. advocating for all the amazing things we do here at the university and for our amazing students. I met with our sent both of our senators and and um almost all of the members of our
congressional delegation. We also met with House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff, the folks who write the bills, who decide how much money that that goes into the things we care so much about. And I also got to meet the meet with the
uh with with the uh advisor with the senior advisor to the NASA administrator, who's a CU Boulder aerospace grad and former astronaut and super awesome person and my daughter's former violin teacher, super cool. Very
exciting to meet with her. And and we and we also got to meet with the um with uh Secretary McMahon at the Department of Education. Really great meetings and really productive conversations advocating for the things that we care about most here at at at
all of our campuses. And and thank you to to Danielle and your team for making all of that possible. Uh We just uh we we are we are in the in we are in budget season at the at the state legislature, and uh
Chair Montera, thank you for for for speaking to that. Uh and and um it was a really it is a really tough budget season for our state legislators. And um and I just want to say
uh it didn't we we we always want more, always. Uh but I just want to say thank you to the state to the Joint Budget Committee and to state legislators for really coming through for higher education. Uh they had some very very very difficult
decisions to make this year, and at the end of the day, what they approved uh funds the core minimum costs that are that are defined for them by our higher ed institutions. And so, I'm grateful to them for that. It was a tough year, and it got spicy at times, and I just want
to express my gratitude to them. I also want to thank our team uh Chad and Heather and all the folks on our government relations team who have been working tirelessly leading all of higher education and working directly with with legislators. Um
they got to they got to enjoy some of that spice, and so so I I just really want to thank thank them for their for their good work. We also have a couple really important CU bills that are moving through the process here this year, the concurrent
enrollment bill, which will help help make college more affordable for high school students around the state. Concurrent enrollment is an awesome deal. Unfortunately, four-year institutions right now under state law can't go into high schools and offer concurrent enrollment classes. We
can offer them online. We can offer them on our campuses, but we can't offer them in high schools. So, it so we need to change the law so to make it easier for us to meet students where they are. Community colleges concurrently
provide those concurrent enrollment classes in high schools. But but four-year institutions can't, and we're hoping that that will change. It it'll just be another tool in the toolbox to make it easier for students to take college classes while they're in high school,
which will allow them to transfer those credits and shorten their time to degree. The number one way to making college cheaper is to be here for less time, and the best way to do that is to transfer credits upon your arrival. So, so
so that that bill is still in process, and hopefully it'll make it all the way through. And we're also working on a bill to improve efficiencies in a variety of areas that that is making its way through the process now. And and I just wanted to
thank our team for their work on those things. Uh a couple other just uh uh things focusing on other campuses as well. Uh I just wanted I too wanted to thank Chancellor Sobanet for the work that she's been doing with her team, the hard
work that you're doing with your team to to put UCCS on the right path on a fiscally sustainable path. It's really tough work, and um and and I've I've cut budgets. I've I know what it's like, and it's hard, and it's not
pleasant, and people uh and it impacts people and and and what they do and um and you you are you are leading uh with courage and with um with clarity on that, and I just want to thank you for
your work on that. SO, THANK YOU. THE OTHER SOME OF THE OTHER GREAT things that are going on at UCCS is really exciting work relative to um outreach and engagement. Super cool things going on with partnerships around concurrent
enrollment and um really trying to look toward the future of to make to to make the the UCCS all that it can be. And um when you're dealing with budget challenges, one solution is to cut, and you got to
you got to balance your budget. But the other solution is to try to is to raise revenue. And we do that by doing our job, and our job is to serve the people of Colorado, provide educational services to people in Colorado. And and I've got to tell you that UCCS is an
extraordinary gem in Colorado, and especially in Southern Colorado. And so, Chancellor Sobanet and her team are working really hard to um to to turn the corner on that and and and do what we do best, which is
uh help people learn. So, thank you for your work on that. Um congrats to the CU Boulder ski team. So, go Buffs, can I just say? Second place finish at the NCAA ski championships, and it was a super super
tight uh finish. Utah, okay, uh won by by less than one point on the final lap of the final race. And so, so when I say it was close, it was really really close. But, I got but
our our buffs do an incredible job on the slopes and on the and and and and and in Nordic competition, and I am just so proud of what they've done and and how many national championships we've won and it turns out almost one. So,
thank you very much to to everything to everyone at at CU CU Boulder for your amazing work. Um and congrats to 61 Mountain Lions at UCCS on the on the men's and women's indoor track and field teams for being
recognized by ARMAC for academic achievements. 61, that must be like almost everyone. Seriously, it's that's an incredible accomplishment. Six student athletes at UCCS secured ARMAC all all all academic
first team accolades, which is an extraordinary thing and we should be so so proud of them. I know I I am. And and Chancellor Elliman is up to a few cool things out there at CU Anschutz, too, with his incredible team. And I got to participate in some amazing
meetings. Last week was that? Where uh CU Anschutz is working on changes to how we provide health care to people and through health systems that when I say this, I do not I am not exaggerating when I say this, that could revolutionize how health care is
provided not just here in Colorado, but but through the entire nation and in the entire world. And so, I it's it's big big deal stuff and I just want to express my appreciation to you and your incredibly creative team for the work
that you're doing. So, with that, Mr. Chairman, if it's okay, I'd like to ask each Chancellor to give a brief update. >> Absolutely. And since we're in your house, Chancellor Christiansen, I'll ask you to go first. Thanks so much, President Elliman, and again, welcome everyone to the CU Denver
campus. I'm I'm going to talk about two things briefly here. Our community has been going through a refresh of our strategic plan since September. Our community has really leaned in in honing in on the most important aspects of how CU Denver will fulfill its responsibility as the Denver metro
area's anchor higher ed and partner by making education work for all. And in doing so, we have honed in on four core principles. You will see these on the handout that you have in front of you. Uh obviously, we will focus on learner success, which has always been our core
mission. Uh discovery and impact, particularly that that impacts our communities, either outright outside our doors or across the globe, is incredibly critical to us. And to accomplish both of those things, we're really honed in on organizational excellence and innovation in how we
operate. And also belonging and meaningful work, ensuring that we're supporting our people through their development so that they can help support our students through their success. We will be measuring our progress toward our goals through a handful of metrics
and it's not good enough to just graduate students. We need to place them in the jobs that they deserve. And so, we'll be measuring ourselves not just by retention rate of at least 90% by 2030 and a 6-year graduation rate of at least
65% by then, but also ensuring that we're placing our students in the careers that they deserve through our academic programs. And ensuring that 100% of our undergraduate students have a meaningful experiential learning experience that positions them well for
their future career. So, I'm really proud of our community for doing that and I thank everyone for engaging in that process. In parallel, we are launching our first campus-level comprehensive fundraising campaign called elevation. And you have a brochure in front of you on that. There are three core principles
that feed into our goals of our strategic plan, expanding access, enhancing student success, and cultivating human talent. Uh we are not setting a dollar amount goal. We're setting an impact goal for ourselves. And so, our advancement
team is incredibly incredibly talented and productive. We've already raised over $110 million toward this purpose. I have my own number in my head that I will never share with anyone because it will scare people. But, I'm so proud of our community for leading in in this way as well. So,
thank you for the opportunity to speak. Thank you, Chancellor Christiansen. Chancellor Elliman. Thank you, Mr. President. Um as I think all of you knew know, we went into this year with a a fair amount of trepidation in no small measure because
of the concerns over federal research funding and the the resulting indirect cost recovery, which uh funds a huge portion of our of our infrastructure. Uh that concern, surprisingly surprisingly to me anyway, has not turned out to be an issue.
Uh in fact, our total research awards through March, so 9 months of the year, are up 7% and the NIH is actually up 13%, which I never would have have guessed. We do expect that to slow down the fourth quarter because of the shut the slow to the shutdown, sorry, that
slowed the award meetings in January and February. But, it's still a much better picture than I than I thought we were going to be seeing. Having said that, recognizing the continued unpredictability of federal funding and for that matter, state funding, um has led us to institute a
new budget model for the campus, the first one in in modern memory, frankly. Um and it's a a model that was developed by Terry Carruthers and Ryan Davis, who are here, and their team. Uh it spreads central expenses much more broadly and
is far more scalable so that our than our previous model was and and frankly, I think provides a a great foundation for the campus moving forward. It was hard work, but we got it got it done. The second issue I'd talk about is the
one Todd mentioned. Um it's the biggest single initiative we have going on in this campus right now. Um it we have a uh a premise that the combination of the advanced biologics that have really
accelerated in in recent years combined with high compute power and AI will be able to lead us to to in in >> [laughter] >> effectively interrogate massive multi-dimensional databases. Uh and if you can do that at at an
individual level, you can redefine precision or personalized medicine. That's the goal that we have in front of us. We actually think we have the assets to be a world leader in that. We have a signed contract with Verily and we have
very clear intentions that Nvidia is is going to bring their tools into the effort as part of the party. Um and as I said, for me, it's the most exciting thing that I've been involved in since I've been at the University of Colorado. And I you it's it's a very big deal for
us. There will be a lot of resources committed to it and you'll hear a heck of a lot more about it as we as we move forward. So, with that, thank you. Thank you. And and you've been in involved in some pretty exciting stuff on your campus, so that is quite an endorsement. So, thank you, Chancellor.
Uh Chancellor Schwartz. Thank you, Mr. President. Um as we wrap up the spring semester, there are so many things I'd love to highlight at CU Boulder, but I'll keep it down to a few. Um this week, we are hosting our
76th annual Conference on World Affairs, which has included more than 60 speakers and panels. Uh among them, on Monday, we partnered with the Steamboat Institute to host a debate between US diplomats John Bolton and Susan Rice, reasserting the commitment that Regent
McNulty spoke about at the January meeting to bring the highest level of intellectual capacity to campus from across the political spectrum. And so, we are truly proud to be an ongoing platform for diverse voices, civil discourse, and rigorous engagement on
the world's most complex challenges. Um the CWA ends tonight and our closing event, I'm excited to say, is Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. Closer to home than a previous meeting, I mentioned that we had launched our employee health
and well-being initiative. I really want to give a shout-out to the tremendous early successes that we've had. One of the things I mentioned is that we have the first in the US eGym in our facilities to support our faculty and staff for
workouts free of charge. Um usage has been high and we often see groups of staff going to work out together, realizing that it's not only giving them physical health opportunities, but really doing some community building. Um in fact, just yesterday, one member of our staff stopped a member of the
leadership team on campus and mentioned that never before in her life had she worked out, but after working out four times a week with colleagues on campus, her bio age has been reduced from 72 to 55. Wow. Which is truly nice. I'm I'm jealous. >> [laughter]
>> I'll have what she's having. And she's What's that? I'll have what she's having. Yeah, exactly. Um another topic of pride is this is, of course, graduate program ranking season. I could spend a great deal of time with all the details, but let me just say we
have once again seen very high rankings for many of our programs, many of them moving up, including environmental law, aerospace engineering, physics, clinical psychology, seven distinct programs in Leeds School of Business, and literally almost every single
engineering grad program is in the top 20 nationally for public universities. So, this is really um an illustration of the cross-the-board excellence of our faculty and our staff. Um it speaks to the value of a graduate degree from CU Boulder. Um and also the the
long-standing leadership and vision of our deans. Really building on our 150 years of um transforming lives across Colorado because yes, this is our 150th year anniversary um and we are celebrating frequently across campus uh
reflecting on the great things that CU Boulder has done um while also recognizing things where maybe we've fallen short and are still continuing to improve. But in some ways the most important part of an anniversary is not just the reflection, but the question of where
does this set up set us up to go next? And so, we recently launched what we call our big ideas initiative asking everyone in our community, faculty, staff, students, alums, general public, uh anyone, what are the next big audacious ideas
that need our urgent attention? What are the transformative areas that we should be focusing on in the coming years? And these ideas should relate to any aspect of our mission including transforming student experiences, transformative research and creative ideas,
operations on campus um as well as of course impact across Colorado and around the world. We ask for meaningful, ambitious, and transformative ideas and we've already received more than 600 um from our community um a clear sign of
the great creativity and engagement of the CU Boulder campus um as well as the uh great challenge we have in front of us of um going working through all these ideas and and determining how we're going to invest in our future. Um ultimately all of this comes back to
our students and of course in just over 2 weeks, we look forward to having all the regions on campus for our graduation. We have over 10,000 students who have applied to graduate so they've not just come in, but they're crossing the finish line. Um this is the largest number of graduates uh for any year in
CU Boulder history. It is a true moment of celebration and pride for our community. Look forward to hosting you. I will turn it over now. Thank you. Over 10,000. Thank you. Chancellor Sobanet. Thank you, President Solomon and Regents
for your support and um Chancellor Christensen, I can't find right now, but thank you for hosting us um here >> he's back there eating eating the food he provided. >> snacks [laughter] Well, I won't bring up that anymore. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> Um I also want to thank Regent Speigel
and Vice President Dinnegar for joining us in February as we celebrated our student athletes. Maybe Ken does want to listen to this part um because we won the Learfield Directors' Cup for the fall um so Ken, you know, game on.
Uh also want to thank Regent McNulty and Montera for participating in our Veterans Affairs round table with Congressman Crank last month. Really appreciate it when you all are on campus. I also want to highlight our students. A couple of weeks ago and you mentioned this a little bit, President Solomon, um
we had the opportunity to celebrate Olympic gold medalists and UCCS student and alum Ellie Cam and Danny O'Shea. And honestly, you all it was an amazing event to honor them and Ellie said it best, UCCS makes it possible to pursue
excellence in athletics while preparing for life beyond it. And that balance is exactly what we strive for for every single one of our students. Um I also want to brag about our faculty because Chancellor Ellement, just like you said, we were a little bit nervous
about our research and the ability to to bring in new awards and our UCCS faculty are knocking it out of the park. We continue to accelerate our research activity, grant submissions are up and we've already exceeded last year's total funding requests. So, I'm super super
proud of that work. Um also just a little bit more about our athletics um we've had such a strong year. Obviously being ranked number one in the NCAA Division II um with the Learfield Cup was amazing, but also on
the academic side, 43 consecutive semesters of cumulative student GPA of 3.0 or above. It's truly exceptional what our students do. And on top of that, the five RMAC championships I have mentioned three times now today. Um
>> [laughter] >> an incredibly strong NCAA postseason participation. Um I also want to brag about our community and just how supportive our community is of UCCS. Our Carrying the Light giving day exceeded our $100,000 goal by
raising over $115,000 in one day from more than 180 donors. And the participation across campus, across all of our community, I just a huge kudos to our advancement team for for having such a successful day.
Um as already mentioned, this is our second year of being recognized as a first-generation serving institution so we're super proud of that. Um I'd also like to brag about our financial aid team. Our financial aid momentum is incredibly
strong right now with awards up 19% and FAFSA filings significantly increased. This this looks good for the future um and we've we've created new programs like Clyde's Housing Grant and the Think 30 Grant to help our students
realize that full-time is important and um a faster way to get to their goals. Um this creates more affil a little bit more affordability and really drives progress. So, in closing, you know, across all of this work, what stands out is the
same theme, strong momentum even in a very challenging environment and a continued focus on supporting our students, faculty, our staff, and our community. So, I'd like to conclude with a
heartfelt thank you to you, President Solomon, to the Board of Regents, and to my colleagues on campus and on my sister campuses who continue to support UCCS through these difficult challenges. Thank you.
Thank you, Jennifer. Before we move on to our shared governance leaders, I uh wanted to re-emphasize the idea of concurrent enrollment. I was at dinner with a group of our um city council members 2 weeks ago and one of the council members I knew before he was elected and I was asking about his
daughter and I said I I she's got to be about a sophomore now. He goes, Ken, she's ending her junior year and it's all because she entered college with 1 year of credit and it's going to save him a year of college tuition. So, if you don't think it has an impact, it has a huge impact. I said the only mistake
you've made, Roland, is she went to CSU. So, >> [laughter] >> but anyway, it's a significant impact and it's really felt so I hope we can get that across the finish line. Um really excited about our next section, our governance leaders' reports. Really appreciate how you bring what you
represent to our board and how important you are to make it in in our decision-making process. So, thank you for being here. Our first is our ICSF chair, Mitchell Morrow. Mitchell. Good afternoon. We have a pretty hefty report so I'll jump right in starting
with Colorado Springs. Uh UCCS has continued to build on long-standing campus traditions this past month, most notably through Roar Days, a week-long series of events that highlights many of the clubs, organizations, and experiences that make up UCCS culture. This year the number of events was
expanded through the two $20,000 bucket, the Roar Days attendance increased by 51% compared to last year. It has been exciting to see continued student engagement in programs that strengthen campus community and reflect the traditions that make UCCS unique. In that same spirit of honoring
tradition while responding to student interests, UCCS is continuing the spring concert tradition that began last year following student demand. This year's concert will feature Thomas Day and will will be more intentionally integrated with Residence Life to further enhance the student experience and strengthen
campus connection. Another exciting development has been the success of Carry the Light with the strong contributions from the Chancellor Leadership Class. This year the Chancellor's Leadership Class raised $21,126 representing a 179% increase over last
year. This growth was supported by some of the strongest local partnership engagement we've seen including a collaboration with Kangaroo Coffee to create an exclusive coconut lavender chai or CLC drink, a name that also reflects the Chancellor's Leadership Class. The drink is available throughout the
month of April with proceeds supporting scholarship opportunities at UCCS. Lastly, UCCS has just wrapped up an exciting student government election session. This year marked our most competitive election in over a decade with which is an encouraging sign of student interest, leadership, and
engagement heading into the next academic year. Go Mountain Lions. Uh next is the Denver campus. The election cycle started on Monday and will run until April 24. There are several contested positions as well as one referendum item related to the Phoenix Center at Auraria's fee assessment rate. We look forward to
watching the election cycle continue and are eager to onboard next year's leadership. The Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board was successful in their endeavors to revise Colorado Revised Statute 23-71-02 that establishes the Auraria Board of Directors as well as the student and faculty subcommittees. The bill was
signed by Governor Polis on March 30th and we're very appreciative of everyone's support and participation in getting this passed. The finance and funding committee has allocated their entire budget to the registered student organizations. Throughout the cycle, the committee fully fully or partially funded 85 different
student organization events and received 106 funding requests in total. SGA has begun the process of engaging an external consultant to restructure all governing documents to increase efficiency and support internal processes. This consulting process is aimed at completing being completed by
the end of the academic year. This process coincides with the restructure of the student services review committee, which would offer greater oversight of the student fee funds by the student government. The NVC program initiative has connected with SGA and is partnering on a social media guidebook for new student
organizations and those who are interested in learning about CU Denver's brand standards as well as how they can incorporate it in their marketing. The student life and campus community has committed to maintaining this resource once it is completed. The civic engagement committee held the spring installment of the Nourish Now
event to share information about food resources available on campus. This event was in partnership with Milo's Market, the Low Down Broad Cellars at our Wellness Center. 420 special item vouchers were provided for the pantry and numerous students signed up for the Swipe Out Hunger program. Through the course of two day two days,
over 500 unique constituents interacted with the table. Go links. Uh Boulder campus. Uh next is the Boulder campus. CU SG has concluded our election cycle and had an incredibly strong year marked by the healthy and competitive election. This cycle, students also passed a referendum with
overwhelming support affirming the right of students, staff, and faculty to unionize and collectively bargain. As this year's tri executives begin to wrap up our work, we are actively supporting the incoming administration to ensure continuity and a smooth transition on on ongoing projects, partnerships, and
initiatives. It has been an especially dynamic year for the student experience at CU Boulder. We've seen a wide range of engaging and impact impactful programming across campus. The Conference on World Affairs is currently underway fostering open dialogue and student engagement and will conclude
tonight. We are also excited to welcome back Disco Lines, a CU Boulder alumnus, to perform on Farrand Field following the recent appearance at Coachella just last night. We hosted Rebel Wilson, who shared her story and encouraged students to invest not only in their careers, but also in
themselves. This semester has also included the spring game, a sudden dance film festival movie night featuring an unreleased film and filmmaker Q&A, and ticket giveaways for students to attend Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games. Looking ahead, we have our upcoming sexual assault awareness 5K and
of course commencement. Beyond programming, CU SG has continued to support long-term institutional initiatives. In partnership with the University Memorial Center, we are wrapping up our work with a consulting firm exploring how to carry the UMC into its next 50 years through potential renovations and enhancements.
The Environmental Center recently hosted its environmental summit bringing together leaders and students to collaborate on sustainability efforts. Additionally, Radio 1190 celebrated the opening of its new space earlier this month marking an exciting expansion in its ability to serve students.
In the home in the coming week, members of the CU SG will participate in the Northern Colora Excuse me, Northern Colorado Higher Education Association Oh, educat- So sorry. Education Basic Needs Summit to continue strengthening how we support students across all aspects of campus life. As
always, we remain committed to funding student organizations, increasing transparency, and meeting students where they are ensuring their voices are heard and their needs are met. As we pass things forward, one thing is clear, the energy of the campus keeps building. And finally is the Anschutz campus. Many
programs are beginning to wrap up the spring semester at Anschutz. Although the programs have different spring breaks, end dates, and summer schedules, CU Anschutz student senate has helped host and sponsor several very successful events this year. Our focus over the last couple of years has
shifted from being at the event planners to providing funds to student organizations and events that create a sense of community across the CU Anschutz student populations. We recently helped fund the first campus-wide Anschutz prom, which was this a smaller event, but overall a large success that we hope can continue
to grow in the coming years. We will also be hosting the Student Senate Excellence Awards on April 16th. This is one of the Senate's flagship events where we have the opportunity to celebrate our incredible students from across the programs. We will be entering the summer with a new executive board
and budget and look forward to continuing our mission of creating more connection across our campus. Thank you all. Thank you, Mitchell. Uh staff council report, our staff council co-chairs, Janae Hurt and Kimberly Sloatsky. Kim, are you Kim's
up. All right. Thank you to President Solomon, Chair Montera, Vice Chair Renascent, Regents, and Chancellors for the opportunity to share this time with you to discuss matters related to the staff at CU. The following update provides insight into
the challenges we in shared governance have been hearing from staff since we last reported to you in February. Call this the rules of engagement. In our last report, Janae very eloquently discussed the importance of including and engaging staff shared governance with decisions that affect
the operations of the university and the impact those decisions on the staff of the university. I would like to expand on that and how to bring staff engagement to the forefront to assist the efforts of shared governance. At its heart, staff shared governance is about recognizing what the staff brings,
such as deep institutional knowledge, practical frontline insight, a unique perspective on how policies and decisions play out in real time. When staff are included in decision-making, institutions benefit from more grounded, effective, and sustainable solutions.
But beyond better decisions, there's something even more powerful at stake. Engagement and belonging. In higher education, we talk a lot about student engagement and for good reason. But staff engagement is just as critical. Engaged staff are more likely to stay committed to the institution,
collaborate across departments, innovate in their roles, and create a better experience for all. One of the strongest drivers of engagement is having a voice. Not just being informed, but being involved. For staff shared governance to truly succeed, it requires intentional effort
in creating clear structures to define how staff can participate in shared governance. For it is necessary to have diversity in our representation to ensure from across various staff roles of the univer- in the university, I apologize, no matter where they are working to support
the mission. Clear and transparent communication with access to information and having a way >> [snorts] >> that staff can see how their input share shapes the outcomes. Just because that a staff member is not on the campus council or UCSE, that
should no way in no way diminish their participation in shared governance. They are the reason we are here. It is their needs, their concerns, and their ideas that we are representing. So they need to be able to participate in
and have access to shared governance. Without that, governance risks becoming performative instead of transformative. It is also about culture and there are questions that need to be asked to check for engagement of staff at all levels. Do we create environments that staff
feel comfortable speaking to us? Are we are all ideas welcomed even when we challenge even if they challenge the status quo? And are there opportunities for collaborations across roles between faculty, staff, students, and administration? Strong institutions don't operate in
silos. They thrive through partnerships. Engaging staff is the first step to having strong staff shared governance. So as we think about the future of higher education and CU specifically, especially in times of rapid change, we have an opportunity.
An opportunity to elevate staff voices, strengthen engagement, and build institutions that are not only effective, but are inclusive and resilient at their core. Because when staff are empowered to help shape the institution, they don't just work here, they invest here, they grow
here, and they help the institution grow as well. As demonstrated in the campus updates below, we are already doing a lot to engage the staff at the campus level. However, we need to create engagement to ensure we need to evaluate engagement to ensure that it is enough
and on the right track, resonating across the board, and regularly checking in for areas of improvement so that everyone, and I really do mean everyone, feels that they are part of stat- a part of CU, no matter who they are. Thank you. Thank you.
Yeah. So Kimberly, thank you very much. And just, you know, it's it's okay, you can sit back. >> [laughter] >> So I appreciate you you talking about that. And as we approach the the end of the semester, I was I've been sitting here thinking about the incredible work
that we did in partnership with staff and faculty council in terms of the tuition benefit. So I I was involved in a lot of that stuff for for for quite a while and I I knew I know who was in the room and you all were in the room and and faculty council was in the
room. And because of your your um honest feedback and and your, you know, creative problem-solving with us, we've we've dramatically improved that benefit. And it and so as we approach the end of the the the the semester, we
think about all these student all all these faculty or all these employees and their dependents who are going to be walking across those stages because of that Well, I don't know that it's because of that benefit that but that benefit made it a lot easier for for it to happen. So, anyway, I just wanted to
thank you and and your colleagues and those who preceded you for for your engagement and and feedback on that. Thank you. We do appreciate that and actually we are actually a little bit better known because of that benefit and so people when you say staff council they tend to be like, "Oh, hey, you got
the tuition benefit for us." I'm like, sort of but yes. That's great. Thank you. Thanks. Okay, our last shared governance chair, our faculty council chair Jorge Chavez. Good afternoon.
Uh thank you President Saliman, Chair Montera, Vice Chair Rennison, and Chancellors for the opportunity to share with you highlights of the work of the CU Faculty Council since the February report. And my apologies, I'm reminded this time of year
every year that I'm evidently allergic to the outdoors. So, it's a little difficult. Excuse me. Um Uh the Faculty Council met on February 26th and April 2nd. Um I would like to thank Senior Vice President for Internal Operations and Chief of Staff Leonard Dinegar and Chief
Information Officer Scott Munson um for joining to discuss concerns around the acquisition and dissemination of the CU specific version of ChatGPT EDU and to discuss issues around the use of generative AI more broadly across the CU system. Um in in addition, I I appreciate the
work that continued following that discussion in collaboration between Faculty Council, President Saliman, and CU administration around faculty questions and concerns um on the acquisition and the impact of implementing ChatGPT on the educational environment across our campuses by March 31st as initially proposed.
Um as a result of this collaboration um as discussion, the student rollout date was postponed to August 14th for all of our campuses and resulted in the formation of campus-level AI advisory groups which include campus shared governance participation. In support of this work at the April
meeting, the Faculty Council began con- constituting and drafting a charge for a Faculty Council AI working group to bring together representatives from the campus advisory groups, campus shared governance, and Faculty Council to review and synthesize campus-level input on AI and advise Faculty Council and administration on
issues related to AI. This group will convene throughout the summer to be able to support the August 14th rollout date. And I am encouraged by the continued collaboration between shared governance and campus administration to develop policies, supports, and training to address questions and concerns around generative AI and the dis- dissemination
of ChatGPT across CU. Given the noted support and potential Regent support for the development of a Regent policy on collective bargaining, multiple campus shared governance groups have formed ad hoc committees or task forces to study and consider questions around collective bargaining.
In support, the Faculty Council began constituting and drafting a charge for a Faculty Council collective bargaining working group to bring together representatives from the campus collective bargaining committees and task forces, from campus shared governance, and from Faculty Council to convene and share information, to understand campus conditions, and to
consider campus and system-level impacts. I encourage that this process be thoughtful and deliberate and that it be led by faculty at the campuses who are best able to speak to their campus-specific needs and conditions. Importantly, there's a lot of research and education that needs to happen,
including engagement with faculty across the CU system to have discussions around these issues and their impact on campus and system-level shared governance. Moreover, we are very early in this process and given the need to understand options, we need to be clear that faculty have not endorsed any particular
collective bargaining campaign or group. As the Regents have raised the possibility of a collective bargaining policy, faculty must be allowed the time and space to study options, to gather input, and to discuss what may best serve their needs. Finally, I am uplifted at this time of year as our staff and faculty continue
to remain focused on guiding and supporting our students in the classroom, in their internships, in their field placements, and as they serve the state of Colorado. And I look forward to celebrating the more than 4 15,000 CU graduates that will be recognized at commencement ceremonies this May.
Celebrating the hard work, persistence, and commitment of our students and the role that faculty and staff play in their educational journeys. It takes many people working together to support our students' success and to to address the many challenges that we face, whether they be budget constraints, targeting of vulnerable
students or faculty, attacks on our academic freedom in higher education, or federal mandates and cuts. And I encourage the continued collaboration between administration and faculty shared governance at both the system and campus levels to continue to work together in decision-making, to find solutions, and
to forge a path to the future, and to maintain the culture of transparency and collaboration which we have built over the years. As always, I am honored to serve as an advisor to the Board of Regents and CU administration in my role as Chair of the CU Faculty Council and as part of our shared governance model.
The faculty take our role in shared governance very seriously and are truly appreciative of our partnership with the Board of Regents, President Saliman, and CU administration. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and to underscore for you the faculty's deep commitment to CU and its students, to our strong shared governance model,
and importantly to express our sincere gratitude for your past and continued collaboration. Thank you. Thank you, Jorge. Uh before we move on to the consent agenda Oh, I'm sorry. Did you have I thought Chair Chair Montera, could I make one quick comment?
>> Sure. Thank you very much. Uh I just wanted to celebrate the fact that uh two of the three shared governance updates today were from uh the Denver campus and um three three of the four uh shared governance leaders here from the Denver
campus. I just wanted to to call that out and how wonderful that is that that that happened on our campus today. And I want to I am. And I want to thank them for their service. So, thank you so much. It must be a pure reflection of your leadership. I think that's a >> [laughter]
>> Or exactly the opposite. Just a second. I think Regent uh Yes. [laughter] Yeah. I just I also wanted to say Chancellor um that several of the Regents sitting at this table are also from the Denver campus. >> Ooh. Just saying. Okay. Uh
take it over, President Saliman, before we lose this meeting. [laughter] Thank you and I'm a proud CU Boulder grad. So, That's right. Sitting next to another one. >> [laughter] >> I love how we have representation from all of our campuses around the around this table. It's very cool. But but um
the two things. One, thank you, Jorge, and and and I can I can Jorge's uh you you you um you don't always uh uh it's not it's not like you always uh everything's all all roses, right? You
You give me really honest feedback and when we meet uh each month and I really appreciate it and we've and it makes it makes what we do better and I really appreciate the feedback and we've tried to be responsive to that. And so, thank you for for doing that. And um and so, I
just wanted to say that. And I also during my report, I forgot to welcome the new guy. So, Tony Geradini, if you want to Geradini. Okay. How do How do I say your name?
Ger- Geradini. Geradini. Okay. Okay, we're all going to do that the right way and start Geradini starting with me. Okay. So, Tony is awesome and he's he's the new Vice President for uh and Chief
Human Resources Resources Off- Officer here at at the CU system. And we welcome you. You have and thank you for your service. Uh Tony Tony served in Afghanistan and then was with was a Lakewood police officer and
then a Lakewood detective and somehow he ended up in this field. And so, we're we're all excited to hear about that at some point about how you made the switch to to this to this field. But anyway, so thank you. You're coming to us from the state of Colorado where you were the executive director for the Department of
Personnel and Administration. So, welcome. Thank you, Todd. Next is the consent agenda. The entire consent agenda is listed in community. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So moved. Second. Is there a second?
It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on the consent agenda? Okay. The question before us is approval of all items listed on the consent agenda. All in favor, say I. Oppose, say no.
The motion passes. The consent agenda is adopted. And now to one of the more stimulating parts of our program, the University Affairs Committee report hosted by our chair, Mark Van Drill. The stimulation was going to be later today.
I want to know about that. >> I've been working on my comments for gen- my stuff for general comments and this is just whatever. So, my apologies if I undersell. Uh the University Affairs Committee met on March 31st at 12:30. The full
committee was present. There was no request for public comment. We heard proposals for two program discontinuances which the committee recommended to the full board and these were approved on consent roughly 35 seconds ago. We received then information on behalf
of the board on four name changes. If that sounds interesting, I have not conveyed it accurately. We had a presentation and discussion on the current status of our pre-collegiate programs. If that sounds interesting, it was. Holy cow. These programs have
evolved considerably and the return on investment we are seeing is phenomenal. Um it just blew me away. My sincere thanks to Dominic Martinez, Greg Lee, Vicki Taylor, Azar Gadson, Jessica Luna Garcia, and Regina Reynolds
for sharing their time and their expertise. As always, if I pronounced anyone's name correctly, my sincere apologies. Lastly, we heard from our campuses with good news. As we are on the Denver campus, I will share their good news, which unfortunately had some overlap lap
from the Chancellors, but they talked about their strategic plan reference fresh, which the Chancellor mentioned already, but also the wonderful launch of a new grad certificate in a affordable housing and some of that, which is really cool.
So, if you enjoy hearing things like that and about all the great work we're doing, come join us at our next meet meeting, where we will hear awesome news from all of our campuses on May 20th at 12:30. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Chair Van Drill. Not to be outdone,
next is the Governance Committee report and our chair, Elliot Hood. It's going to be hard to follow that, but the word stimulation does not appear in my report. >> [laughter] >> I WE MET ON MARCH 12TH, 2026 with myself, Vice Chair Regent Frank McNulty, Regent Callie Rennison, and Regent Ray
Scott, all of whom were present. We were also welcomed by Regent or welcomed or we were joined by, I should say, Regent Van Drill as well. You're throwing me off, Mark. You're throwing me off. I the committee reviewed the agenda for the July 20th through 22nd retreat at
Lone Rock in Bailey, Colorado, and provided feedback on the strategic plan update. Members expressed a desire for dedicated time to react to and provide input on strategic plan priorities. The committee also provided feedback on potential panel discussions and
discussed optional activities available at at Lone Rock. The committee discussed several possible options for retreat locations for 2027. Staff will price out these locations to bring back options for a future committee discussion.
The committee discussed and unanimously recommended the following law and policy changes for placement on the consent agenda at this meeting, which we just passed. Article 13, Business and Finance, parts A, B, C, and D. Policy 13C, approval of the University
Risk and Insurance Management Program. Policy 13J, Generative Artificial Intelligence. The committee discussed proposed changes to the following laws and policies, which received notice of motion at this meeting, and will be discussed again at the May 14th Governance Committee
meeting. Policy 2G, Direct Expenditure Authorization via Board Resolution. Policy 2K, Personal Personnel Authority for employees exempt from state personnel system. Article 3C, Officers of the Administration.
Policy 3B, Definitions of Officers of the Administration, and there will be a test on this after my comments are through. Dan Montez provided an overview of the 25-26 law and policy review process. Additionally, the committee reviewed which laws and policies web pages were
the most viewed for 2025. The committee also received a brief update on non-substantive law and policy changes. At the May 14th Governance Committee meeting, the committee will see the plan for new Regent orientation and give feedback. The committee reviewed a staff proposal
aimed at fostering engagement between the Regents and governing boards of peer institutions. Members expressed support for the initiative. As part of this effort, the Regents hosted a reception and dinner during the AGB conference on March 29th with representatives of other higher
education institutions. I attended this reception along with other Regents, and it was very engaging and a lot of fun. Additionally, staff presented a plan to engage with boards of other colleges and universities during a visit to the Chicago area for the CU Buffs away
football game at Northwestern in September. Regents are encouraged to attend in support of these engagement opportunities. The committee received an update on renaming the resolution tracker to Regent Actions. The committee reviewed how Regent
Actions will be categorized and tracked and how they will be referenced on the Board of Regents website and the community. As committee chair, I provided an update on the effort to study a possible policy concerning collective bargaining, including that Regents Hood and Spiegel
are working with leaders and members of shared governance to determine how collective bargaining could work alongside alongside CU's unique shared governance system. I shared that I would provide an update on that effort at a few future meeting. The next Governance Committee meeting is
May 14th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Chair Elliot. Well, with all that excitement, I think it's time for a break before we get to the really exciting news of audit. So, let's adjourn until 3:20. Thank you.
I'm overstimulated. >> [laughter] >> That should be your opening remark. We should work the word stimulated into all of our updates. Uh better than working the word moist in. >> [laughter] >> Oh my god. >> Folks, can we grab your seats so we can
get started again? Okay, let's bring this back to order and our next committee report is the audit committee and I'm going to turn it over to committee chair Frank McNulty. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Region the
Audit Committee report is in your materials. So, I will go ahead and highlight a few things from it for you here today, but if you want the full report you have it there to read it at your leisure. Audit Committee met on March 11th, 2026
with committee members Regents McNulty, Renu Singh Chhabra, and Vandriel present. Thank you, colleagues, for being there. AVP and University Controller Christine McNamara presented the highlights of the quarterly financial report as of and for
the 6 months ended December 31st, 2025. And I am pleased to report that no matters of concern were raised. Agnessa Vartanova, AVP and Chief Audit Executive provided an update on external current external regulatory audits on the campuses. No matters of significant
risk were reported for the reviews closed during that quarter. I'm pleased to announce that we welcome Tiffany Burgess to the team as our new audit manager. Should you see Tiffany around, please give a high five and welcome.
The committee received an update from Usha Sharma, Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer, AVP of budget and finance. Do you need all of those titles, Usha? Can you share some of them with other people? Chad's nodding yes that she does need all of those.
Mr. Chairman, we'll probably talk about that in executive session sometime. >> [laughter] >> On the debt compliance disclosures to external parties, no matters of significant risk were noted. Uh colleagues and Mr. President, the next audit committee will be held on
June 17th, 2026, and will be conducted in person at 1800 Grant Street. And for my colleagues who are unable to be there, we will also be on Zoom. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank Oh, yes, sir.
>> [snorts] >> So, thank you. So, Tony, just so you know, we've been saying Agnes's last name the wrong way for like How long have you been here? 5 years. 5 years. So, um So, thank you to to Regent McNulty for
for for setting the record straight. And so, um we'll work on it. And I'm not even sure that that was right, but it's much closer than what we were doing, so. Was that right? Did he say it the right way? Right on. Anything else, President Salmon? Sorry
about that, Agnes. >> [laughter] >> Okay. Um last but not least is uh Regent Chavez, who'll deliver our finance committee report. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The finance committee met on March [clears throat] 11th, and as
Frank said, all the information is posted and available in community. Uh during the capital construction portion of the meeting, the committee approved the acquisition of 1799 Exposition Drive in Boulder, and that is a property um that was a former car
dealership located uh near the East Campus in Boulder, and that item was already approved and on the consent calendar. During the finance portion of the meeting, Chad Martorano, is it Martorano? No, no, >> [laughter] >> no.
You may be saying that wrong. I don't know. Anyway, Martorano. presented the [laughter] 2024 2025 CU efficiency report. Impressively, since 2050 2015 and 2016, the system has
identified and documented $707 million operating efficiencies, including 94 million in the most recent year. Uh I want to give a thanks to Nora Sandoval from the system office and her budget
team for that report. And then Chad Martinez, is it Martinez? Anyway, Chad presented the 2026 Fast Facts Deck, um which is a great resource uh providing a summary of CU's budget,
enrollment, graduation rates, and all sorts of data for you to um review. And I want to give a thank you to Ryan and Stephanie, who are on Chad's team. Is it Chad Mar- Martin- I can't say it.
Anyway, uh Chad's team for um all their help in generating that useful tool. Our next meeting is May 20th. Hope you all join us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Regent Charman. It's close enough. Close enough. >> [laughter]
>> Next is the fiscal year 26-27 budget presentation, and our CV CFO, Chad Martorano, will give that presentation. There it is. Mr. Chair, um pleasure to be here today. I want to start off by saying um
um thank you to my team, and and some of those folks are here, so Corey Donaldson and um Emily Parker were here. Some folks that are on my team that aren't here are um Selena Duran and Nora Sandoval, so thanks to them for their help with this. There are a number of people from the campuses that are here,
Todd Haggerty, um Mandy Cole from Boulder, Jen Saint Peter, Terry Crothers, and Ryan Davis, um and then all of their teams. So, everybody at each one of the campuses has put a bunch of horsepower behind this. These are just the slides culminating that. And then um Jeff
Green, Nicholas Sapp, and Terry Wagner at UCCS. So, thanks to all of them. So, today before you, we'll be presenting um a budget that outlines the scenarios that are tied to what we're presenting as our recommended tuition fees and compensation for next year
for fiscal year 26-27. Um a lot of the comments earlier in the meeting were about it was a challenging state budget year. Um so, with over a billion-dollar budget gap, what were some of the ways that the state balanced its budget? Um it
utilized a couple of different one-time revenue-generating mechanisms, which included utilizing the state's reserve, um cash funds being reallocated on a one-time purpose to the general fund, um obligated or re- um shifting some of the TABOR surplus such
that it was refunded in a different year. Um the state rejected the COWins agreement for a 3.1% salary increase and ended up doing a compensation increase around 1%, which I'll speak to in a couple of slides. And then the state also made some tough
choices in terms of uh budget reductions, especially in um healthcare policy and financing related to reducing the medi- uh the provider rate, and then cuts to um you know, programs that serve the last and the least, including in- individuals with developmental disabilities.
So, policy makers did step up for higher ed, so big thanks to the joint budget committee members and to those legislators that have supported higher education as it's making its way through the the Senate last week and the House this week, so thank you to the legislature. Um essentially, headed into
fiscal year 26-27, the state restored the current year funding cut that was implemented um subsequent to some revenue adjustments in the middle of the year. That was about a 9.9.5 million dollars that were restored. CU's share of that was $2.6 million.
Um and looking at kind of the statewide base core minimum costs, uh the tuition rate increase that one would that a institution would need to to cover uh compensation increase, health, life, dental, and inflationary increase would result at this state funding level
investment would result in around a 3.5% need on resident tuition. Um that's that's what CU will be um presenting around today, and um not all institutions are subject to that 3.5. The community colleges are are um have
asked to go up to 5%, and there's other institutions in the state that one in particular that I'm aware of that is lobbying to get more tuition flexibility above the 3.5%, so we'll see if that comes together in the next week or two. The state did not increase any financial aid,
but they did reduce state financial aid to private institutions private institutions. That that um final bullet on the slide is essentially how the budget committee freed up revenue and freed up moneys to restore the cut in the current year plus uh allocate some
of that to statewide budget balancing. In terms of moneys to CU, um these were some areas where the state continued to invest and include investments in the rural healthcare workforce, um some moneys out of the marijuana tax cash funds, and then state funding tied to
the perinatal data linkage project at CU Anschutz. Some areas where we um experienced um elimination or budget reductions included these targeted bills for these items, and that kind of varies by campus, but you can see CU Anschutz are a couple of those, and that second
bullet there is the cybersecurity funding at at UCCS. Uh we were successful in securing some funding for various capital construction projects, uh just shy of 20 million dollars, eight projects, at least each campus gets something here, so we're really excited to be able to um
be successful in this space. Um in terms of tuition rates, what we're presenting today for the board's consideration are undergraduate tuition rate caps at CU Boulder at 3% for new students and 0% for continuing students within the 4-year guarantee,
3.5% at CU Denver and UCCS, and 2.4% at CU Anschutz, and to be clear, that is just for undergraduate nursing students. And fees will vary by campus, we'll speak to that in in a couple of slides. So, it's important to put all of this the um conversation around tuition
changes in context. Um CU has doubled its increase in institutional financial aid over the last 10 years. In the most recent year of actuals in fiscal year 24-25, over $300 of institutional financial aid. That $300
is more than the entire state's appropriation for all of financial aid for the entire state of Colorado. So, CU goes out of its way to target our aid towards towards students to make sure that there's that it is accessible for those with demonstrated financial need.
In terms of rate increases of tuition rate increases over time, oftentimes policy makers in the public will say, "Well, what are we getting for this investment in public higher education?" Well, what we've observed in the state over the last 10 years is that if you compare tuition rate caps at a statewide level
compared to inflation, tuition rates are actually below inflation over this 10-year period on a statewide basis based on state tuition caps at 5.3%. Based on what's occurred here at CU, it's actually 7.3% below inflation over
this time frame. In terms of compensation, what the state um moved forward with was approving what's called the step payment plan for classified employees. What we're presenting in our CU budget today is the same thing. We we mirror what the state does for classified employees.
As policy makers, we're working through this item at the budget committee. They said, "Well, if we're doing this for classified employees, we need to treat non-classified employees somewhat similarly. So So what is the value of this step payment plan?" And the value of the step payment plan is around a 1% merit pool.
So for state employees that are non-classified, the state developed a step-like 1% merit pool. And that's what we're presenting in terms of what some of the campuses are are pursuing for their compensation headed into the next year. So at CU Boulder, CU Denver, and CU
Anschutz, they're um recommending a 1% merit pool. And each one of them has an additional um budget initiative for compression, retention, and adjustment pools. Um at UCCS, um we we all know that they're
they're managing some budget challenges. They've They're allocating a one-time non-base building payment of $1.5 million. Um they're working with their campus community and U Beck in terms of how that will be allocated, but this is identifying that revenue source such
that they can implement and and allocate those monies in fiscal year 20 26-27. In terms of the dollars and cents tied to that 3% or the 3.5% at Denver, um Boulder, and UCCS, it's around $400 in terms of the tuition rate
increase. That's that second to the last column here. In terms of mandatory fees, CU Boulder is ho- ho- holding mandatory fees flat. CU Denver's increasing by about $49 per year. And then UCCS about $70 per year. So if we add those two together and you
cut to the chase and say, "Tuition and fees, so tell me what I'm actually going to pay." These are the base rates for undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for resident students headed into the next year. So at CU Boulder for new students, it's a 2.8% increase. And at
CU Denver and UCCS, it's 3.5%. In terms of enrollment, this is one of the drivers that is that we take into consideration with how much revenue we believe we will have forecasted for next year. This is the same picture that we showed to the board in February. There is a slight difference in the data for
CU Anschutz where um we've we've actually decreased what we're projecting as enrollment growth. In February, it was projected to increase at 3.6%. And uh as a result of uh some enrollment coming in a little softer in the School of Public Health, they've revised down
so the total campus growth is only 2.6%. Um the same budget considerations we continue to have state, federal funding, enrollment, compensation, inflation, things that we wrestle with every year. Shifting over to the campus sections, at
CU Boulder, um these are nearly identical to what we presented to the board in February for enrollment. Um same data, continuing students, new students. Um this is another way to illustrate what's going on. The left-hand side is current enrollment in
the current fiscal year. The right-hand side is what we're projecting. This is all at scale, but if we zoom into this box and say, "Well, what's actually happening?" you can observe that the majority of the enrollment growth at CU Boulder is happening on the undergraduate side, nearly the same count of students between residents and
non-residents. And the only area where you're seeing a little bit of a decline is this uh non-resident graduate space. Following slide shows that by student type, you can see the decline in non-resident graduate students is about that 2.3%, but it nets out to a total
increase for the campus of 1.3%. So shifting back to kind of the the component parts of the budget. Um we talked about how CU Boulder continuing students are subject to the guaranteed no increase, 0%. Undergraduate residents 3%, undergraduate non-residents at 3%.
Um all of the campuses are being very mindful about being priced at or above market for non-resident undergraduate rates. So you'll see that at 3% across the campuses. Up to 4% for graduate students. On to the compensation slide section, rather.
The same thing that I talked about earlier, mirroring what the state does for classified employees, plus the 1% merit pool for non-classified, and then a budget initiative for compression, retention, and adjustments. Um you'll also see the campus making investments in institutional financial
aid, covering their mandatory costs, and all of that supports the academic mission and and the work of the campus. Um so this slide shows kind of the dollars and cents associated with those policy decisions. In this top section, you see the 1% salary pool, the 1% step payment plan,
um the increases associated with benefits, health, life, dental. Um about the middle of this page in mandatory transfers and others, there's a there's a larger percentage rate increase that's in there, and it's about 50% increase, a little bit over. Um that's tied to debt
service associated with the chemistry and applied sciences building that's coming online in the next fiscal year that the campus has identifying a revenue source to pay that debt service. Importantly, that revenue source is indirect cost recovery. It is not coming from state funding or tuition. Um
they're just reallocating their basis associated with that. Third to the bottom row on this slide, I want to point out that CU Boulder is it increasing institutional financial aid by over 5%. Um and if you look at their total budget growth, it's about 4.3%. So definitely investing in institutional
financial aid. In terms of budget initiatives, I mentioned that compression, retention, and adjustment pool, faculty compensation initiative. That faculty compensation initiative is something the campuses uh continue to do on a year-over-year basis, and that's part of how the campus affords tenure and
promotion and making sure they retain the best and brightest faculty from other states that want to recruit our awesome faculty. Um dollars and cents for different student types, um along with the the rate change here. So the top section, the first two sections are undergraduate
resident, non-resident. The bottom two sections graduate resident, non-resident. And the very bottom there is international undergrad. So the the bull work asking the board to consider for rate increases is the blue segment uh for tuition headed into the
next year. Importantly, on the left-hand side here for undergraduates at CU Boulder, this is only first-time students. Um we map out what revenue looks like relative to the expenses, and this is where we show how we balanced. Um one thing I'll point out here that is about um if you look at the blue section at the
bottom and go three rows up, you see state revenue there. You see it goes up just a smidge from 25 million up to 26 million in change. And that's the restoration of the current year funding cut. In terms of fees at CU Boulder, uh the campus eliminated course and program
fees in 2018. At the time, that was about $10.8 million. If you adjusted it for inflation today, depending on how you considered it, that's value that's somewhere between 12 to 12 to 13 million dollars. And that's that's savings that are ongoing for students as relative to what was in
place in 2017. No increase in mandatory fees. Some increases in housing and dining fees. Those housing and dining fees are tied to um some of the moves associated with uh the housing footprint as it relates to the Farrand renovation, and then also services being provided
through the housing. Uh specifically, tutoring, 24-hour incident response, and community events. So just student services through the housing. Um this is something that I talked to the board and and many about all the time, and it's kind of this thing that like it'll sink in after multiple
exposures, but the revenue source for CU Boulder is primarily through tuition, non-resident tuition in particular, which is that second segment. And in the in the campuses' operating budget, only about 10% of it is from the state. Shifting over to CU Denver, the same
enrollment picture that we presented in February, modest growth primarily driven on the undergraduate side. Um I'll get to the slide where if we This is all the scale, left-hand side is where we are, right-hand side is where we predict to be. And if we zoom on that, you'll see that um residents are are where we're
forecasting enrollment growth at the campus headed into the next year. And then here's all of those different student types by enrollment if one wanted to look at them. Um and then kind of the outline of the budget parameters. 3.5% for undergraduate resident students, 3% for
undergraduate res. Um the step increase for classified employees, 1% merit pool uh for faculty and university staff, plus the compression, retention, and uh and adjustment pool. Um that is contingent on revenue thresholds at at CU Denver.
To be clear, they are budgeting to do all of those things, but in the event that that enrollment comes in a little bit softer and there's not as much revenue, they wouldn't necessarily buy all of those things. They wouldn't they wouldn't have the money there as a result of enrollment to afford them the
ability to do that. Um so this is what that revenue threshold essentially looks like. They are budgeting towards the bottom row here. But if revenue comes in less, ranging from you know, a dollar to $2.1 million, they would only budget for the 1% merit pool. If revenue comes in
even lower than that, they would do no merit increase. We will report out to the board in October what the revenue picture is for the campus, and um whatever your vote today will just feed into what the outcome is in October. In terms of their expense budget, you
can see them investing in the uh salary in the top section here. About the middle of the row, that mandatory transfer and other again. Sorry, I have Yep. Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but you said uh you'll report in October. We don't have a board meeting in October. Is that Do you mean to finance
committee? Um no. Um thank you for the question. Um so we will report out on preliminary enrollment in September to the board. At that time, we have a sense of what the enrollment is relative to budget. Typically, what we do or what it what
we've how we've approached this is notifying the board of the outcome, and then that is reported out to the campus community, and that's usually through an email um or through some other communication with the board. It's not formally at a board meeting. Thank you. Um in terms of the expense budget, I
just want to call out one little thing here. Uh there's this there's a negative number in the middle of the page. This is the campus um rebasing from what were one-time revenues in the current fiscal year reported out in February when they reported out of of collecting more than
1.5%. They've saved that. They're readdress readjusting their their mandatory transfer budget. Um and then you can see them making investments elsewhere. You see a zero here on institutional financial aid because the campus has pulled it out and put it as a specific
budget initiative. Um CU Denver, along with UCCS when we get there, um are investing in institutional aid in a way that maintains purchasing power with the in-state rate increase. So, as resident undergraduate tuition increases by 3.5%, they're increasing
institutional aid so that it keeps pace and is buoyed to that amount, so it doesn't lose purchasing power. Um in addition to that, they have the compression retention and adjustment pool here. Um so, here's tuition rates, dollars and cents by student type. One section to call out here that's a smidge different
is on the graduate side. Um ranges between about 3.5% to 3.3% on the resident grad side. Graduate tuition rates are typically um priced relative to market. And so, this is kind of what the schools and colleges are intending to do. In terms of the rates that you'll
consider today, again, just illustrating it through a picture, the blue segment is what the campus is proposing. Um revenues, this is showing how we balanced. Again, you can see the uh middle of the page, and this is four rows up from the blue section on the
bottom, state revenue, a little bit of an increase, and that's a result of the restoration of the current year state funding cut. Um same instructional program fees that we shared with the board in February. These are increasing by about 3.5%. They're tied to these specific services
based on the the school or the uh program. Again, you have to be enrolled in one of these programs to be paying the fee. They're not mandatory fees. What's on the screen now, this top section, are mandatory fees at the campus. Um part of what's happening between what's on the first row and the
third row is if you look to the second to the right-hand column of the dollar change, there's $3 that are being subtracted from the first row and added to the third row, and that's the shift of the Phoenix Center fee at Auraria over to the CU Denver student services
fee. That fee is also subject to a student referendum, which will occur on April 24th. And so, the resolution that's proposed to the board today says that if the board approves it, it's subject to success at the student referendum, so they would have to approve it as well.
The housing and dining fees are tied to um increases associated with the debt service for housing, and then just the cost pass-through for um the dining contractor. And then when we talk about what does the revenue composition look like at CU
Denver, different picture than Boulder. Um the biggest revenue source are resident undergraduate students, and about 20% of their revenue at CU Denver comes from the state. Shifting over to UCCS, um when we looked at their current year enrollment back in February and back in
the fall time frame, it was a little bit over what was happening in June, and we were still getting our hands around that at the campus level. Um they did cut their budget to balance in fiscal year 25-26, but as we were getting our hands around the fact that there was a little bit more revenue there, um what we've identified is that
the campus has actually collected more revenue in the current fiscal year than what was originally approved in the in the June budget. Now, this is obligated for an associated purpose. It doesn't explicitly help with the overall budget challenges of the campuses. It would be spent in line with how those how the that revenue is being
brought in, and it's primarily through student fees and indirect cost recovery. So, the campus would rebase to this amount, and as they do that, that bottom right-hand corner, that 195 is essentially our starting place for next year. So, headed into fiscal year 26-27,
um the campus continues to project an enrollment decline. Um this is happening on the undergraduate side, and they're anticipating some enrollment growth on the graduate side, which are those two blue bars on the right-hand on the right section of the slide here.
Um here's the different different component parts if you wanted to see them on a table. So, 3.5% undergraduate resident, 3% for non-resident, holding graduate students flat. This is such that this is so the
campus can make sure they don't jeopardize the graduate enrollment growth, and the board approves a restructuring of tuition tiers in November of 2025, and part of that restructuring alleviated a subsidy of graduate tuition essentially subsidizing the undergraduate program, so they can
afford to do this on the graduate side headed into next year. The step payment plan for eligible classified staff, and then a $1.5 million one-time non-base to the the program. So, as um there's a new cost for a testing
platform, you got to pass along that cost to students because that's how that goes in terms of like implementing that program. And so, these are the same things we shared with you back in February. Um in terms of mandatory fees, you see the athletics fee at the top there, student activity fees at about 2%, and
then these other mandatory fees are also growing around 2% um give or take around 2%. Um looking at housing dining at UCCS, around 2% increase. And then similar revenue picture at UCCS
relative to CU Denver where about 52% of it comes from resident tuition, and a quarter of the funding at UCCS comes from the state in their operating budget. Shifting over to CU Anschutz, um I mentioned total enrollment is continuing to be up, but it's a little bit softer than it was in February. That's because
of this bottom bullet here where public health is projecting an overall enrollment decrease of just over 4%. Um when we look at the you know, of course, most of the growth is on the graduate side because most of their programming is on the graduate side, but this is what that looks like
here. In terms of what the the budget component parts are here, tuition, um it's increasing the proposed rates we'll talk about in a minute. Compensation, again, mirroring what the state does, a 1% merit pool plus compression retention and adjustment pool.
They're covering mandatory costs. Something to point out to folks, and I've I've talked to you all about this leading up to this, one of the revenue sources to the campus is um tobacco master settlement uh payments, and over time that is going to continue to decline, and that's not a function of any policy-maker making a decision. It's
just a function of less money in that settlement payment over time, and that's resulting in a decrease it headed into next year. Um when you look at their their um operating expenses here, that mandatory transfer in the middle line is them
rebasing as some things are paid off, and that general operating reflects some of the funding cuts from targeted programs from the state. And then in terms of their budget initiative, that's the compression retention and adjustment pool. And then finally, we shift over pardon
me, here's tuition. So, on the undergraduate nursing side, those are those top two bars, top two segments there. The bottom segments on this page are School of Medicine. Um and then in the right-hand comment section, there's some specialties that
have slightly different rates. On this slide, we show dentistry on the top section, pharmacy on the bottom section. Observe that pharmacy is keeping rates um pretty much in check they're nearly flat because they're just being mindful of enrollment.
And then at public health uh about 3%, and then some specialties in the comment section. So, this looks a little different than the other campuses that we've illustrated. These are all resident students, but these are the programs people tend to ask about and are curious about. So, the blue segment are the rate
increases associated with being a resident student pursuing the primary degree in one of these. And then here we show the revenue. Um the state revenue is is going down a little bit because it's a mix of the restoration of the current year funding
plus some of those targeted funding from the legislature that was eliminated plus that tobacco master settlement monies that are going down. Um in terms of fees, uh couple of instructional and program fees here, and then one mandatory fee for student
health insurance, and that um is increasing by no more than 18%, and that is not just to be clear an unusual phenomenon right now where the state was wrestling with double-digit HLD increases not unlike CU is headed into next year.
And then finally, we get to this picture, which is again the revenue picture, and um I'll just there's there's two things here that are not like the other or that are There's two things on this that are totally different than the other campuses. So, that blue segment state funding is a lot
more um it's a bigger share, third of the budget is from the state. And then over 40% of the budget is from indirect cost recovery. And so, that budget consideration point that I had at the very start of this presentation, when I say state and federal funding, Anschutz has both of
those things, and those are both challenges that we will have to continue to navigate, and they've done a good job of navigating in in this proposed budget, but is something that we need to be mindful of in the future, which echoing back into Chancellor Elliman's comments about the new budget model, it's good that we're figuring out
different ways to be entrepreneurial of how we can fund the operating budget at the campus. And with that, I'm happy to take any questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um there's a new medical school opening in Colorado this fall, and so I was wondering
uh can we discuss any anticipated impact that's going to have on our MD program? Uh as you know, it's at UNC, and Mr. Regent uh Van Der Wiel, um and it you
the the they claim they've got their preceptor slots all all lined up, uh primarily with Banner is my understanding. Um They they are prepared to pay for preceptor slots. We we do not pay for preceptor slots.
So, that there is a difference there. I think we think we're okay now in large part because uh in the northern market uh UCHealth is the dominant player, and and UCHealth is is committed to to serving our students. So, I don't expect
a major impact on that uh in the next couple of years, but you never know, and as they grow, it could could become a problem. Thank you. Do we know the difference between their tuition rates and ours? Their commission rates?
Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, tuition rates. I do not know, but >> just curious if they're similar >> program, and my guess is they're if it's like Rocky Vista, uh their tuition for a resident would be higher than ours. Oh, okay. So, I I I can ans- answer that. It's 55,000
Oh, it is. >> for for res and non-res. So, that is higher, yeah. So, it's cheaper for non-res and and more expensive for residents. Regent James. Okay, Chad, thank you for all that. I appreciate it. Can you I want to make
sure I understood right. Um the increase of the 3.5% in tuition, was that set by the legislature cuz that was the cap? Is that what I understood or no? So, correct. So, thank you, Regent James. Every year, the legislature caps sets a cap through the the annual
budget, and they set that cap at 3.5%, and and recognize that institutions also are advocating for more community colleges are going to likely increase up to their 5%, which is what they asked the legislature for, and we're aware of another school that's trying to seek 4% increase.
So, a follow-up on that. So, if they're setting the cap, um and since I've been on the board, I believe that we've always done about a 4% increase, is that right? No, um it's possible there was a year around that, but um in the most recent years, you know, 3 to 3.5%, and that's not
always the case. We could go back actually to one of the any It's not always the case. Okay. Cuz I was just saying if we were meeting the budget based on their cap, what um is that what you were planning for for the budget or did we have to go back and
decrease other things to make that work? Sure. Um that's a great [clears throat] question. So, when we talk about base core minimum cost, we're talking about treading water. We're saying, "How do we How are we treated similarly to what the state does?" So, we're doing something similar to what the state is doing in terms of
compensation. We're doing something to cover our health life dental increases, which the state is doing, and then we're just covering other mandatory costs associated with utilities, insurance, and all of those things that have inflationary drivers. That's what we talk about base core minimum costs.
When the state um denied the 3.1% increase, the Co-Ins agreement for salary, and brought it down to about 1%, that created a little bit of expense relief in terms of base core minimum costs. So, when we recalculated that,
what we found is if they were able to restore state funding in this current current year state funding cut to what it where it started at, what you would need to have is around three and a half 3.5, maybe even a little bit more in terms of resident tuition to be able to cover your cost.
The the other thing that is a little bit nuanced when we get to this stage is folding in enrollment, and that's the only other um kind of additional assumption that would go into that kind of math. Mr. Chairman. Norbert. Just to keep us on track cuz
there are three action items. Would you like a motion uh for the first one so we can talk about that? >> into that after we Yeah, as long as we're um through with discussion or any other questions before we go to that discussion point. Everybody
Okay. Thank you, Chad. Um as Norbert Chavez said, uh we now have three action items related to CFO Martha Ranollo's presentation. The first action item on fiscal 2026-27 tuition rates, is there a motion to
approve the tuition rates as described by our CFO? So moved. Is there a second? >> Second. Okay. It's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Okay. The question before us is approval of the tuition rates as all those favor say I. I. I.
Those opposed say no. No. No. So, we have two nos and three nos and okay. And six Is the motion passes. The second action item is on student fees. Is there a motion to approve the student fees? So moved. Second.
>> a second? Moved and seconded. Is there any discussion on student fees? Mr. President. Yes. Thank you. I'm wanted to discuss briefly I'm voting no on student fees. Um I haven't done that before. There's
something in one of our campuses that uh I'm not happy about I didn't know about before. Um and that is the interaction between our tuition guarantee and student fees on our Boulder campus. Uh one of the best things we do with fees is we have student accountability.
They vote on most most relevant fees. The way that interacts with our tuition guarantee is they don't pay the fees they then voted on for undergraduate students. Um I really dislike the way that interacts. I think
that it it it takes the the entire point of the incentive system away. I would like to see us move to adjust that at some point in the future. Um and that's why I'm voting no on this. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your comments.
Any other comments? Okay. Um so, the question before us is approval of student fees. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Those opposed say no. No. Did we have two nos? Okay. >> [clears throat]
>> The motion passes. The third action item is on compensation. Is there a motion to approve the proposed compensation plan? So moved. Is there a second? Okay. Just want to make sure I'm not out of parliamentary procedure. It's
been moved and seconded. Any discussion on compensation? Regent Rennison. >> Yeah, thank you. I mean, this is always a really difficult meeting every year because I don't think anybody at this table enjoys raising tuition. And I don't think we had years where
there's been no compensation, 1% non-base building, etc. And we're always challenged with balancing keeping tuition low, but paying our staff and faculty better. And they're tied. So, it I mean, I'm
going to vote for compensation. I am not willing to say no to the tuition, which means people get cut in the staff and faculty world. And while I'd love to see much more compensation come in their way, this is the the state that we live in right now, unfortunately. So, just
wanted to put that out there. I appreciate your comments. And Chad, one of the things that I continue to think about as we move into the next calendar year, it doesn't appear that things are going to probably going to get much better. When you look at the demographic change in Colorado, the tax base structure, and the cuts that have
been made this year, I'm just starting to get concerned about what we look like in the 2027-2028 calendar year, and it could be even more stressful than we are right now. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that or want to share anything, but I just already thinking about what we look like a year from now.
Mr. Chair, um so in terms of observations about it being a challenging budget year for the state, we're not even through through setting for fiscal year 20 What's that? Um for 2026-2027, um for next year for 2027-2028, when
we're starting to work on that budget I one of my slides talked about how the state budget balanced its budget. And one of the mechanisms the state used were a lot of one-time um closing the gap measures. And after you do that once, it doesn't necessarily mean that you can do it a second time.
And so that what that will result is a similar kind of shortfall or gap for whatever those one-time measures are, which will put us back in a challenging year. So, um I anticipate that next year will be just as hard if not harder. Yeah, that was my perception also. So, thank
you, Chad. I don't Todd, if you had anything you wanted to add to that. Yeah, Wanda. So, thank you for bringing that up because that's one of the big concerns that I have as being on the Board of Regents is the fact that every year we are looking at how to balance a budget.
And what I keep hearing is how do students afford a public university? And we are a public university. So, at some point something is going to have to give year over year over year over year. Um whether it's, you know, different
conversations with the state and the legislature, and I don't know how that works as far as them wanting to give us more money to be able to operate um in a way that makes sense. By no means do I think that um professors or teaching staff should be losing tuition
I mean, uh should be losing um uh compensation. But when I'm hearing from students that they can't afford to live in the places where our universities are, where they can't afford to continue to be students, where they're in some cases concerned
about not having clothes. Um and in rare cases, but it happens, food insecurity. So, we just can't keep thinking about how do we keep increasing, increasing, increasing, and at some point boards of regents have to
look at what a public university means, and we have to be able to allow those kids in the middle and lower middle class the opportunity to have an education, or we're going to end up as a country where only the very wealthy um are educated. So, how do we solve all
of those problems? I'm not exactly sure, but I think at this point as a board, we have to start to figure out how we lower costs instead of continually increase cost because education is now getting out of reach of so many people. Mr. Chairman.
Mr. McNulty. Thank you, Chad. In rough numbers, how much is the compensation uh increase that we currently have in front of us? Rough numbers, what is that going to cost the University of Colorado? Boy, that's a that's one I didn't totally add up. What I can say is that
if we if we looked at all the different budget tables for all the campuses and we we took two things off the table. We said, well, we know we're going to invest in institutional financial aid because we know we need to keep it affordable for for students. And then we take it it to what the other
thing that we take off the table are mandatory costs. What are those? Insurance, utilities, just the cost of doing business. Every other dollar that is in the budget that I presented today is somehow tied to compensation or health, life, dental. So, compensation and benefits. So,
campuses are already prioritizing and figuring out how to balance that challenging you know, kind of seesaw um between or teeter-totter between how do you balance doing right by Colorado's resident students and families and making sure that we can still invest in
our people. And neither one of them is adequate. Yeah, I think the the the point uh you successfully avoided, and I appreciate that. You spend time down at the legislature, I can tell. Um the the point is the the people cost
is our most expensive cost, right? As with any organization, the people cost is the most expensive cost. And uh Regent James, we're faced with the question here. So, you vote no on a tuition increase, I understand
But now you're about to vote to increase the most expensive cost that we have as a University of Colorado. And I think uh I think we we need to have that discussion. I for one, I'm ready to have that discussion, but um it's not it's not
going to be without the recognition that that these these don't work together. That they don't come together, and that they don't have to be considered together. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sure. Todd. Thank you. I I think that Corey and
Emily are actually trying to figure out the answer to that question, but it's on that on that the generally it's on that one page from your February deck, right? Yeah, and I can answer that. So, about round one 1% of 1% um compensation for classified and
non-classified employees system-wide is around $14.5 million. 1% So, Mr. Chairman, can Please. Thank you. There um so in terms of this larger conversation, I just want to acknowledge
a a couple things also. So, we have this handy-dandy thing on our website. Can I just say how awesome our website is? Um that talks about that that that looks at these at these different at all these challenges, and I and and um
one thing what we can all agree on is that going to college uh costs more than anyone would like it to at any institution in Colorado. [clears throat] And one of the one and the and one of the big reasons for that is because despite our legis our great support that
we get from legislators on both sides of the aisle, even this year, um Colorado is funded much lower than in other states when it comes to state funding for higher education. And that has a direct impact on all of us, tuition, compensation,
uh facilities, maintenance, all of it. And um but with all that in mind, uh there's this great little chart on our website that was that shows that out-of-pocket costs for in nearly every
income category at every campus have actually gone down over a period of 6 years or or so, and we're happy to send a link to all of for to that website for all of you. So, so the the perception out there is real, and perception is reality, but reality
is also reality. And and and um and the numbers show that when adjusted for inflation, uh our campuses are really coming through for our students and in their families. Uh another another area that I would just draw your attention to is that despite all the challenges that Chad
outlined and the challenges that we're all facing, CU's commitment to financial aid doubled over 10-year period. And that's that's because of the extraordinary work of the campuses and the votes that happened right here
around this table. And you all should be proud of that and take credit for that. And we brag about that when we're out on the road. I mean, CU CU's commitment to affordability is is very apparent by where we put our where by where we put
our money, and we put our money into financial aid. Is there enough there? There is not, and we want there to be more, and that's we get back to that same challenge around state funding. But CU and our campuses and this board
steps up every year for that. And I and I'm proud of that, and you all should be, too. And then the then the last thing is what we talked about earlier. What can we do to make it cheaper for students and families to go to college? How can we give people the car keys? And then that
concurrent enrollment thing we were talking about, it is it is it is transformational. And so we are and we are try are trying to change state law so that we can do more to go directly to students in high schools to help them and their families
make college cheaper. And so um so [snorts] we are we are taking many steps every year. And and you all I'm proud of it. The campuses are working hard. You all should be proud of it, too. And even with that backdrop, it
still costs more than we want it to. And and that's it that that that is a challenge that we that we will continue to work to address. It's something I thought about when I ran for the state legislature in 1994. I mean, this is this is something that
is an issue when when Norbert and I were serving together. This is an issue that that and I'm sure Mr. Speaker, you worked on that. And and and and um Senator Scott So anyway, these are all things that we've worked on for many years.
So I guess I'd like to suggest I think Wanda makes a great point. I think the challenge we have is significant and so much of it is out of our control, but there's a lot of it in our control. I'm wondering uh Regent Hood if there's an opportunity at the retreat to maybe do a deeper dive, a longer view of kind of
the financial aid that we're providing versus the cost of education, how many students we're affecting, and can we do some brainstorming around different options that might we might be able to affect that could um you know, improve the cost of education for Colorado
students because I I hear it all that there's not one of us that didn't run and said, "I'm here to try to make the cost of education lower, right?" And I I think it's a it's a worthwhile subject for us to spend some time on and if we may not get too far down the road, but I
think it's it's time we probably looked at it. I I believe. So I don't know, you know, I know you're putting that agenda together, but uh Agreed. I don't know if there's any room. Did I'm sorry, Wanda. Thank you for that and I don't disagree
and I I think that the bigger point here though, Todd, and I understand exactly what you're saying and I know that we try hard, but every time we increase tuition and we go down this road, what happens is is there just becomes more and more students who who ultimately
just fall off because they can't come here because of whatever the price is, right? So if we're doing more with uh financial aid, but the costs are continually going up, um and like you said, there's not enough money to balance all of this. There's not enough
money to pay the way that we want to pay. There's not enough money for these increases and for all the things that we want to do. At some point, there becomes a very uncomfortable question of well, then how do we make it work? Or we get to the point that I was saying to where only those families who
have excess cash will be able to send their kids to college. And to me, that and and as you said, since 1994, probably since 1984, probably since well, probably not 84. But anyway, however far back we want to go, those costs are just becoming completely out
of line for the middle class and lower middle class American family to be able to afford this. So at some point, there is going to have to be very difficult discussions as to how we make this work or we resign
ourselves to yeah, well, if your parents aren't millionaires, then you're not coming to college. So and and you're right, it's it these are difficult things that you have to balance. And um But I but I also just want to
re-acknowledge that the it it's not we're not we're not um we are not waiting to be rescued on this one. I would love for the state to come in and step in and for and fund us at a at a competitive level, but we cannot wait to be rescued. It's on us to figure
this out. It's on us to to deliver for students and families in Colorado. And that's why we're trying to think creatively about how we can make college cost less by by empowering students and their families.
And um and the and those are the kinds of things that we need to be doing more of and and um and while uh tuition um has gone up over time, financial aid has gone up more. And so so um
I think that our campuses have actually uh been working hard to improve affordability over time despite this challenging environment. And um and and that's and I just want to make sure we're we're recognizing that.
Thank you. Um Oh, I'm sorry, Mark. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. President, I wanted to make one mention on what you just said. Um one of the things I appreciate that has been a part of the
uh higher education institutes letter to the JBC this year. I I didn't notice it in past years. It may have been there. Was a discussion of where we are as a state compared to other states in funding of higher education.
And there was some realism in asks, but also some presentation of the disparity and I appreciate the wisdom uh to to show where the stars are, where our peers are, where we are
while also being somewhat realistic about the environment. So thank you. Thanks, Mark. Any other points? Okay. So that concludes all of our committee reports. Um No, we we have a motion to approve. >> sorry. Jeez. [laughter]
I'm already past. That was only the discussion. Uh Okay. Uh so the question before us is approval of compensation. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. All those opposed say no. No. Okay, the eyes have it. Uh the motion
passes. Mr. Chairman. Yes. Um Chad M. Uh thanks. >> [laughter] >> Thanks to you and your team. Uh there is so much work that goes into this that people never see, perhaps don't appreciate. Um and the way
in which uh you take the time to help us understand the budget, the process. Every year it's different. Every year there's new information. Every year you have to repeat the same information to us. Uh but really do appreciate the the work that you and your team do uh to get us
to this point and beyond that uh to make sure that we know and we understand what's happening um with the the votes that we take here today. Thank you. Well said, Frank. Now, thank you. That concludes our committee report Oh, well, we have a
chancellor who'd like to weigh in. Thank you. So first I want to echo my appreciation to Chad and his team along with Todd Haggerty and Mandy Cole from our campus. The work they do on this is enormous and and truly appreciated and the number of iterations and conversations that we have in terms of
um what are our guiding principles? What are we trying to achieve? And then how do they map that into these numbers that you finally um see is is really a heartfelt and and an effort committed to um the mindset of of our students and our faculty and staff first and then the
numbers is a as a backdrop to that. Um I also just want to say that at at Boulder and I believe at the other campuses, you know, our commitment to efficient operation and asking the question, do we really need to spend that? Is is really something we take very seriously. Um
you'll notice in the Boulder budget that the increase in undergraduate tuition that thank you for approving amounts to about 7.6 million dollars. Um our increase to student aid is 8.5 million dollars. And so there is a you know, we are not increasing um the
burden on our students across the board and of course some will pay more. Um but we're also trying very hard to make sure that um everyone across Colorado understands the Colorado Promise and how that works and and what an important piece of affordability that is to our enterprise.
Um there's nothing I like more than than doing things to support our faculty and staff through salary and through other initiatives. And there's nothing I hate more than raising tuition. So I really appreciate the conversation and looking forward to ways we can work together to to continue to
nail it on our mission, which I think all of our campuses do so well. And at the same time really focus on that that um commitment to Colorado of being a state institution and being affordable to everyone. So thank you. Okay. I think that does conclude the committee
reports. Um the next order of business is Regents general general discussion and an action item. We have one action item for consideration, the election of Carrie Tipper to serve as secretary of the Board of Regents in addition to her role
as vice president and university counsel effective April 16th, 2026. Do I have a motion? Mr. Chairman, can I just pause for a sec? So I don't have we received a copy of the resolution? Yes. Seen the resolution. No.
We have. Can we put it up here? What? I just want to take a quick recess. I'm sorry. It would be ideal to take a quick recess to look at it. Okay. Is 5 minutes appropriate? Okay, we'll take a 5-minute recess so we can review the resolution.
Um Regents, the same community if you have access online. Do we do we have Can someone make a copy of it over? >> I'd like to call us back to order. So, did did every did all the regions have an opportunity to see the resolution? Yes. >> Okay.
So, um the motion to that we are considering is uh the motion that was presented on the screen and in community, which is the election of Carrie Tippet to serve as secretary of Board of Regents in addition to a role as vice president of University Council.
Is there a motion to approve? So moved. I second the motion. Is there a second? So, I got I think I got two over here. Right? Okay. Thank you. Uh it's been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Okay. All those in favor say I. I. Those
opposed say no. No. Okay, we've got an eight to one vote. The motion passes. Our final order of business is to open the floor to regions if anyone has something they want to discuss. I know that Okay, well, we've got a whole bunch
of hands up today. Uh I think I saw Region Renaissance's hand first, so I'll start with her. Thank you. It'll only take a moment. I just want to say that today has been a great example of impeccable time management. Thank you. Also to our public speakers that most all of them,
you could tell that they rehearsed. It was 2 minutes. It's so thoughtful. So, thank you. Even right now, we're a minute early from where we are. So, thank you, Chair Montera. Okay, I'm going to move to the right. I think Region Vandriel You don't Region Vandriel? I have something I want to go last. Oh, you want to go last. Oh, well.
Okay, let's move this way. Uh Region McNulty, did you have something? Did you have your hand up? I did. I am. I'm going to get to Norbert. Um thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh so, uh I had the chance to join our women's basketball team to their March Madness appearance.
Um the game didn't turn out as we had hoped, but um the the women's team fought hard, was in the game up until the end, and uh just kind of got away from us there at the end. Uh Mr. President, you were there. Kelly, you were there. Um Go Buffs. Let's go Buffs.
Um the the trip there was uneventful. Uh the trip home was uh something to be seen. Um challenge after challenge, hurdle after hurdle. Um we didn't get uh home until I think 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning.
Um but my point in bringing up this story is this. Uh our team was uh pretty incredible. And uh as every challenge popped up from pilots timing out to no gas in the plane
to I mean, just like everything um through no fault of University of Colorado, blame is entirely on the NCAA. Um but with every one of those challenges, um Coach Sheets, Coach Payne stepped up, worked through it, uh didn't
drop into a a a a puddle as I might have in the aisle It was pretty hot, so we were all kind of at that point anyway. Um but a real credit to our staff, to our coaches, uh Elizabeth, to you,
uh uh for taking up each one of these challenges, working through it, being resilient, um and uh to our women's basketball team, who were stuck on the ground in a parking lot in at the Nashville Airport
and forced uh to to to deal with that. And they did, and they had fun, and they were smiles. And uh uh Chancellor uh Director Lovato, um please pass along my congratulations and my thanks uh to Coach Sheets, to Coach Payne, um and uh hopefully we'll
have the opportunity to recognize the women's basketball team at at some point here in the future, but it was it was an important lesson for my daughter to see that, um and I really appreciated seeing that out of out of our folks. So, Okay. uh please pass it along. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Region. We appreciate that.
Kelly. Yeah, I just wanted to add on. I agree with everything Frank said. It was really fun. It's unfortunate we didn't win. Um we all sat in a parking lot with no food for a long time. So, I also want to give a big shout out. Yeah, to Elizabeth getting that Uber Eats guy to bring us
pizza >> [laughter] >> at about 8:00 at night, and I was so happy to eat it, but about 3:00 in the morning, not so much. So, thank you. Okay. Um Region Chavez. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh
I wanted to just take a moment uh to recognize a couple of people who recently passed who were connected to CU Denver. They didn't work here. They weren't students, but uh they lived in the neighborhood that was displaced in order to build the
campus and have been very active um in the community efforts to um make sure that the scholarships were lived up to and and all kinds of other activities. Um Frances Torres um
was the secretary of the Auraria Historical Advocacy Council, and she passed away about 2 weeks ago. Um Shortly before that, Aurita Gomez, whom many of you have probably heard me talk about, um her family was displaced um
and and my office in the community uh board room is is in what was her family home, and uh she uh the last time we were able to all get together and see her was for the award
ceremony. Todd was there. Ken was there. Um and myself, we were awarded the um uh a uh historical historic preservation award, and Rita was able to to attend with us, and um
and the conversation we had at that time was how um meaningful the work that CU has done on 9th Street and how meaningful it was for her family because for so long the thought and the memory was so
painful of what had happened to her family and she was so very proud to be there that night and I was trying to find the photo quick enough. Oh, you you actually have that's that's the that's the next one. That's Francis
Torres. I couldn't I couldn't find No, that's okay. You can leave it up. I couldn't I couldn't get find it in time to show it to you but I will if if the meeting still going or I'll show it to you tomorrow. But anyway, it was a wonderful event
the last time we got to see her and and then the photograph that you have there is Francis. Both had cancer, both lost their battle to to cancer. Francis is there
greeting Ken as we had an event for him. When he first started so I just wanted to recognize both of them. The loss will be felt and wanted to let everybody know of that. Thank you. Yeah, thank you
Regent Chavez. You know, I want to thank you Noble for bringing that situation to our attention for making it a public issue that we could deal with and for making us understand how difficult it was for those people and how we've
really tried to make that right. So thank you for doing that. That's been significant. Regent Vandriel >> [sighs] >> Thank you Mr. Chairman. The next time we have a board meeting we are going to be in a place we haven't had a board meeting in
as far as I'm aware ever. And a town where I was born and raised and have the privilege of representing. It's it's a wonderful city. It's one of the few places in Colorado where people are still having children. And so our recruiting ability is
>> [laughter] >> I do I've done pretty I better not. >> [laughter] >> I have certainly contributed to that but so have many other people and there is there's recruiting grounds there in Greeley for the next generation. I'm
happy that we will be there. That said it's a little different from our places. So using the CU version of chat GPT I prepared a a sonnet for us
of a little bit of warning for and welcome. So Greeley, Colorado bold and bright where cows set the tone both day and night. The breeze rolls in with distinctive flare. >> [laughter] >> A farm fresh whisper in the air. The
streets run to east, the avenues north. All are numbered alike like a practical sort. Meet on 10th that narrows it how? Just pick a direction and you'll find it somehow or use GPS. So flat you could watch your dog run
away past the tumbleweeds as the buffalo grass sways. The mountains sure they must be near. If the air is clean you might see them I swear. Still sunsets glow and the skies go wide and somehow it works with our civic
pride. I will look forward to welcoming you all to Greeley. Thank you. Thank you Mark. That was nice. I just wanted to make a final comment and thank the entire board for today. We had a couple you know challenging
discussions today and I think in today's world people listen to respond as opposed to listen to understand and I think we really demonstrated a board that we were listening to understand each other and give everybody the benefit of their thinking in their in
and their belief system and I think we're a better board because we do that and I can only hope that we continue to do that as we serve together and serve this state and serve the 63,000 plus students that dreams are made at these campuses that we have the
opportunity to lead. So thank you for that today. I really appreciate it. >> [clears throat] >> So Yeah, that concludes our business today. We'll be adjourned till 8:30 tomorrow morning and the I don't know if if Elizabeth wanted to share anything about
tonight or the campus on 6:00 p.m. at the Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's at the