BFA May 4, 2023 Assembly Meeting
The BFA held it's final meeting of the year in the Chancellor's Hall/Auditorium in the CASE Building on Thursday, May 4, 2023. The meeting began with the annual recognition of the Faculty 50 Years of Service awards sponsored by the Office of Faculty Affairs and the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Faculty Assembly. Provost Moore congratulated each faculty member presented them with commemorative gifts honoring the occasion. This year's honorees were:
- Wayne Boss, Professor - Organization Leadership & Information Analytics
- Marvin Caruthers, Distinguished Professor - Biochemistry
- Steven Maier, Distinguished Professor – Psychology & Neuroscience
Provost Moore then addressed Assembly members and reviewed highlights from Academic Affairs during AY22-23. Moore highlighted several items including the receipt of the Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group report and collaboration with the BFA on the approval and implementation of the Common Curriculum. Discussion included concerns regarding promoting long-time lecturers to teaching faculty positions, reduced faculty pay rates when teaching Maymester & Augmester, and concerns regarding the equity impacts related to the new Budget Model. Moore said that the first two items were college/school level decisions, but also said that pending changes to could make it easier for units to promote lecturers. Regarding the campus supplemental funds, Moore stressed that units should be focused on better utilization of core funding and current reserves within colleges/schools.
BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy then transferred the gavel to BFA Vice Chair Alastair Norcross to lead the annual meeting of the faculty senate.* Norcross thanked Beechy for her service as BFA Chair. Members then heard from two campus groups with updates on projects:
Buff Undergraduate Success Update - Sr. Vice Provost Katherine Eggert and Joe Thomas, AVC Student Affairs updated members on this campus project designed to increase student graduation and retention rates. While campus hit a 33-year high for first year retention rates, overall graduation rates of 70% are still well below AAU public average of 82.5%. Eggert and Thomas reviewed a variety of efforts underway to improve both areas. Some highlights included the grade replacement opt-in numbers increasing in particular with Pell grant, First Gen, and under-represented students who were also able to improve average class grade from a D to B-. Also of impact has been the Basic Needs department that has been able to provide food, housing assistance, and other support. Member feedback included concerns around messaging to students around overcommittment and student scheduling, working to shift the mentality around failing courses with grade replacement, and issues around the availability and use of the campus Testing Center. Handouts included: BUS Update Presentation Slides and a SP23 BUS Update Handout
Campus Libraries Catalog and Search Changes - Dean Robert McDonald, Assistant Dean Jamie Wittenberg, and Libraries Faculty Council Chair & Access/Discovery Librarian Nicole Trujillo gave an overview about updated search or discovery tools including a new interface called Folio for the library catalog that will be put in place this summer. Campus libraries will also now have shared catalog with CU Law library. The while campus transitions to Folio. CU joins many AU peers who are already using Folio and allows for greater collaboration and open access. Faculty were encouraged to send feedback and questions to bfa@colorado.edu.
The final portion of the meeting focused on two BFA measures that were up for a vote:
- BFA-R-1-040323 – CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Faculty Senate Constitution - Members approved the resolution which endorses the draft constitution and refers the item to the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Faculty Senate for formal consideration in fall 2023.
- BFA-R-2-040323 – Resolution Re: Campus Curriculum Policy & Procedures - After discussion members approved amendments to the resolution which included a reference to noting that the faculty have the principal responsibility for decisions regarding curriculum** and a final Be it Further Resolved section to further define the committee role and procedures. The below draft will now be reviewed by the Deans Council for input and recommendations before being sent to the Provost for final review.
The meeting concluded with BFA Secretary Vicki Grove announcing Shelly Miller as the new BFA Chair with a two-year term beginning July 1, 2023 and ending June 30, 2025.
*All BFA Assembly meetings are open to campus faculty members, however the annual Faculty Senate meeting is the official meeting of the BFA and the ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ Faculty Senate.
**Article 5.A.1. B Faculty Governance - Principle of Shared Governance - Tenured and tenure-track faculty with appropriate participation by instructional, research, and clinical faculty have the principal responsibility for decisions concerning pedagogy, curriculum, research, scholarly or creative work, academic ethics, and recommendations on the selection and evaluation of faculty. The development of general academic policies shall be a collaborative effort between the faculty and administration.