The Boulder Faculty Assembly Thursday voted 46 to 1 with one听abstention to support a resolution by the University of Colorado Student Government (CUSG) asking the CU Board of Regents to rescind the right to carry a concealed weapon on all of CU鈥檚 campuses. CU President Todd Saliman also updated the assembly on financial issues and his statewide outreach efforts.
CUSG executive Rachel Hill presented the to the BFA, noting it had been approved by 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Staff Council and that the campus鈥檚 Graduate and Professional Student Government had 鈥渁greed to sign onto it.鈥� Hill said the BFA鈥檚 approval would send the resolution to CUSG鈥檚 legislative council, 鈥渁nd then it would go to the regents on Oct. 12.鈥澨�
CUSG executive Rachel Hill
The Colorado Supreme Court in 2012 invalidated the portion of听an existing CU regents鈥� policy that prohibited all firearms on campus. The decision held that the university鈥檚 campuses were subject to the Colorado Concealed Carry Act, which allows permit-holders to carry concealed firearms on all public property with exceptions for federal buildings, K-12 schools听or buildings with fixed checkpoints. The regents modified the weapons control policy to allow concealed carry in accordance with the ruling. The Colorado Legislature last session modified the Concealed Carry Act to provide the governing boards of institutions of higher education to enact rules governing concealed carry on their campuses.
The CUSG legislation, Hill said, had been bolstered with 鈥渟tats and data鈥� since its original draft, and now included footnotes of news coverage about incidents in which concealed weapons at 精品SM在线影片 had caused students and faculty to 鈥渆xpress discomfort in having guns in classrooms.鈥澨�
The CUSG bill鈥檚 footnotes also contained data from three studies on gun use鈥攐ne of them on gun use on college campuses. That evidence, Hill said, suggested听鈥渉aving guns (on campus) does not mean that good guys with guns will stop bad guys with guns,鈥� she said.听
鈥淢ost incidents on campus are not mass shootings, but individual disputes that escalate to gun violence,鈥� she said.听听
Hill said the regents would not likely vote on the measure 鈥渦ntil next semester,鈥� but that 鈥渋t鈥檚 good to get it to them early.鈥�
鈥淥ur voice matters a lot,鈥� she said.听
Saliman talks finances and outreach
To open the assembly鈥檚 meeting, CU President Todd Saliman had a 35-minute talk with members, outlining his strategy for public outreach and linking that approach to strengthening the finances of the CU system.听
Saliman acknowledged out of the gate that a 3% regent-approved compensation pool set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2023, 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 even cover half the impact of inflation,鈥� part of what he called 鈥渁 huge problem for us in higher education and for our faculty and staff, as well.鈥澨�
CU President Todd Saliman speaks at an open forum on the Boulder campus in April 2022. Photo by Glenn Asakawa/精品SM在线影片.
He said he is grateful for the substantial increase provided by the legislature last year, but CU and higher education continue to remain significantly underfunded.
But, he said, 鈥淭heir finances will be more constrained next year, and it will be more challenging for them to step up for higher education.鈥澨�
Saliman said a key to improving both funding and public confidence in higher education and CU was 鈥渙utreach.鈥澨�
鈥淎ll paths lead to outreach鈥攚orking hard to reset the perception听not just of CU听but of all higher education in Colorado. We want to get to the point where the people of Colorado are willing to vote yes when they see higher education on the ballot,鈥� Saliman said.听
鈥淚 don鈥檛 see us making progress on public support of funding until we鈥檙e able to change the conversation, so I鈥檓 focused on that outreach work,鈥� Saliman said.听
When asked if rescinding the Taxpayer鈥檚 Bill of Rights (TABOR) amendment鈥攁pproved by Colorado voters in 1992鈥攚as possible, Saliman said he 鈥渞efused to give up hope鈥� for directing a meaningful portion of the TABOR surplus toward higher education, noting that such an effort was a 鈥渓ong game.鈥澨�
Saliman also noted Colorado鈥檚 current increase in inflation would trigger a rise in TABOR鈥檚 revenue limits 鈥渜uite a bit this coming year and into the future.鈥澨�
In a brief exchange addressing BFA member concerns about the cost of a buyout and a new hire for CU鈥檚 football coach, Saliman said the cost of service on 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 athletic debt comes from athletics and not university budgets.听
Asked directly by BFA member Jennifer Hendricks of law about 鈥渨ho is liable if [athletics]听runs out of money,鈥� Saliman answered simply and directly, 鈥淐U is.鈥澨�
The session ended with an exchange between members鈥攊ncluding BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy of English鈥攁nd Saliman on balancing the core issues of inclusion and belonging on campus with the need for robust debate on a variety of ideas.听
Saliman heralded the work of 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 chancellor, provost, COO and senior vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion in 鈥減utting in a structure where people share their opinions and feel a sense of belonging.鈥� He told the BFA members, 鈥淵ou and your colleagues are the tip of the spear.鈥澨�
In response to BFA member David Paradis of history:听鈥淗ow do we approach people whose opinions are based on misinformation?鈥� Saliman said, 鈥淩especting people鈥檚 opinions doesn鈥檛 mean respecting lies.鈥澨�
A question the university must continue to tackle, Saliman said, is,听鈥淗ow do we create this atmosphere where we welcome different perspectives but don鈥檛 treat information that is outright false as a perspective?鈥澨�
Saliman then returned to the issue of belonging, addressing some of the misperceptions he hears on outreach tours from people who think 精品SM在线影片 prefers non-resident students and is too expensive for Colorado residents, particularly disadvantaged families.听
鈥淲e鈥檙e always encouraging residents to apply, and non-resident students are an important part of the campus community and an important part of our budget reality. But it should never be that our resident students don鈥檛 feel welcome,鈥� Saliman said.听
In other news
The BFA heard a presentation from Senior Vice Provost Katherine Eggert and Dean of Undergraduate Education Daryl Maeda on the timeline for approving and implementing the . The BFA introduced outlining how it would review the common curriculum proposal and previewed a BFA special session on Oct. 20 that would focus on the proposal.
The BFA entertained two notices of motion for 30-day feedback: one adjusting the name and charge of the 听and one for contingent teaching faculty, similar to pay steps recently awarded to tenured and tenure-track faculty at promotional increments.
The BFA heard a presentation from Associate Vice Chancellor/Deputy CIO Orrie Gartner and BFA Administrative Services and Technology Committee member Janet Casagrand of integrative physiology on the university鈥檚 plans to phase out Google Drive as a storage tool while maintaining its intended function as a collaborative tool.
The BFA heard a from 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Assistant Vice Chancellor for Local Government and Community Engagement Lori Call and Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Strategy Derek Silva outlining the terms of Boulder Ballot Issue 2F, which would repeal the annexation agreement for CU South enacted between 精品SM在线影片 and the city.听
