A year of changes: Faculty Council in review 14 May, 2021
Colorado State University’s Faculty Council had a full year of jam-packed meetings, covering various discussions, task force reports, elections, regular reports from President Joyce McConnell and Provost Mary Pedersen, as well as key revisions to the Faculty and Administrative Professional Manual.
Included in these manual changes were revisions to Sections E and C, made in response to efforts to improve University commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Other changes involved expanded participation of non-tenure track faculty in Faculty Council processes, increased acknowledgement of shared governance, a new Presidential survey, improvements to intellectual property protections, consideration of a new standing committee on information technology, and approval of a full rewrite of the Title IX Appendices.
At the May 6 meeting of the Colorado State University System Board of Governors, President Joyce McConnell shared plans for mostly in-person learning, events and university operations on campus this fall, largely made possible by the recently announced vaccine requirement. McConnell also advocated for a 3% merit pool to provide pay increases for faculty and administrative professional staff, along with a 3% increase in teaching and research assistant stipends for graduate students. That degree of additional salary support would match what is planned for classified personnel across the state.
A Year Like No Other: President’s report reflects on impacts of COVID-19 10 May, 2021
In February 2020, Colorado State University had just celebrated the 150
th year since its founding. The collective celebration was to continue under the greening leaves of the historic Oval and among beds of tulips poking through the soil.
Days before spring break, however, everything had changed. The COVID-19 pandemic was accelerating and President Joyce McConnell shared the news with the CSU community that learning was shifting to online only.
Students headed home. Frontline workers donned masks and learned new ways of doing their critical work. Faculty and staff reconvened in front of screens at dining tables and in home offices. CSU’s 150
Colorado State University to celebrate the Class of 2021 May 14 10 May, 2021
The remarkable resilience of Colorado State University’s Spring and Summer 2021 graduates is awe-inspiring. The many achievements of this year’s Ram graduates were celebrated in person during the ceremonial walk across CSU’s historic Oval in April, and now a virtual commencement ceremony is set to honor the 4,600-plus students who have navigated the challenges of 2020 and 2021 to earn degrees.
CSU will celebrate those Rams who have completed work on undergraduate and graduate degrees in the spring and summer semesters:
• Undergraduates: 3,452, with 446 candidates for distinction (61 summa cum laude, 131 magna cum laude and 254 cum laude)