BFA

General Assembly April 4, 2024 Meeting

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 14:33:37 +0000

General Assembly April 4, 2024 Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/05/2024 - 08:33

The BFA held it's regular monthly meeting on April 4, 2024 via Zoom. Chancellor DiStefano was on hand to address faculty for the final time as CU Boulder Chancellor. Areas on his mind as the academic year is wrapping up included a concern about academic freedom in light of recent events this year as well as upcoming elections. DiStefano encouraged faculty to be empathetic and to remain open to civic discussion around hard topics. He emphasized that democracy is fragile but that CU Boulder has a critical role to play in educating tomorrow's leaders. During questions from members, DiStefano also said an important concern was the public perception of higher education.

When asked about things over his tenure at CU that he’s most proud of, the chancellor noted that shared governance is unique to higher education and that he's appreciated the guidance from the BFA along with other campus bodies that he's worked with over the years. DiStefano told members that he has great pride in where Boulder stands in relation to AAU peers and gives credit to faculty in particular for their work over the last fifteen years in research, scholarship and creative work. Additionally, he noted that during his time as Provost, he was also proud of work done with the BFA to begin improving conditions for instructors. In particular he noted the efforts of Cathy Comstock and Rolf Norgaard on the Instructor Bill of Rights. DiStefano also noted that previously fundraising in his role was not a main focus, but that through his efforts he more than doubled the amounts and noted that fundraising would continue to play a key role in the future.

Lastly, the chancellor told members that he’s looking forward to returning to the faculty and noted that back in the day he had been an original member of the BFA (known as the Faculty Council at that time). DiStefano received many thanks from representatives for his work at CU in both the room and chat.

Dr. D’Andra Mull, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, who joined campus last fall, reviewed the student affairs organization and the role they all play in the student experience. The mission of Student Affairs (SA) mission is to “..create a comprehensively excellent student experience through the development of dynamic programs, services and support structures that prepare Buffs to thrive as lifelong learners in a globally engaged society.” To achieve this her office is focused on student development through engagement, belonging, academic support, and high-impact practices. Mull walked members through an organizational chart designed to give faculty a better understanding of who they can go to for specific issues and how to contact them. Associate Vice Chancellor, Dr. Joe Thomas also spoke with members about his role in connecting and aligning Student Affairs with faculty and academics. He partners with Undergraduate Education on the common curriculum and other high impact programs with Buffs Undergraduate Success (BUS) group. Both Mull and Thomas encouraged faculty to reach out to them directly with any questions.

BFA Chair Miller introduced a resolution on behalf of the Executive Committee BFA-R-1-030424 to recommend that Academic Affairs form a working group next fall to review issues, benefits, and alternatives to the anonymous open comment section currently on the FCQs. Per CU Administrative Policy Statement (APS) 1009 any changes to campus FCQs must include input by faculty and students appointed by shared governance bodies. Concerns regarding the open comment section include: a lack of support and follow-up when students anonymously report misconduct violations instead of utilizing campus reporting procedures, as well as well-established data showing a negative impact on women and under-represented faculty from student biases in anonymous comments. Conversely, many faculty, including the BFA Diversity and Academic Affairs committees support the use of anonymous comments for constructive student feedback for courses and instructors. The BFA Executive Committee supports a full review of the issue and asks that the working group making recommendations to the Provost on the following:

Would the removal of the open comment section be an overall benefit or cost to both faculty and students?
What additions or changes to the FCQs should be made to provide students with the proper resources and information on reporting inappropriate behavior and alerting them to campus support services?
Should the university create an inventory of recommended practices for faculty to collect student feedback on courses and teaching methods that is reviewed annually and notes potential bias issues, and if so, how should this inventory be created and publicized?

The motion is under consideration for thirty days and will be voted on at the May 2 meeting. Representatives are asked to share the resolution with constituents and send all feedback and questions to Shelly Miller at: bfa@colorado.edu.

Lastly, Assembly members heard more about the CU Book Access program for course materials introduced last year. CU Bookstore Director Jessica Carlsen along with Assistant Director Matt Avena, and the Redshelf VP of Product, Tim Shea gave faculty an overview of the program. Goals include ensuring that students have materials on the first day of class, reducing the cost to students - in particular in certain fields, and committing to a reduction in the environmental costs associated with printing thousands of books each semester. Carlsen noted that the high success of the program has already allowed CU to lower the subscription price for all students. Representatives noted issues for faculty included a need for publishers to provide greater useability and to make offerings more faculty focused. Examples included issues like page number confusion between digital and hard copies as well as problems with annotations. Several faculty also pointed to “digital fatigue” that their students were experiencing. Shea welcomed faculty feedback and questions as they continued to improve the system. Carlson stressed that faculty are strongly encouraged to choose whatever course materials are best for their classrooms and noted that the cost of printed over digital will not affect students opting into the program. However Carlsen did want faculty to be aware that most publishers have greatly reduced the availability of printed materials which also impacts the availability of pre-owned items. Avena also offered a potential solution for students to request official photocopies of pages for a few dollars in case they found it useful to have both the digital and hard versions. See the presentation slides and email questions to bfa@colorado.edu and they will be forwarded to Carlsen’s group.

In conclusion BFA Chair Shelly Miller reminded members of the following BFA items:

Chancellor Finalist Survey – Please complete the chancellor finalist survey by Tuesday April 9: https://www.cu.edu/boulder-chancellor-search/finalist-campus-visits
BFA Officer Elections – Nominations are open until April 15. Elections take place via Qualtrics during May 2 Assembly. See the nominations page for details: /bfa/get-involved/elections
Join us for the 2024 Excellence Awards Ceremony on April 18 at 4:30pm – Open to campus. RSVP here /bfa/excellence-awards/2024-excellence-awards-ceremony
Climate Course Inventory Fellow – Applications open through Friday, May 3! /bfa/2024/03/20/climate-sustainability-faculty-working-group-leader-call-applications

Off

Traditional

White

2024 BFA Excellence Awards Winners Announced!

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 20:54:19 +0000

2024 BFA Excellence Awards Winners Announced! Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/22/2024 - 13:54

The BFA Excellence Awards specifically recognize outstanding work and a concerted effort to make advances in the academy. The Chancellor provides financial support for these prestigious awards and a ceremony in the spring recognizes the winners and features a keynote by the Hazel Barnes Awardee for that year. This year's ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 18 from 4:30-7pm in the Glenn Miller Ballroom at the UMC. Please mark your calendars!

The Boulder Faculty Assembly is pleased to announce the winners of this year's Excellence Awards Winners

Excellence in Leadership & Service

Valerie McKenzie, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Alastair Norcross, Philosophy

Excellence in Research, Scholarly, and Creative Work

Jason Boardman, Institute of Behavioral Science & Sociology

Joost de Gouw, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences & Chemistry

Rebecca Safran, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Excellence in Teaching

Colene Robinson, CU Law School

.Cosetta Seno French & Italian

Bethany Wilcox, Physics

Off

Traditional

White

BFA ExCom Approves Attributes for Next UCB Chancellor Statement

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 20:50:33 +0000

BFA ExCom Approves Attributes for Next UCB Chancellor Statement Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/16/2024 - 13:50

Over winter break, the BFA Executive Committee drafted and approved a statement noting attributes that committee members feel are critical and should guide the selection of the next campus Chancellor:

ATTRIBUTES THAT SHOULD GUIDE THE SELECTION

OF THE NEXT CU BOULDER CHANCELLOR

The Executive Committee of the Boulder Faculty Assembly (BFA) expects the next chancellor of CU Boulder to be appointed from among multiple named finalists chosen by the search committee, all of whom have been vetted through campus meetings with interested faculty, staff, students, and members of the public, whose feedback on the candidates should guide the ultimate appointment.

Drawing on broad discussions and experience over recent years regarding the future of the Boulder Campus, the BFA Executive Committee supports the selection of a Chancellor who:

Supports and has common bonds with the faculty, who, through their inquiry, teaching, and service, express core academic values and function as the engine driving the university. CU Boulder’s chancellor should be a career academic with a national or international reputation for their research or creative work. Such a chancellor will understand the faculty’s commitment to academic values and inspire them to greater scholarly and creative achievements.

Endorses and respects the outcomes of a robust system of shared faculty governance. CU Boulder’s chancellor shall be committed to:
- a robust system of shared faculty governance at all administration levels.
- proactively creating opportunities for and ensuring the consistent and substantive involvement of faculty in establishing academic policy and making decisions that affect CU Boulder and the university system.
- transparency and effective communication and collaboration with faculty and other stakeholders, both in and beyond the university community.
- being an effective communicator and an engaged listener. A chancellor should bring the diverse campus community members together through their ability to tap into and leverage the collective and diverse ideas, talents, and experiences that make up the Boulder campus.
Supports and acts on their commitment to inclusive excellence as a core value that undergirds all that we do. We seek a chancellor who is committed to supporting and expanding campus initiatives for faculty, staff, and students on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Is an advocate for CU Boulder as a top ten center for excellence in climate crisis action. This includes a commitment to:
- accelerating the move towards renewable energy use for all campus operations in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
- enhancing and improving CU Boulder’s reputation as a top-ten climate change research and education institution.
Values the principles of a comprehensive research university locally, nationally, and globally. The CU Boulder chancellor should take an active, public-facing role in:
- communicating both the value to our civil society of a broad-based education and the contributions that CU-Boulder makes to Colorado and the world.
- recognizing and promoting the importance of global engagement, including research collaborations, student and faculty teaching and research exchanges, and a thoughtful and deliberate CU presence on the international stage.

Approved by the Executive Committee on January 12, 2024

Off

Traditional

White

BFA March 2 General Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:52:48 +0000

BFA March 2 General Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/02/2023 - 10:52

On Thursday, March 2, 2023 the BFA Assembly held it's monthly meeting at 4pm via Zoom. Members heard from campus partners on the following areas:

Health & Wellness Services - this unit has recently made some changes in structure as well as to offerings for campus faculty & staff. Interim Associate Vice Chancellor, Jess Doty reviwed some of these changes and spoke with representatives about the unique needs faculty face in their roles. Doty spoke about resources they are offering to support faculty wellness as well as resources for faculty for student referrals.
Faculty Salary Procedures Working Group - Report Review - Committee Co-chairs, Daria Kotys-Schwartz and Steve Vanderheiden presented their draft report that offers a set of guiding principles and related recommendations for faculty salary procedure optimizations. FSPWG invites all CU Boulder faculty to review the report and provide feedback by noon, Monday, March 20. They are also hosting open forums on two dates:
- Wednesday, March 8 from 12-1
- Thursday, March 16 from 2-3
  - Assembly presentation slides
  - Draft Report

BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy updated members on two business items that would be coming before representatives in the next month for review at April Assembly. The first was regarding plans for a Campus Curriculum Policy and associated campus Curriculum Committee to meet meet longstanding campus needs, the realities of the new campus budget model, Academic Futures, and the Common Curriculum. Beechy will be sending more details giving the backstory and details of the current policy draft next week. A motion to approve will be introduced at the April General Assembly, allowing for the customary month-long official comment and revision period, with the vote to approve to be held in May.

Additionally, Beechy announced that the Executive Committee was submitting a notice of motion on concealed carry based on the CUSG 97 LCR 08 Concealed Carry legislation from fall (which BFA members voted to endorse) but that will provide additional faculty perspective on the need for such a move in order to ensure the health and wellbeing for students, faculty, and staff on all campuses. BFA-R-1-030123 Ban Concealed Carry on CU Campuses will be revised and provided with supporting documentation during March and sent to representatives to share with their constituents prior to a vote in April. If the resolution is adopted, it will be presented at the upcoming Regent University Affairs Committee meeting April 15th, along with the resolution from the students.

Assembly members were also provided information on two upcoming BFA co-sponsored events and asked faculty to save the date:

CU Boulder Spring '23 AI Colloquium Series - featuring faculty conversations around the rise in interest in AI both within and outside academia. Campus faculty are invited to attend individual sessions or all three as it fits their schedules. Sessions will be held in the CTL lecture room E390 in CASE. Sessions will also be available to stream remotely via Zoom but no chat will be available.
Until We Are Free - A film screening and conversation with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi about the global struggle for women’s right and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran – Fri. April 7 at 5pm in the Chancellors Hall & Auditorium. The event is co-sponsored by Academic Affairs, Faculty Affairs, and the BFA. More details on registration will be forthcoming.

Lastly, representatives were reminded that nominations are open for vacant At-Large Assembly representatives. These seats are open to and voted on by all eligible campus faculty. Both self-nominations and nominations are welcome. For more information, please see the BFA Elections webpage or contact BFA Secretary Vicki Grove at bfa@colorado.edu.

Off

Traditional

White

Spring '23 CU Boulder AI Colloquium Series

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 00:49:36 +0000

Spring '23 CU Boulder AI Colloquium Series Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/23/2023 - 17:49

Spring '23 Boulder AI Colloquium Series (Three Sessions)

Sponsored by the Boulder Faculty Assembly and the Office of Academic Affairs, hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning

Given the explosion of interest in AI both within and outside academia, the Boulder faculty will be holding a series of colloquia this spring. Invited faculty will give informal presentations and engage in open discussions of topics related to classroom uses (and abuses) of software such as ChatGPT, but topics are not limited to pedagogy, and we imagine presentations focused on faculty research areas, as well, for example, questions in philosophy, computer science, religious studies, and the arts. All sessions will be held at the Center for Teaching & Learning in room E390 in the CASE Building.

Fri, Mar 3 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. MT

Shivakant Mishra, Professor, College of Engineering and Applied Science, Honor Code Advisory Board faculty - The Impact of AI and Cheating
Nathan Schneider, Assistant Professor, Media Studies - Governable Spaces for Accountable AI
Clayton Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Computer Science - Analogical reasoning in GPT-3

Tue, Mar 14 from 3:30 p.m-5:00 p.m. MT

Eliana Colunga, Associate Professor, Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience, Institute of Cognitive Science - Human Language and the Lure of Chatbot Sentience
Benjamin Slater Hale, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies and Philosophy - "Danger, Will Manfredjinsinjin!": Generative AI and the Perils of the XK-Red-27 Technique
Sriram Sankaranarayanan, Associate Professor, Computer Science - Developing an Artificial Understanding of the World Around Us

Wed, Apr 5 from 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. MT

Peter Foltz, ICS Faculty, Research Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science - Balancing the challenges and opportunities for using Large Language Models for improving Student Learning
Kai Larsen, Associate Professor, Information Management - The Implications of Generative A.I. (including ChatGPT) for Research into Human Behavior
Bill Penuel, Professor, Learning Sciences and Human Development - Preparing Future Students for A.I. in Academics
Julia Staffel, Associate Professor, Philosophy, College of Arts and Science - Teaching with ChatGPT: Against the Nuclear Option

These sessions will be meeting in the Center for Teaching & Learning, room E390. Feel free to attend all or just those that fit your schedule. Alternatively, you may tune in to the live stream and watch the event remotely via Zoom. Please note the Zoom chat will not be monitored. These events are open to the public and in-person space is limited. RSVPing is optional but greatly appreciated if you plan to attend in person. For more information email Kirk Ambrose at kirk.ambrose@colorado.edu.

Off

Traditional

White

Public Access to Federally Funded Research - BFA, RIO, & LIBR session on OSTP Memo

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 21:54:45 +0000

Public Access to Federally Funded Research - BFA, RIO, & LIBR session on OSTP Memo Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/19/2023 - 14:54

In August 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a memorandum calling on all federal agencies to make “articles resulting from all U.S. federally funded research freely available and publicly accessible by default in agency-designated repositories without any embargo or delay after publication.” Federal agencies must all have a set policy in place by 2025, however certain funding agencies will need to have new agency plans ready as early as February, 2023.

CU Boulder Libraries has created Guidance for Public Access to Federally Funded Research webpage and resources to support faculty and researchers while this process is in flux. Additionally, the Boulder Faculty Assembly is joining up with Libraries and the Research & Innovation Office (RIO) to offer three Listening & Feedback Sessions so that faculty can find out more about how this may impact research grants in their fields and what support is available on campus. Additionally, these sessions are designed to allow faculty provide feedback on what the Libraries, RIO, and other campus units can do to further support researchers. All sessions will be held via Zoom and are open to all CU Boulder faculty and researchers.

OSTP Memo Presentation Slides - February, 2022

BFA Zoom Listening Sessions on the OSTP Memo

Thursday, February 9 - 4-5pm
Friday, February 17 - noon - 1pm
Thursday, March 9 - 4-5pm

Mar. 9 4pm session Zoom link: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/95080041524

Off

Traditional

White

Fall 2022 - BFA External Elections - Call for Nominations

Anonymous — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 18:11:30 +0000

Fall 2022 - BFA External Elections - Call for Nominations Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/06/2022 - 12:11

The Boulder Faculty Assembly is pleased to announce the external elections for fall 2022. External elections are open to all CU Boulder eligible faculty for seat vacancies on BFA standing committees. For more information on specific committees, you can find details on the committee charge, annual reports, and more on the committe webpage. Nominations should be sent to BFA Secretary Vicki Grove at: bfa@colorado.edu by Tuesday, September 13th before midnight.

Please see BFA Secretary Vicki Grove's Call for Nominations for full details on seat vacancies and nomination packets.

The BFA Elections webpage has more details on dates and elections for all the above items. For any questions, please email: bfa@colorado.edu

Off

Traditional

White

APS 1025 Grading Policy Changes - College & School Faculty Poll

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 18:12:57 +0000

APS 1025 Grading Policy Changes - College & School Faculty Poll Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/12/2022 - 12:12

On February 22, 2022, Ravinder Singh, chair of the CU System Faculty Council Educational Policy and University Standards Committee (EPUS), sent a memo to the deans of schools/colleges on all four CU campuses. The memo asked the deans to conduct a vote of the faculty members of their respective schools and colleges to approve a revision to the current University of Colorado Grading Policy (UGP). The proposed changes are to APS 1025 and involve the changes to section II on Grade Symbols as listed below:

Grade Symbols
The instructor is responsible for whatever grade symbol (A, B, C, D, F, I, IP, P, P+, S, or U) is to be assigned. Special symbols, such as NC, W, and ***, and indications of registration or grade status are not assigned by the instructor but are automatically converted by the grade application system, explained under Special Symbols.

Grade - Credit points per credit hour

A - superior/excellent - 4
B - good/better than average - 3
C - competant/average - 2
D - below average - 1
F - failing - 0
I - incomplete - regarded as F if not completed within a maximum of one year
IP - in progress - thesis or multi-semester course at the graduate level only
*P+/P/F - pass plus/pass/fail - applicable for letter-graded courses where the student elects P+/P/F option. Faculty members assign letter grades which are converted as follows:
- P+=C- or greater
- P=D-, D, D+
- F=F
S/U - satisfactory/unsatisfactory - Applicable for non-letter graded courses only (e.g., experiential, field-based courses). Credit is awarded for S. Neither S nor U is included in gpa. Faculty members assign an S or U as follows:
- S=course requirements are satisfied, or expectations met
- U=course requirements are not satisfied, or expectations not met.

In addition, for consistency and clarity, “pass/fail” has been replaced by “P+/P/F” throughout the
document, and the revision includes minor, necessary edits: change wishes to opt, change a course to
an eligible course, and reorder items under the Procedure section (item 4 is now item 1) (see the link
above for details).

The addition of the "P+" was made during the pandemic and the "S/U" component was approved by the Boulder Faculty Assembly at the February 3, 2022 meeting, along with revisions to the campus grade replacement policy. CU Boulder colleges and schools are in the process of conducting those polls.

Per Regent Law and Policy, the faculty of each campus school and college are to be polled in order to implement the proposed revisions to the University of Colorado Uniform Grading Policy.

Per Regent Policy 5.A.1.B:

(B) 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.

(1) The faculty shall have the principal role in originating academic policy and standards related to: the initiation and direction of all courses, curricula, and degree offerings; admissions criteria, grading and standards for continuation; regulation of student academic conduct; and determination of candidates for honors and degrees.

Additionally, Regent Law Article 4.A.1 states that :

Article 5.A of the Laws of the Regents specifies the shared governance principles of participation. A school or college faculty shall collaborate with the dean in the shared governance of the school or college. Subject to specific Board of Regents requirements, voting membership of a school or college faculty shall be determined by its faculty.

Off

Traditional

White

BFA Executive Committee Endorses CU Faculty Council Statement on Ukraine

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 22:51:30 +0000

BFA Executive Committee Endorses CU Faculty Council Statement on Ukraine Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/31/2022 - 16:51

On March 28, 2022 the BFA Executive Committee endorsed the below statement by the CU Faculty Council regarding the recent invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation:

Dear Colleagues,
The University of Colorado Faculty Council condemns the Russian Federation’s unprovoked and inhumane invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation. At the core of our deep concern and outrage at this act of aggression is our commitment to the values and principles shared by independent nations, such as Ukraine, and the University, which include the ability to engage in open debate, the pursuit of truth and understanding, and a commitment to human dignity, compassion, and self-determination.
Not only are we profoundly concerned about the welfare and safety of the entire Ukraine population, who remain in desperate need of humanitarian aid, but we are also concerned about our academic and scholarly colleagues who are unable to escape. We join our colleagues all over the world, including those in and from Russia, who are speaking out against this criminal invasion, and we endorse all actions taken by the University of Colorado to support members of the CU community who are being impacted by this tragic situation.

Sincerely,

The University of Colorado Faculty Council Executive Committee

CU Faculty Council Ukraine Statement

Off

Traditional

White

BFA Climate Committee Panel at Conference on World Affairs

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 20:41:47 +0000

BFA Climate Committee Panel at Conference on World Affairs Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/29/2022 - 14:41

Members of the BFA Climate, Science, and Education Committee (CSEC) have arranged a panel discussion at the 2022 Conference on World Affairs. The panel titled: Climate Change: A Global Challenge with Local Opportunities will take place on Friday, April 8 from 10:30 to 11:40 a.m. in UMC 235.

The panel focus will be to discuss climate action on a local level and how more of our community can play a role in developing and implementing those solutions. Or as R. Buckminster Fuller said, "Think globally, act locally." Panelists will be discussing how members of the CU campus and the broader Boulder Valley community are taking action to mitigate the consequences of climate change as well as build resilience against climate related disasters.

Panelists include:

Moderator: Alice Madden - Executive Director, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy & the Environment, CU Law

Max Boykoff - Chair - Environmental Sciences Department
Michael Jacobs - CUSG Environmental Board
Susie Strife - Sustainability Director Boulder County
Heidi Vangenderen - CU Chief Sustainability Officer

To watch a recording of this Climate Change panel event, please follow these steps:

1) Watch the 5 minute video of the Dec. 2021 Marshall Fire using this link:
https://vimeo.com/689812467/3c6edaa4e3

2) Watch the Climate panel discussion at this link and note that the audio does not start until after 54seconds have elapsed:
https://livestream.com/loclyzmedia/cwaumc235april8-2022/videos/230464959

3) Fast forward when the Marshall Fire video comes on between 17:00 and 21:50 minutes.

Climate Panel Handout

Off

Traditional

White