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CU Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano, Chief Financial Officer Todd Haggerty, three faculty members and several students took an active role in shaping Colorado higher education policy this year, testifying in front of state legislature committees in support of three bills.

Providing additional financial aid

DiStefano, Haggerty and two students—Chase Cromwell, CU Student Government’s (CUSG) director of legislative affairs, and Camden Sharkey, a first-year student and CUSG attorney general intern—spoke to the Senate Education Committee about Senate Bill 96 on Feb. 14, 2023.

Chancellor Philip DiStefano testifies during the Colorado State Senate Education Committee meeting for Senate Bill 96 at the state capitol. Photo by Casey A. Cass/University of Colorado.

Camden Sharkey, CUSG attorney general intern, prepares to testify during the Colorado State Senate Education Committee meeting for Senate Bill 96 at the state capitol. Photo by Alex McTaggert/University of Colorado.

Chase Cromwell, CUSG legislative director, testifies during the Colorado State Senate Education Committee meeting for Senate Bill 96 at the state capitol. Photo by Casey A. Cass/University of Colorado.

Senate Bill 96 would provide a mechanism to help CU Boulder better fund institutionally funded merit scholarships (Esteemed Scholars) and need-based scholarships (CU Promise Scholars) for Colorado residents.

DiStefano told the committee CU Boulder is leading this legislation because it will allow the university to continue to attract and retain outstanding Colorado students by maintaining existing funds and allowing for future increases of institutionally funded merit scholarships and need-based grants. 

“Boosting scholarship support for resident students, both merit- and need-based, is of critical importance to the university, to our students’ futures, and to the economic success of Colorado,” said Chancellor DiStefano. “This bill would allow us to do that at no additional cost to the state.”

Driven by and attractive scholarship offers from out-of-state universities, the chancellor said, the competition for top, college-bound Colorado students is becoming more significant each year.

CUSG is also formally supporting the bill.

“By allowing universities to creatively expand their tuition revenues and shore up financial resources for in-state students, we can expand to CU Promise grant, Colorado Scholars and other vital programs...from ‘Never going to happen’ to ‘We can make this work,’” said Cromwell on behalf of CUSG. “That conversation makes all the difference.”

Originally from Colorado Springs, Camden Sharkey said he and his mother used to sit at the kitchen table wondering how they could afford higher education.

“My mom would look at me, and say, ‘Camden, I don’t know how we are going to do this,’” said Sharkey, who is double majoring in dance and political science. He is also a Chip handler with Athletics in addition to his role with CUSG.

However, the situation changed once they received their financial aid package.

“It took what was once a rather large tuition number and made my decision very clear,” Sharkey said. “I am at CU Boulder because of the CU Promise grant.”

CU Boulder currently has 4,200 Esteemed Scholars, awarding $15.5 million per year to these students.

CU Promise currently supports about 1,700 Pell-eligible students. 

“We are laser-focused on providing need-based aid to our Pell Grant eligible Colorado students by substantially expanding CU Promise,” the chancellor said.

Senate Bill 96 also offers in-state tuition to Peace Corps volunteers, who frequently lose their residency status due to the length of Peace Corps service.

The bill unanimously passed the committee with bipartisan support.

Instructor-track faculty support

CU Boulder faculty members Elizabeth Anderman, Daria Kotys-Schwartz and Michael Lightner testified before the Colorado Senate Education Committee on Jan. 30 in support of a bill extending the available length of contracts for instructor-track specialized faculty and librarian appointments.

Currently, Colorado law allows institutions to offer instructor-track faculty a maximum contract length of three years. Senate Bill 48 changes the maximum length to five years. It also passed through the committee unanimously and with bipartisan support.

Elizabeth Anderman, a senior instructor and associate director of the Philosophy Arts and Culture Residential Academic Program (RAP), testified that longer contracts could increase stability for instructor-track faculty and produce better outcomes for student success.

“Having a long-term contract means that I can focus on those first-years and help (students) stay at the university,” she told the committee.

Anderman said a longer period of time between contract renewals would give faculty more time to make meaningful connections with students.

Daria Kotys-Schwartz—who is a teaching professor in mechanical engineering, co-director of Design Center Colorado and founding director of the Idea Forge—said she started her career in 2007 with a five-year contract.

“I was able to strategically plan over five years to improve our hands-on and experiential undergraduate education for mechanical engineers,” she said.

Those changes, along with the work being done by her colleagues, helped move their program into the top 15 in national rankings, said Kotys-Schwartz.

Michael Lightner, professor of electrical, computer and energy engineering and CU System Vice President of Academic Affairs, also spoke in support of the bill. He said instructional faculty members make up an important part of the campus ecosystem and that the bill would provide important stability.

Sens. Mark Baisley and Jeff Bridges, sponsors of the bill, said it would also help universities attract talent. Colleges and universities, including CU Boulder, told the senators instructor-track faculty were receiving five-year contract offers in other states, putting Colorado institutions at a disadvantage in recruiting faculty.

“CU Boulder supports this bill because it aligns with our other recent efforts to improve the experience of both instructors and students on this campus,” said Katherine Eggert, senior vice provost for academic planning and assessment. “The employment stability it will help to foster empowers our teaching faculty to focus on their pedagogy and their students.”

Senate Bill 48 follows other professional enhancements CU Boulder has recently put into place for instructor-track faculty, including raises that occurred in spring 2022 (3%), and spring 2023 (3%).

In addition, Provost Russell Moore is working with CU Boulder’s deans to undertake a discussion on a unified approach to instructor-track promotion pay increases.

Increasing stipends for student educators

CU Boulder sophomore Lauren Levey testified Jan. 26 in front of the Colorado House Education Committee. She testified about personal financial challenges on her path to pursuing the teaching profession in Colorado.

A 2022 bill established a stipend program for student educators like Levey, and House Bill 23-1001 would expand those stipends. In fall 2022, 42 CU Boulder students received stipends for tuition and living expenses while working in schools across the state.

“We are proud of Lauren and students who are speaking up about the financial challenges they encounter in becoming teachers and advocating for change,” said Katherine Schultz, dean of the School of Education at CU Boulder.

The bill passed the committee unanimously with bipartisan support.