Filling in for President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., Provost Alfred W. Tatum, Ph.D., began the Nov. 17 meeting of the President’s Cabinet by welcoming Chief Strategy Officer James Mejia and announcing the appointment of Jim Carpenter as interim CFO. Carpenter will join Metropolitan State University of Denver on Jan. 1, following the departure of George Middlemist, associate vice president of Administration and Finance and chief financial officer.
Welcome the ombuds team
The University’s newly established virtual ombuds team remotely joined the meeting to introduce its members and the team’s services to the employee community. LaCrisia Gilbert and Roy Baroff of MWI will work with faculty and staff members to “surface and resolve University-related issues.” The team is an independent, impartial, confidential and informal resource for MSU Denver that supplements (but does not replace) MSU Denver’s formal administrative channels. Gilbert and Baroff will visit the campus to meet with leadership groups and learn more about the University community.
Learn more in this recent message from Edward Brown, chief of staff.
Faculty Senate DACA Resolution
Elizabeth Goodnick, Ph.D., president of the Faculty Senate, shared a Faculty Senate resolution supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Dreamer programs, which are under threat of dissolution. The resolution cites MSU Denver’s commitment to breaking down barriers to education as well as its dedication to diversity, equity and inclusive excellence. It also notes that MSU Denver was the first university in Colorado, and among the first in the nation, to provide in-state tuition for undocumented students prior to the creation of DACA and that the University continues to serve as a national leader in providing Dreamer students with academic pathways.
The resolution states that the “MSU Denver Faculty Senate stands in solidarity with the MSU Denver Board of Trustees and President Davidson in their ongoing advocacy for DACA and Dreamers at the state and national levels.”
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion will host a DACA Teach-in event Nov. 29 from 9 a.m. to noon in the Center for Advanced Visualization and Experiential Analysis in the Jordan Student Success Building for any Roadrunners who wish to learn more about the history of DACA, policy, economic implications and more and be a part of advocacy efforts to protect the program.
Other updates:
- Stay tuned for announcements regarding dean searches for the College of Health and Human Sciences and the College of Aerospace, Computing, Engineering and Design.
- Congratulations to the November Roadrunner Shoutout Awards winners.
- Visit msudenver.edu/emergency to review severe-weather protocols and to update RAVE Alert information.
- Preliminary results from a recent survey of campus communication showed that students want to engage but don’t always know how; students and employees expressed that it’s difficult to discern signal from noise. Focus groups are ongoing, and a final analysis is pending.
- Barbara Grogan, Kevin Kelly and Brian O’Neil will join the Foundation Board.
- University Advancement has raised $6.2 million in gifts this fiscal year, and the capital campaign has raised $28.4 million with $26 million in additional gifts in the pipeline.
- The Student Advocacy Council has passed a resolution recognizing student housing insecurity and calling for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a campus holiday, superseding Columbus Day.
- The final Faculty Senate meeting of the semester is Dec. 7.
- Stay tuned for updates on searches for the associate vice president for Faculty Affairs and director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs.
- Network improvements will take place Dec. 16 and Dec. 19 within the JSSB. The building will be closed, and Wi-Fi and wired internet will not be available. Employees will be encouraged to work remotely on those days.
- New-student applications for spring are up 27% and admitted students are up 22% from the same point in time last year. Enrollment remains 7.2% down, and multiple registration efforts are underway.
- See what’s new with Roadrunners Athletics at roadrunnersathletics.com and watch games online at www.roadrunnersall-access.com.
- Please nominate colleagues for the Soar Award, Team Roadrunner Award and Golich Awards through Dec. 2.
- Review the latest Workday update.
- LEAD leadership-program nominations are now open.
Upcoming events:
- The Roadrunner Food Pantry is relocating and rebranding as “Rowdy’s Corner” with a reopening event Nov. 29 in the space that previously hosted the “I love it” Market in the Tivoli.
- Roadrunner Tuesday is also Nov. 29, and all gifts will be focused on Rowdy’s Corner.
- Faculty/Staff Holiday Fest is Dec. 7. Supervisors are encouraged to close offices, if possible, and urge all employees to enjoy some holiday cheer and celebrate the end of the semester.
- Commencement will be Dec. 16 at the Denver Coliseum. There are also numerous specialty graduation celebrations.
- The MLK Peace Breakfast keynote speaker will be Carlotta Walls LaNier, a member of the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. LaNier lives in Englewood and is a member of the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame as well as the recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian award. That event will be Jan. 13, and tickets are available for purchase.