Climate change

BFA February 1, 2024 General Assembly Meeting

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 18:02:42 +0000

BFA February 1, 2024 General Assembly Meeting Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/02/2024 - 11:02

The BFA held it's first Assembly meeting for spring semester on Thursday, February 1, 2024. BFA Chair Shelly Miller began the meeting by reading the CU Boulder Land Acknowledgment statement and recommending members connect with the Center for Native American & Indigenous Studies.

The first item on the agenda came from CUSG Tri-Exec Chase Cromwell regarding a recent piece in the Boulder Daily Camera and student efforts to get the CU Board of Regents to change the system policy allowing for concealed weapons on campus. The Board of Regents February meeting will be held in Boulder at SEEC. Cromwell also shared a link to data from National Higher Education Concealed Carry Status showing how CU ranks compared to peer institutions across the country on this issue. A recent story in the Denver Post gives a rundown of pending legislation at the state level that will likely impact what changes CU might make. Miller and Cromwell recommended faculty share this information with constituents and encourage them to reach out to their congressional leaders as well as to colleagues at other Colorado institutions.

Members discussed and approved BFA-R-1-112823 Credit for Prior Learning resolution that was introduced in December by the BFA Academic Affairs Committee chair - Garrett Bredeson, Sr. Vice Provost for Academic Planning & Assessment - Katherine Eggert, and Asst. Vice Provost & University Registrar - Kristi Wold-McCormick. Discussion included upcoming plans from the Registrar and Bursars offices regarding business processes for course challenges, as well as the distinct processes and needs individual departments/units will have for course challenge requests.

BFA Chair Shelly Miller gave members an update on the CU Boulder Chancellor Search committee on which she serves. Committee members are reviewing a large number of applicants and begin meetings on those this week. Additionally, Miller noted that the campus Climate Action Plan was scheduled to rollout and be open for public comment. She encouraged representatives to alert their constituents and asked faculty to review the plan and comment between February 5 to March 5.

CU President Todd Saliman joined Assembly members and spoke with them regarding several areas that the BFA Executive Committee asked about. The questions included:

How are you raising awareness of the value of a 4-year degree and breaking down barriers to higher education?
How are you and your office working with state legislators and Governor Polis to increase CU funding and work towards the elimination of TABOR?
Where will we find resources for climate action on our campus and how is system supporting the goal to drastically reduce our carbon footprint?

Regarding the first question, Saliman noted that state institutions are working together on a marketing campaign about preparing for college and attending in-state colleges and universities. The campaign is called "It's closer than you think" and is aimed at encouraging Colorado high school students to look in-state and to help families realize the cost is often more affordable than out of state. Additionally related to the second question, Saliman noted that due to a lack of funding and financial aid funding CU was working with state leaders to access surplus funding in TABOR for possible AP/IB credit funding for in state students to help with this. He also noted that the Governor's budget fell short this year, and higher ed presidents are advocating for increased funding. He also suggested members review a recent Funding in Higher Education report showing how state support had declined by 27%. Regarding climate action resources, Saliman noted that resources for these measures will come from each campus, such as the campus Climate Action Plan and follow through from groups like the Campus Sustainability Executive Council. Additionally, he will be creating a system group that will draw on what Boulder is doing and try to see what we can learn from each other and elevate the issue system-wide.

The final two items on the Assembly agenda included the annual report by the Faculty Athletics Representative, Joe Jupille. Jupille went over this NCAA-mandated position and the duties. He will be stepping down next year and encouraged representatives to consider running. The role has several key "buckets" he works in: Academic integrity and success; institutional control/compliance (with NCAA, Conference, and CU rules); student athlete well-being and campus-athletics relations. The position description is being updated now and Jupille expects a call for applications on campus to begin during 2024 so that the incoming faculty can shadow him during spring 2025. Please contact him directly for any questions: joseph.jupille@colorado.edu. BFA Intercollegiate Athletics (IAC) committee chair Don Oest also announced the third event in the committee's campus athletics series featuring Kris Livingston and a conversation on student athlete success and wellness on Feb. 14 from 3-4pm at the Center for Teaching & Learning in CASE.

And lastly BFA Secretary Vicki Grove announced that nominations are open for nine BFA At-Large Representative seat vacancies. Please see the BFA elections page for more information. All eligible faculty received an e-memo on February 1 regarding the seats and how to self-nominate.

Additionally, Assembly members may wish to review the CUBT story on the meeting. Meeting minutes will be sent to Assembly members by February 29, 2024. Contact the BFA office for any questions: bfa@colorado.edu

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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

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BFA discussion re: Resolution for TIAA Divestment

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:20:45 +0000

BFA discussion re: Resolution for TIAA Divestment Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/08/2022 - 17:20

In February, members of the BFA Budget & Planning Committee (BPC) along with members from the BFA Climate, Science, and Education Committee (CSEC) agreed to create a joint subcommittee to create a resolution calling on CU's retirement fund company TIAA to divest from it's holdings in oil and gas. The group drafted a resolution, BFA-R-2-030122 Resolution for TIAA Divestment & Climate Reinvestment which was introduced at the BFA March 3, 2022 meeting as a notice of motion. The resolution expands on previous BFA resolutions and acknowledges Chancellor Philip DiStefano's 2021 "Call to Climate Action." It also calls on TIAA as the sole administrator of retirement funds available to CU Boulder faculty to make a number of changes to the one Social Choice fund it offers, including developing a more robust selection of funds without holdings in the fossil fuels industry or deforestation-risk companies, and to reinvest in companies that invest in a climate-responsible and socially just transition.

After discussion on the resolution, BFA Chair Tiffany Beechy announced that the BFA would host a seperate session on Thursday, March 17 from 4-5pm via Zoom for further discussion on the resolution. This session will have a faculty focus, but is open to CU Boulder students, staff, and faculty. BFA Representatives and their constituents have until March 31 to send questions, comments, and proposed edits for consideration. Emails and other questions on the listening session should be sent to: bfa@colorado.edu.

BFA discussion regarding resolution for TIAA Divestment & Climate Justice Reinvestment - March 17, 2022 4-5 p.m.

Zoom Meeting information:

Topic: BFA Assembly - Special Meeting re: TIAA resolution**
https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/96302951791
Meeting ID: 963 0295 1791

Related BFA Resolutions

**Please note in order to join the meeting you MUST be logged into your CU Boulder Zoom account

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BFA Support for Youth Climate Action

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 23:01:59 +0000

BFA Support for Youth Climate Action Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/09/2019 - 17:01

The BFA unanamously passed resolution BFA-R-1-090519 during the October 3^rd, 2019 General Assembly meeting. The resolution references the December 2016 resoluton BFA-R-120116, which expressed that there are overwhelming changes in the global climate due to human activities. The resolution states the BFA support for non-violent youth activism in the interest of preventing and limiting the negative effects of climate change. This resolution was brought to the BFA by: Max Boykoff, Kris Karnauskas, Jim Meiss, Shelly Miller, & Steve Nerem on behalf of the CU Boulder Faculty Climate Science and Education Committee. This resolution is under consideration for approval by CUSG, and has already been approved by the following CU groups:

Climate Reality Campus Corps of CU Boulder
CU Chapter for Citizens’ Climate Lobby
United Government of Graduate �鶹��Ժ
Boulder Campus Staff Council

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