Aim of Faculty Council retreat: big ideas from informal gathering

October meeting being planned for Denver

By Jay Dedrick

The University of Colorado Faculty Council is planning an informal October retreat in Denver, where Chair Mark Malone hopes brainstorming among council members will benefit from a social get-together.

"There's some flexibility to bring up issues that weren't planned at our regular meetings, but generally it's a fairly tight agenda," Malone said at the council's Sept. 23 meeting at 180 Grant St. in Denver. "A retreat provides a good opportunity for people to informally discuss the things we want to do. The idea of a tuition waiver came out of a previous retreat."

A possible topic of discussion was suggested by Regent Steve Bosley, whom Malone said will speak at a future Faculty Council meeting after the November election.

"What has come up at our budget committee and among the Board of Regents is the topic of low awareness by the public on what the university contributes to Colorado," Malone said. "How do we get the word out? We're not sure the state values how much we really contribute. It's important to remind people of that in a bad budget climate."

Also at the Sept. 23 meeting:

• E. Jill Pollock, senior associate vice president and chief human resources officer, discussed plans for focus groups on campuses to help determine names for the university's self-funded health plans.
• Kathleen Bollard, associate vice president for academic affairs, encouraged faculty members to view a newly revised online class that offers training in how the tenure process works. The course is available through the university's SkillSoft Learning Center. For details, see the Employee Learning and Development website.