A Message from Chancellor Elliman and President Kennedy, 4-2-20

First, thank you for your commitment, patience and hard work during this unprecedented and challenging time. We appreciate all you do, particularly the women and men on the front lines of the health care and research responses.

At the CU Board of Regents meeting today, university leadership postponed scheduled votes on CU’s fiscal year 2020-21 budget and its primary general fund components – tuition, fees and compensation. Delaying the vote until one of the next scheduled meetings (May and June) will provide us with a clearer picture of trends and possible future impacts on clinical revenue, grants and contracts, federal stimulus/relief funds, the state and, to a lesser extent, enrollment. As you may know, the state has delayed its budgeting process. By waiting, we will also have a better sense of the impact on our partner hospitals, whose activities affect ours.

There had previously been a proposed compensation and merit increase pool, but circumstances have changed and earlier proposals are no longer feasible. It will not be possible to have a compensation and merit pool for July, so we will defer that decision until we have a clearer understanding of revenue, likely by November.  

We recognize that the delay on tuition, fees and compensation decisions will lead to some challenges, but it is prudent for us to have as complete an understanding of our revenue picture as possible to inform the budget decisions. 

While it has minimal impact on our campus, we also shared with the regents that existing pass/fail policies have been adjusted to provide students and faculty maximum flexibility, given the sudden shift to remote teaching and learning, as well as to meet the requirements of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. You will hear more detail about adjustments from the Provost’s Office.

We appreciate the leadership and support of the Board of Regents during these uncertain times. And we are truly grateful for our students, faculty, staff and hospital partners. You exemplify the best of the University of Colorado’s value and contributions.

Sincerely,

Mark R. Kennedy
President, University of Colorado

Don Elliman
Chancellor, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus