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The University of Colorado Board of Regents reviewed the system’s financial position, approved a new professional master’s degree in marketing analytics, and named this year’s distinguished faculty in their regular meeting Thursday. 

Newest professional master’s degree 

Regents approved a professional master’s degree in marketing analytics offered by the Leeds School of Business. 

The new degree is an outgrowth of the popular and successful Leeds professional master’s in business analytics, which has been graduating students since 2015 and has quadrupled its graduates since that time. 

Data analytics is now an essential skill for successful job seekers and job holders in marketing, and this degree will be of use to both recent Leeds bachelor’s degree graduates who want to give themselves a leg up in entering the job market and current job holders who wish to tune their skills. Offered on an intensive, 10-month calendar, courses will stress team projects in order to create real-world scenarios in-person and online. 

Chancellor campus updates

The board heard from CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz on the campus receiving commendation from the Anti Defamation League this fall for efforts to address campus antisemitism.

The organization remarked favorably on the decision to expand protected class definitions to explicitly include antisemitism, Islamophobia and caste, as well as the regents’ resolution condemning anti-Israel protests at the homes of two regents and other steps CU Boulder has taken.

Schwartz said antisemitism and anti-Muslim actions remain pervasive in campuses and communities across the nation. Last week, CU Boulder experienced antisemitic graffiti on several campus buildings. The case remains under investigation.

Schwartz also updated the regents on the Oct. 24 dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway in Boulder. The event was sponsored by the Boulder County NAACP. Schwartz and Professor Reiland Rabaka spoke at the event, which was  emceed by Regent Wanda James. This section of highway extends 5 miles along U.S. 36 through the heart of Boulder and adjacent to the CU Boulder campus. (Rabaka just released the book “The Funk Movement: Music, Culture and Politics.” It was so popular with preorders the publisher decided to release the book early, Schwartz later reported.)

Financial big picture

University of Colorado System Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Chad Marturano reported on the university’s financial position, also called the unrestricted net position, in accordance with policies implemented in 2014 as part of systemwide (APS). 

The report highlighted changes in fund balances at each campus, including CU Boulder. Marturano reported that, overall, CU Boulder’s fund balances are healthy.

The planned use of a portion of these one-time, reserved funds includes:

• Continued investments in diversity efforts at both the campus and unit levels
• Addressing information technology security and infrastructure
• Renovations approved for Hellems, Old Main, Ekeley and Farrand Hall
• Increased focus on addressing deferred maintenance and ongoing needs in academic technology, classrooms and infrastructure
• Full restoration of Emergency Tuition Stabilization, a system requirement implemented in 

Freedom of expression

Regent Mark VanDriel pulled from the agenda recommended changes to Regent Policy 1.D: Freedom of Expression. This item proposed amending the policy to apply to digital spaces controlled by the campuses.

Distinguished professors 

Regents named nine distinguished professors, CU’s highest honor for faculty across the system’s four campuses. At CU Boulder, they include: 

• Robert “Bob” Erickson, professor, Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, CTO, BREK Electronics, is a pioneering figure in power electronics, whose innovative research has transformed the field and set new standards for efficiency and performance in electric vehicles.
• Hanspeter “H.P.” Schaub, professor and department chair, Schaden Leadership Chair, the Glenn Murphy Endowed Chair, Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences, is a visionary leader in the field of astrodynamics and spacecraft control, whose innovative research has advanced both the theoretical and practical understanding of spacecraft operations.
• Lee Niswander, professor and chair, Molecular and Developmental Biology, is a renowned leader in developmental biology, whose groundbreaking work has transformed our understanding of limb and neural development. Her pioneering research on the molecular mechanisms that drive limb formation reshaped the field and is now a foundational element in modern developmental biology.
• Pieter Johnson, Professor of Distinction, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, is a world leader in disease ecology, whose pioneering research has fundamentally transformed how we understand the impact of diseases on ecosystems.

New college department  

The board voted to approve departmental status to the Program in Environmental Design (ENVD) so that it becomes the Department of Environmental Design. They also were informed of name changes effective July 1, 2025, for the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI) and the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design.
 

Other business

The board also approved policy changes governing temporary appointment to the president along with searches for administrators and guidelines for the appointment of chief officers of the university. 

The next regular board meeting will be held Feb. 6, 2025, at CU Boulder.