The Board of Governors of the CSU System voted to appoint Rick Miranda, chief academic officer for the CSU System, as interim president of the CSU flagship campus in Fort Collins while the Board undertakes a national search for the 16th president of CSU. Miranda will step into the interim role July 1, following the departure of current President Joyce McConnell on June 30.
“On behalf of the entire Board, we want to thank Joyce for her efforts and wish her well in her future endeavors,” Chancellor Tony Frank said at the beginning of the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting, which took place June 9-10.
President McConnell sent an email to the university community following the announcement thanking them for their support and unrelenting spirit, adding, “This is a truly great, world-class institution with significant statewide and global impact. I thank each of you for making this one of the top universities in the world.”
Miranda steps into the role of interim president after serving in multiple leadership positions since joining CSU in 1982, including 12 years as provost and executive vice president. He also served CSU as chair of the Department of Mathematics, and dean of the College of Natural Sciences. He said he will not apply for the permanent position of president.
“I just want to say thank you to the Board and to the chancellor’s office for their confidence in me,” Miranda told the Board following the vote. “I promise I’ll do my best in this coming period to keep moving Colorado State forward. It’s a great institution, and I hope that when I turn the reins over to the next person it will be an even greater institution.”
Chancellor Frank said the Board would begin immediately to initiate a “national search that will include — as in past searches — broad faculty, staff and community participation.”
Budget approved for 2022-23
The Board gave final approval to the CSU budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The budget strikes a balance among factors such as pay increases for faculty, staff, and graduate student stipends, investing in the quality and value of the institution, and limiting increases to tuition.
The Fort Collins campus budget includes a faculty and administrative professional salary merit pool increase of 3% for determination of distribution by each unit, a 3% pay increase for graduate teaching and research assistant stipends, as well as a 3% pay increase for state classified staff ratified by the Colorado legislature earlier this spring.
In addition, the budget allows for the start of long-awaited renovations to the Clark Building, CSU’s most heavily used classroom building.
The budget also includes a 2% resident undergraduate tuition increase to assist the campuses in keeping up with inflation and closing revenue gaps from the pandemic. This means an annual increase of $194 for a full-time CSU Fort Collins student. With this increase, resident undergraduate tuition rates have gone up a total 8.2% in the last five fiscal years, which included two years with no increase at all. Graduate students in Fort Collins will not see a tuition increase this year.
“Thanks to the support of the Legislature and Governor, the CSU System is in stable shape heading into the new fiscal year, which is great news so soon after the pandemic shutdown,” Chancellor Tony Frank said. “We have been able to provide modest increases for our employees and have kept tuition increases well below the rate of inflation – and below the average of prior years.”
Other items related to CSU Fort Collins
Student Report – CSU Student Representative Rob Long shared the four pillars on which the incoming leadership of student government plan to focus: financial responsibility, mental wellness, community, and transparency.
Faculty Report – Faculty representative Andrew Norton shared the monthly and annual reports from Faculty Council, including clarifications to transfer credits, updates, and clarifications to the AUCC core curriculum.
CSU Spur – The Board heard an update on the grand opening events for the Terra Building at the National Western Center in Denver, which features the work of numerous CSU colleges and units. Opening events for Terra – the second of three buildings to open at CSU Spur — included a ribbon-cutting and open house attended by about 450 people on June 8, followed by a kids day and a community, family, and friends afternoon.
Information about all meetings of the CSU Board of Governors is on the CSU System website. Final meeting materials are typically posted within a week of each meeting.
Cara Neth contributed to this report.
