In a global knowledge-based economy, Colorado’s higher education system is the most important factor in our economic well-being. Our higher education system is at a crossroads. The election of a Regent-at-large for the University of Colorado is the one opportunity all voters have to give directions.
The Regents will make decisions about how our largest public university manages excruciating budget choices, sets tuition, allocates scholarship dollars and addresses other fundamental education policies.
I know and like Steve Bosley. As a long-serving Regent, he has been devoted to the University. But I support Melissa Hart for Regent-at-large because she has a refreshing new vision for the University of Colorado and for higher education in our state that we sorely need.
Hart would bring many fine attributes to the Board. As a distinguished professor at CU, she has spent a decade teaching and serving the CU community in a wide range of policy and governance assignments. This knowledge and experience is invaluable.
CU President Bruce Benson recently noted to a standing-room crowd on the Boulder campus that there is much about the University that the Regents don’t understand because “they are lay people without experience in higher education.” Hart is a committed educator who has that experience.
In these hard financial times, we need a Regent who understands the important work of teaching and research that goes on every day at the University. Budget cuts and tuition increases should not be decided without considering the educational impact of every choice made by the Regents.
Recently, The Denver Post has published columns and commentaries questioning whether Hart should be elected because of the potential conflict of interest for a faculty member also to be a Regent. Of course, Hart’s position would be completely out in the open and subject to full public scrutiny and accountability.
More pertinent is the long tradition at CU and elsewhere of faculty members (and students) serving as on governing boards, including the Regents, both as Democrats and Republicans. Most recently, CU Professor Bob Sievers served for 12 years from 1990-2002, including a year as Chair. As with Bob Sievers, Colorado shouldn’t deprive itself of Melissa Hart’s real expertise because she’s on the faculty.
According to the Association of Governing Board of Universities and Colleges, 13.1 percent of public higher ed institutions around the country have faculty as voting members of their governing boards; another 9.7 percent include a non-voting faculty member. Clearly, these boards (or their state legislators) have concluded that faculty members add the very useful perspective of someone doing the hard work of educating students, doing cutting-edge research and balancing the competing needs of a university community.
Hart seeks a seat on the Board of Regents because she cares about CU and wants the institution to continue to grow as the flagship of Colorado’s higher education system. I have every confidence that she will serve Colorado faithfully and vote as a Regent with uncompromised focus on keeping CU strong and ensuring that higher education in Colorado is open for all of our students.
David Skaggs, a former Democratic congressman from Colorado’s 2nd District, served from 2007-09 as executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
