Who – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), the UCCS chapter of United Campus Workers (UCW) - Colorado, and interested faculty, staff, and students at UCCS are working together to ensure more transparent accounting practices.

What – We aim to raise $5,500 to cover the costs of hiring a forensic accountant to analyze UCCS’s budgets for the past 10 years. Ideally, this work will help us understand why we are facing significant budget cuts and provide us data to understand how the budget is allocated, so that we might provide better input through shared governance regarding budget priorities. We do this with the goal of shifting the institution away from cutting budgets that impact the educational mission of the institution and move us toward substantive co-governance around accounting and decision-making, as delineated in the mission of the CU System and our university.

Why – UCCS is facing a $3.3 million budget deficit with looming cuts to instructional support that will severely impact students and faculty. At the same time, we are in a period of leadership transition AND in the process of developing a new budget allocation model that will determine, in future years, how funding will flow down to the colleges and student support units. Faculty, staff, and students have not been adequately included in a timely manner during the process of this decision making, yet we are the ones who are impacted the most by these decisions. The data we seek will provide a foundation for conversations around prioritizing funding allocations and identifying the appropriate metrics for budget allocation decisions. This, in turn, will create conditions allowing faculty and staff to better participate in shared governance, support our colleagues and new administrators, and ensure quality educational experiences for students.

When – Now through Fall 2023. We hope to have the analysis done by fall when we will share our results with faculty, staff, students, administrators, and others who are interested.

Where – With the data in hand, we hope to have public forums, meetings, and discussions with faculty, staff, students, and administrators at UCCS this fall. These events will align with the implementation of the new budget model’s ‘shadow year’ and act as additional spaces for shared governance and open deliberation about our university’s budget and future.