The University of Colorado Board of Regents reviewed the system’s finances, approved a new professional master’s degree in marketing analytics and named the year’s outstanding faculty at its regular meeting Thursday.

Newest professional master’s degree

The Regents approved a Professional Master’s Degree in Marketing Analytics offered by Leeds School of Business.

The new degree is an outgrowth of the popular and successful Leeds Professional Masters in Business Analytics, which has been graduating students since 2015 and has quadrupled its graduates since then.

Data analytics is now an essential skill for successful marketing job seekers and job holders, and this degree will benefit both recent Leeds Bachelor graduates who want to give themselves a leg up on entering the workforce and current job holders who want to fine-tune their skills. Courses are offered on an intensive 10-month calendar and will emphasize team projects to create real-world scenarios in person and online.

Chancellor campus updates

The board heard from CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz on campus who received praise from Anti Defamation League this fall for efforts to address campus anti-Semitism.

The organization spoke favorably of the decision to expand protected class definitions to explicitly include anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and casteism, as well as the regents’ resolution condemning anti-Israel protests at the homes of two regents and other steps taken by CU Boulder.

Schwartz said anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim acts remain widespread on campuses and communities across the country. Last week, CU Boulder experienced anti-Semitic graffiti on several campus buildings. The case is still under investigation.

Schwartz also updated the regents at the Oct. 24 inauguration 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 chaired by Regent Wanda James. This section of highway stretches 5 miles along US 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 among pre-orders that the publisher decided to release the book early, Schwartz later reported.)

Financial totality

University of Colorado System Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Chad Marturano reported on the university’s financial position, also known as the unrestricted net position, in accordance with policies implemented in 2014 as part of system-wide Administrative Policy Statements (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 some of these one-time reserved funds includes:

• Continued investments in diversity work at both campus and unit level
• Address 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 recovery of emergency teaching stabilization, a system requirement implemented in the APS 4058

Freedom of speech

Regent Mark VanDriel withdrew from the agenda recommended changes to Regent Policy 1.D: Freedom of Expression. This item proposed a policy change to apply to campus-controlled digital spaces.

Distinguished professors

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

• Robert “Bob” Ericksonprofessor, Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, CTO, BREK Electronics, is a pioneer in power electronics, whose innovative research has changed the field and set new standards for efficiency and performance in electric vehicles.
• Hanspeter “HP” SchaubProfessor and Department Chair, Schaden Leadership Chair, Glenn Murphy Endowed Chair, Ann and HJ 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 Niswanderprofessor and chairman, Molecular and Developmental Biology, is a renowned leader in developmental biology, whose pioneering work has transformed our understanding of limb and neural development. Her pioneering research into the molecular mechanisms that drive limb formation reshaped the field and is now a fundamental element of modern developmental biology.
• Peter Johnsonprofessor with honors, ecology and evolutionary biology, is a world leader in disease ecology, whose ground-breaking research has fundamentally changed the way we understand the impact of disease on ecosystems.

Read more about all CU Distinguished Professors on CU Connections.

New college department

The board voted to approve departmental status for the Program in Environmental Design (ENVD) to become the Department of Environmental Design. They were also 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 businesses

The board also approved policy changes governing interim appointments to the president along with administrator searches and guidelines for the appointment of university executives. Read more.

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