UNC Statutory Mission

23-40-101. University established - role and mission 

1.  There is hereby established a university at Greeley, to be known as the university of northern Colorado. The university shall be a comprehensive baccalaureate and specialized graduate research university with selective admission standards. 
2.   The university of northern Colorado shall be the primary institution for undergraduate and graduate degree programs for educational personnel preparation in the state of Colorado. The university shall offer master's and doctoral programs primarily in the field of education. The university has the responsibility to offer on a statewide basis, utilizing where possible and appropriate the faculty and facilities of other educational institutions, those graduate-level programs needed by professional educators and education administrators. The Colorado commission on higher education shall include in its funding recommendations an appropriate level of general fund support for those programs. 
3.  As part of its mission as a graduate research university specializing in programs for educational personnel, the university of northern Colorado shall include the education innovation institute created in section 23-40-106 for the purposes described in section 23-40-106 (2). 

23-40-106. Education innovation institute established - purposes - appropriations - report 

1. There is hereby established within the university of northern Colorado the education innovation institute, referred to in this section as the "institute". The university shall administer the institute. 
2. The purposes of the institute shall include, but not be limited to: 
   1. Collaborating with institutions to leverage research, funding, expertise, and other resources; 
   2.  Discovering and studying innovations in teaching and learning; 
   3. Creating, piloting, and advocating for innovations in educational delivery methods; 
   4. Producing data and analyses concerning issues including, but not limited to, the following: 
      1. Existing or nascent problems in education; 
      2.  Models of innovative educational solutions; and 
      3. Financing and governance models for educational settings; 
   5. Providing public policy makers with data and analyses concerning: 
      1. Educational program effectiveness; and 
      2. Innovative options for public and private educational settings; 
   6. Identifying innovative uses of existing school facilities in the state for the purpose of collaboration between elementary, secondary, and higher education institutions; and 
   7. Identifying key issues and setting research priorities in consultation with education experts, business and community leaders, and public officials. 
3. The general assembly may appropriate moneys to the board of trustees of the university of northern Colorado for the administration of the institute. 
   1. The board of trustees of the university may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from public and private sources to fund the institute. 
4. Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), on or before January 10, 2011, and on or before January 10 each year thereafter, the institute shall prepare and submit a report to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, concerning the activities of the institute in the previous calendar year. The report shall include, at a minimum, information concerning the efforts of the institute to fulfill its purposes as described in subsection (2) of this section.