Increased funding for higher education and strategic planning efforts topped the agenda for the University of Northern Colorado’s (UNC) final Board of Trustees meeting for the year on Dec. 14. 

UNC President Andy Feinstein opened the meeting with news of the governor’s proposed $12 million increase in support for higher education across the state for fiscal year 2026. The figure is a substantial decrease from last fiscal year’s $132 million increase, a reduction from the initial $162 million unified request with other Colorado higher education institutions.  

As in previous years, Feinstein has been convening and meeting with other Colorado institutions of higher education to work on a collective funding request from the state. This year’s request to the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) includes an increase of $80.2 million in state funding.  

 "Even this level of support is simply maintenance,” said Feinstein. “It does not allow for any increased investments in our strategic priorities, and it is likely that we will still be facing overall reductions." 

Feinstein said he would continue to work with other institutions on the collective funding strategy, including testifying before the JBC in January. 

Preliminary Fiscal Year 2024 Reports and 2025 Forecast 

The university shared with the board their unaudited preliminary fiscal 2024 (FY24) financial reports, which show a $4.3 million deficit. Contributing factors to the shortfall were lower than expected fall enrollment, increased usage of institutional aid for undergraduate tuition discounting and higher than expected personnel expenditures due to a decline in turnover rates and state mandated pay increases for classified staff. A 12% increase in medical benefit premiums was also a contributing factor as for the second year in a row, the university has absorbed the employee share of premium increases.  

Dale Pratt, vice president for Finance and Administration, said that although it’s still early, the first quarter fiscal year 2025 (FY25) forecast shows similar budget challenges. Pratt is projecting a $2.8 million shortfall in budgeted revenue and a $500,000 overage in expenses for the current fiscal year. 

“Despite early signals of budget pressures for FY25, we’re confident we’ll be able to improve the outcome for the year with careful resource management, along with anticipated balance sheet adjustments, to achieve a positive change in operating cash,” said Pratt. “We’ll sharpen the pencil in a new forecast after the spring semester opens and manage resources accordingly. Overall, we see our position as stable and current challenges as typical fiscal management exercises.” 

Strategic Planning 

Feinstein also provided the board with an overview of the strategic priorities he shared during his October State of the University address.One top priority is fulfilling the university's commitment as a newly designated Hispanic Serving Institution.

Feinstein said that although UNC's enrollment of Hispanic and Latine-identifying students surpasses the 25% federal threshold required for the designation, the university is still below the threshold for students who receive federal need-based aid, meaning UNC will likely need to rely on the waiver process to maintain the designation. 

“The waiver process provides us the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the success of our Hispanic and Latine students through the many programs and services we have in place to support their success,” said Feinstein. 

In addition to the ongoing culturally reflective programming, like the annual campus-wide celebrations during Latinx Heritage Month, Feinstein noted other work over the past year that support the university’s efforts. This includes sending a delegation of students, faculty and staff to the annual Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities conference and appointing a new leadership team for HSI initiatives. Rudy Vargas, director of the César Chávez Cultural Center and Undocumented Student Services, is serving as director of HSI initiatives and professors Javier Vinasco Guzman and Whitney Duncan are serving as associate directors. A steering committee, co-chaired by Vargas and Executive Vice President and Provost Kirsten Fleming and made up of representatives from across the university, has also been formed and is charged with guiding HSI initiatives moving forward. 

“I recognize that there is uncertainty and concern for those in our university community who are undocumented or have DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals], or who are from mixed status families, but I want to affirm that UNC remains a place of belonging,” said Feinstein.   

The board also heard discussion regarding compensation and functional expense trends of faculty and staff from Faculty Senate chair Britney Kyle. Her presentation outlined a key concern that the percentage of the university’s budget allocated to instructional costs has been declining and that UNC’s faculty are paid at a rate less than peer institutions while the cost of living in Greeley is higher.   

Feinstein responded by affirming his strategic priority to recruit and retain excellent faculty and staff. Although compensation increases have been a priority over the past several years, including targeted increases for faculty in the FY25 budget, he acknowledged that the university still has more work to do to achieve the goal of having faculty salaries at 100% parity with the median compensation of peer institutions. The matter will be discussed further at the February board meeting. 

“I believe the success of students relies on a strong team, and that is why you have seen — and will continue to see — me and my team prioritizing investment in our faculty and staff,” said Feinstein. “One reason we are requesting increased funding from the state is to ensure that we can provide our employees the compensation increases necessary to keep pace with inflation.” 

In other news, the board took action on the following items: 

• Approved several updates to board policies. 

• Approved a two-year contract extension for Head Football Coach Ed Lamb and a three-year contract extension for Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kristen Mattio.   

• Approved tenure recommendations for the associate dean of Preclinical Education and the director of the Colorado School of Public Health. 

• Approved the naming of the university foundry the “Maxine and Don Schwartz Foundry.” The naming recognizes the generous commitment from UNC alumnus, Rock Jenkins ’84, and his sisters to establish the Maxine and Don Schwartz Foundry and Sculpture Program fund. The fund provides discretionary funds to support the university’s foundry facilities, equipment, and the overall programmatic needs of the university’s sculpture program. 

• Approved the dissolution of Innovation UNC as the corporation is no longer active.