Last Thursday, interim President Ray Kieft and the college’s nine-member board spent the day at an offsite retreat in Silverthorne discussing strategies for increasing revenue and furthering the mission of the college.

Topics discussed were the board’s interest in Metro State obtaining a top-ranked teacher-education program, a call to action for faculty to re-examine the college’s core curriculum by the end of the academic year and drafts of the Board’s definition of the college’s operational mission and shared governance.

The need for Chicano Studies and African-American Studies departments also was discussed, with the board members ultimately expressing their commitment to these programs.

However, discussion of the college’s athletics program brought the loudest and most spirited dialogue amongst the group.

“Because the college has lost $11 million in general funding, the trustees are looking at ways to reallocate funds that will increase the college’s support to students with financial need, address the use of part-time faculty and provide a salary increase to the faculty and staff,” Kieft said.

Kieft added that the reason for the initial look at athletics stemmed from the Board of Trustees policy manual. “The policy manual states that student fees must represent the primary source of revenue for intercollegiate athletics, and that isn’t the case right now,” Kieft said, adding that no decisions were made at this retreat.

The trustees will be addressing this issue publicly over the next few months. “The trustees want to hear from all interested individuals on this matter through a structured, very public process,” added Kieft. “This won’t be rushed and it will be conducted in the spirit of shared governance,” he added.

Watch @Metro for updates on this issue.

*This includes $630,000 for institutional scholarships and $93,000 on merit-based scholarships