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CU President Todd Saliman On The Job, Serving Students, and Working To Improve Diversity

University of Colorado
/
University of Colorado
"We have a lot of work to do. We don't respect the diversity of Colorado when we're talking about our students, faculty and staff."

Todd Saliman was officially selected as the 24th president of the University of Colorado system this year. He previously served as interim president from July 20-21. Todd grew up in Colorado and graduated from CU Boulder. KUNC's Beau Baker spoke with him recently to find out what such a seemingly big job entails and what he’s working toward for the CU system.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Interview Highlights:

Beau Baker: How do you approach the job on a daily basis?

Todd Saliman: You know, I approach each day with keeping students in the front of my mind — That is our primary job — to educate the people of Colorado and to do outstanding research. So I think about our students and faculty and our staff every day. When you visit our campuses and meet with our students, meet with our faculty, meet with our staff, and you see the incredible people that make up the CU team. It's exciting, and it's inspiring, and that's what I think about every day.

Beau: What are some of your big goals for the CU system? Specifically, I'd like to know how you're looking at affordability for students and diversity and inclusion.

Todd: When I think about the things that that we need to focus on the most, I really look at, first — student success. You know, our job isn’t just to enroll students, but it's to get them across the finish line, to retain them, and to provide them with the outstanding education, but also services that they need to be successful. We also have a gap between the graduation and retention rate for our total student population compared to our underrepresented students. I want to close that gap. Another is diversity. You know, I think it's incredibly important that the University of Colorado reflect the diversity of Colorado. And when we talk about diversity at CU, we talk about it broadly. Of course, it includes ethnic diversity, racial diversity, but it also includes political philosophy, political affiliation, it includes LGBTQ+ it includes veterans' service, disability status.

We have a lot of work to do. We don't respect the diversity of Colorado when we're talking about our students, faculty and staff. The other focus that we're really digging in on is outreach, you know, connecting to the people of Colorado, listening to what they want from you, listening to what they think about what we do, and sharing with them what we think we can do for them.

And then finally on affordability, we are working hard to make degrees more affordable for people by providing financial aid and by also ensuring that students have the opportunity to make a degree cheaper for themselves by bringing credits to the table through AP credits at high school or community college credits. We're working very hard to make it easier to transfer community college credits to our campuses. And also just trying to communicate about the actual cost. I think that there's a disconnect. People think that it's more expensive to get a college degree than it is. That doesn't mean that we think it costs what it should. It's more expensive than it should be. You know, Colorado is 45th in the nation when it comes to higher education funding. And so we absolutely have challenges in the state when it comes to state funding.

Beau: Where do you stand on former visiting professor John Eastman's association with CU Boulder? Was that a mistake on the part of the university in the first place to bring Eastman in?

Todd: That was a mistake. Clearly, that was a bad choice. John Eastman's behavior is appalling, and it's embarrassing that he was ever associated with the University of Colorado. And I regret that we ever employed him. But it's incredibly important to separate him out from the good work that is done by the Benson Center. And the Benson Center does help us convene those diverse voices on the campus so that we can have conversations that reflect a wide variety of ideas and perspectives. If we're going to make progress in this country, we need to learn to listen to each other and to hear different points of view.

Beau: Out of 39 candidates for this job, including 13 women and 13 persons of color. You, a white male, were the sole finalist for the position. How does that square with CU's messaging on diversity?

Todd: So I can't speak to the process, of course, because I was a candidate, and I didn't run the process. But I can tell you that that was a major question for me throughout the process. You know, what is my commitment to diversity? What have I done, and what will I do? And what is my vision for the University of Colorado in that area? But I also know that the proof will be in the pudding on that topic. You know, what will I do? What will we do together to advance our work in that space? And it's going to take some time, but that doesn't mean that we can get to it right away.

So there are things that we can put in place today and tomorrow that will help us make progress on that over time. And I will be judged by that. The Regents will be judged by that, and the campuses will be held accountable to make progress.

Beau: You grew up in Colorado, graduated from CU Boulder. You served in the state legislature. What do you value about this place? What makes Colorado special?

Todd: I grew up in Littleton and went to Grand Junction for the first time and just looking around Grand Junction, just physically looking at the place, it looks just so different when you're out there, and you're looking at the Grand Mesa, and you’re looking at the environment and the mountains of Grand Junction compared to the Front Range, compared to the I-70 corridor in Summit County and Eagle and all that. And then you go to eastern Colorado and you're in Lamar, La Junta, Fort Morgan, Sterling, Pueblo, and you see the extraordinary geographic diversity of our state. And then you learn that the diversity of our people reflect the diversity of that geography.

Our people are just as different as our geography. This is an incredibly rich heritage that we have in this state and different points of view and different perspectives in different places. And I love that about Colorado. And I am so proud to be a Coloradan and proud of the University of Colorado and what an honor it is to get to serve our state in this capacity.

Beau: CU President Todd Saliman. Todd, appreciate your time today. Thanks for speaking with me.

Todd: Well, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity.

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