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Dear CHHS Faculty and Staff,

I hope you’re enjoying a slower summer pace and finding time to rest and recharge. Below are a few mid-summer updates for you ahead of the holiday weekend. Please reach out to your supervisor or me if you have any questions.

In This Update

• Rest & Rejuvenation
• Performance Evaluation Timeline
• Dean’s Office Updates
• Budget Update
• Fall Events & Key Dates
• Faculty Honors & Celebrations
• Looking Ahead: Enrollment & Strategic Priorities

Rest & Rejuvenation
As Acting President Jim Carpenter recently shared, rest is essential for learning, creativity, and sustained innovation. I encourage you to take time this summer to recharge with family and friends before the academic year begins.

Provost Makley also shared exciting news that º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Denver will host the 2027 WICHE Annual Conference, welcoming academic leaders from across the West. I will continue forwarding the weekly My Mind This Week messages to CHHS leaders so everyone stays informed.

Performance Evaluations
Thank you to everyone who completed annual performance evaluations by the June 30 deadline. If evaluation submissions are delayed, notify Tanya Rogowsky.

A reminder that Workday goal setting will be open July 13–August 31. Please begin discussing goals with your supervisor and direct reports.

Dean’s Office Updates
This spring, the CHHS Dean’s Team completed two “Who’s on First” workshops to clarify roles, responsibilities, and accountability across the Dean’s Office. We adopted eight core functional areas that will guide our work moving forward.

What does this mean for you? Our goal is to provide clearer processes, improved communication, easier access to data, and more consistent support across the college. You’ll begin seeing these improvements throughout the coming year.

Budget Update
As , the FY27 budget includes:

• 2% across-the-board salary increases
• 3.5% undergraduate tuition increase for new students
• Continued funding for mandatory cost increases and strategic investments

Thank you to everyone who provided thoughtful feedback on the CHHS Budget Levers through your departments. Your input has been extremely valuable as we finalize the college budget.

Also, I received CHHS’s final FY27 budget numbers on July 1. In short, we did not receive the full amount requested, partly due to increased health care costs absorbed at the university level. Additionally, under the new budget model, each college’s share is based on a comparison of three prior academic years (AY 21–22, 22–23, and 23–24) with 24–25 performance.

For CHHS, this resulted in modest declines across most metrics, including undergraduate CHP, undergraduate headcount, first-generation CHP, undergraduate completions, and graduate headcount. We did, however, see strong gains in graduate completions.

The good news is that we will be able to absorb most of the shortfall within the º£½ÇÖ±²¥ without disrupting planned operations. Department budgets will see only a small impact. Charisma and I will spend time with each of you between now and the end of September to review the budget in more depth, and we’ll be able to do so in a way that is tailored to each department’s needs.

Save the Dates
Welcome Weeks
We hope many of you will volunteer to help welcome our students.

• August 15: Rowdy Rally, Convocation & Carnival
• September 3: CHHS Welcomes Students (10:00 a.m.–Noon)

Volunteer sign-ups will be sent soon.

CHHS Days: Together, We Transform
Based on your feedback, we’ve streamlined CHHS Week to focus on fewer, high-impact events.

As such, we are rebranding this annual celebration to and invite you to save the date on the following events:

Monday, September 21 | 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Lunch on the Lawn (9th Street Park)
Reconnect with colleagues over lunch, lawn games, and conversation.

Tuesday, September 22 | 2:00–5:00 p.m.
State of CHHS, Honoring Excellence, and Shaping the Future (Tivoli Turnhalle)
Hear updates on the college’s progress, celebrate faculty and staff achievements, welcome remarks from Provost Makley, and a keynote from Donna Lynne, DrPH, CEO of Denver Health, followed by a reception.

Additional forthcoming September events include a CHHS Suicide Prevention Month program and our annual volleyball event on the evening of September 18th. Watch for additional details!

Celebrating Our Colleagues
Congratulations to all faculty whose promotions, tenure, emeritus status, and retirements were approved by the Board of Trustees in June. We look forward to recognizing everyone during our September 22 celebration.

We are also excited to recognize this year’s CHHS award recipients and the many faculty and staff who were nominated for their outstanding contributions.

Looking Ahead
The coming year will focus on several major priorities:

• Preparing for the August 2027 opening of the Day Health Institute Tower – follow our Instagram page for and updates of the construction!
• Strengthening recruitment, enrollment, retention, and student success through our new and improved Strategic Enrollment Management efforts
• Implementing the CHHS Strategic Plan
• Supporting our departments through enhanced Dean’s Office resources and processes

Our Chairs and Directors will begin this work during their August leadership retreat, and there will be many opportunities for faculty and staff to participate throughout the year.

Provost Leadership Retreat
The Provost Leadership Team recently met for a two-day strategic retreat focused on strengthening º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Denver’s future. Many of these conversations will continue this fall, and we look forward to engaging faculty and staff as these initiatives move forward.

Thank you for everything you do for our students, our colleagues, and our º£½ÇÖ±²¥. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your summer, and I look forward to seeing you this fall.

Warmly,
Jess

Jessica H. Retrum, MSSW, Ph.D. | Interim Dean, Professor
pronouns: she/her/hers

[email protected]