Employee News

Campus delays and closures: What you need to know

Nancy Portner — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:56:02 +0000

Campus delays and closures: What you need to know Nancy Portner Fri, 12/05/2025 - 09:56

Winter and springtime along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains can bring volatile weather conditions. CU Boulder’s campus closure policy clarifies delays and closures caused by extreme weather, power outages and other emergencies. Here’s what campus community members need to know.

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2025 Annual Award Winners

Nancy Portner — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:52:13 +0000

2025 Annual Award Winners Nancy Portner Fri, 12/05/2025 - 05:52

Infrastructure and Resilience succeeds because of people who go the extra mile—supporting colleagues, serving customers, and making our campus safer and more sustainable. Please join us in celebrating this year’s individual, team, student, DEI, and safety award recipients, whose work reflects the best of our values and our mission to care for CU Boulder.

Individual Awards

Nyima Dolma (Submitted by Alex Acosta)

Nyima’s transition into the supervisor role has been truly inspiring. She quickly embraced her responsibilities with an impressive ability to learn and adapt, ensuring a seamless leadership transition through clear communication, professionalism, and a genuine pride in service. She sets a strong example by embodying the values and performance standards she expects from others, leading with integrity, and ensuring every team member feels heard and supported through thoughtful coaching and an open-door policy. Under her guidance, we have seen significant improvements in workflows and service delivery through efficient process enhancements and active support for staff development via training and mentorship. Thank you, Nyima, for exhibiting a motivating and empowering leadership style.

Ishwari Pandey (Submitted by Dev Chaudhary)

Ishwari Pandey was nominated for her outstanding customer service and exceptional teamwork, as she consistently goes above and beyond to support both her coworkers and the building occupants she serves. Taking great pride in her work, Ishwari ensures every space is clean, safe, and welcoming, while her positive attitude and willingness to help others make a noticeable difference in the team's daily operations. Her reliability, strong work ethic, and dedication to customer satisfaction reflect the highest standards of our custodial team and make her a valued member of our department.

Khamwouane Insy (Submitted by Tony McKnabb)

Khamwouane Insy (known by his coworkers as Insy), Has exceptional dedication to fast resolutions and warm client care. He makes excellence look easy. A director from the College of Music wrote this of Insy:

While Insy was at Macky, he consistently demonstrated exceptional service that went above and beyond regular duties. Insy took meticulous care in ensuring every area was clean, even cleaning spots neglected for years. He was incredibly efficient, dependable, and always mindful of events, ensuring everything was well-stocked without interfering with operations. Beyond his strong work ethic, Insy was friendly, respectful, and reliable, contributing to a sense of safety during late-night shifts.

Jacob Gerwig (Submitted by Joshua Hollingshead and James Worrall)

Jacob consistently works behind the scenes to keep the turf crew running smoothly by maintaining equipment, mowing lawns, planting turf grass, and applying fertilizer. His outstanding work ethic, eagerness to learn, and willingness to help others no matter the task truly set him apart.

Jacob is approachable, patient, and frequently trains others, often taking on tasks beyond his regular responsibilities. His dedication, reliability, and positive attitude foster a better work environment and make everyone’s job easier. He is a valued team member who exemplifies what it means to be an unsung hero.

Ricardo Valles (Submitted by John Gleason)

Ricardo Valles is a critical and invaluable asset to the team. Highly dependable, Ricardo is relied on heavily for conducting thorough preventive maintenance procedures on complex research systems. Though he never seeks recognition, his exceptional work ethic, quality output, proactive willingness to assist others, and significant contributions do not go unnoticed by those he works with.

Chad McCue (Submitted by Connie Hernandez)

Chad is a true asset to Facilities Management and the OCC due to his unwavering dedication and willingness to consistently go above and beyond his job responsibilities. As the sole on-campus presence until 1 am, he reliably serves as the first responder for P1 alarms, often coordinating with other on-call staff to resolve problems efficiently – saving his coworkers a nighttime trip to campus. His commitment to campus safety is exceptional and he has stayed hours past his shift without hesitation to manage critical situations. Chad’s reliability, attention to detail, and deep commitment to his work make his contribution invaluable.

Adrian Garcia (Submitted by Rich Trujillo)

Adrian consistently goes above and beyond, managing complex infrastructure projects and urgent maintenance issues with professionalism and precision. His calm demeanor and ability to provide effective, long-lasting solutions reflect his mastery of campus systems.

Beyond his technical skills, Adrian's integrity, humility, and customer-first attitude set him apart. He is a valued mentor who fosters teamwork within the department and has earned the trust and respect of everyone he works with. Adrian consistently exceeds expectations without seeking recognition, making a lasting positive impact every day at CU Boulder.

Jennifer O’Neill (Submitted by Mike Turman and Meg Hohnholt)

Jenny O'Neill is nominated for her exceptional customer service while managing several challenging, quick-turnaround projects this year, including the Koebel Suites renovation, the Vole Research project, and UCTR renovations. She excels at defining scopes, defending timelines, and meeting budgets while keeping clients and teams thoroughly informed. Known for her grace, compassion, and care, Jenny consistently works to ensure customer happiness and deliver inspiring spaces that support faculty and student success.

Wayne Northcutt (Submitted by d’Andre Willis)

Wayne is an excellent mentor and role model within PD&C. He shares his knowledge and skills freely with others and is a resource on a wide range of topics and projects. He always keeps the good of the campus as a whole in mind and often catches issues when there is still time to correct course. He never loses his sense of humor and is very approachable. I really appreciate his impact at CU.

Kristin Bostelman (Submitted by Jonathan Akins and Heather Bennett)

Kristin Bostelman, Civil Engineer at CU, is nominated for the Unsung Hero award for her exceptional and unwavering support of campus engineering endeavors. A diligent and trusted resource known for her strong leadership, Kristin consistently goes above and beyond in managing high-priority projects like the C4C bike path and EVNT concrete repairs, often assuming responsibilities beyond technical scoping. Her expertise has directly contributed to campus safety in critical situations such as the VAC bridge. Kind, patient, and hard-working, Kristin’s significant contributions make her a highly valuable employee deserving of this recognition.

Team Awards

Custodial Team 6 (Submitted by Rubi Andazola)

Custodial Team 6 is recognized for their dedication, kindness and proactive attitude. All members of this team show exceptional teamwork, especially during times of staff shortages and when supporting new employees. Without complaint they will cover for each other as they take turns attending training and classes. Their support for one another and our campus are valuable contributions.

Energy Performance Projects Team (Submitted by Mike Turman)

Mike Gilbert, Ellen Edwards, Ben Hughes, Shannon Horn, Matt Gess, Patrick Lester

This team has done an excellent job of working across I&R with representation from the Energy and Utility Services, Engineering, and Operations on the development of Energy Performance Projects at CU Boulder. The group has invested over $10MM in campus funds to develop a 1 MW solar array and reduce energy use and improve performance issues in 18 buildings by replacing lighting, steam traps, controls, and other system components. The 18 building energy efficiency efforts are projected to reduce carbon emissions by 1,533 metric tons of CO2/year. The solar array is anticipated to reduce carbon emissions by 433 tons in the first year of operation.

Whitney Gippe and Matthew Buck (Submitted by Mike Turman, Meg Hohnholt and Brian Moffitt)

Whitney and Matt took the initiative to independently develop a powerful Power BI dashboard that transformed how the Design & Construction (D&C) department assesses and visualizes project data. Initially driven by their own curiosity and training to compare FM costs as a percentage of total project costs, their tool quickly grew in scope.

The dashboard, which scrubs and presents monthly data from Unifier in a useful visual format, provides valuable insights into overall workload, project volume, cost tracking across various categories, and staff availability. The tool proved so "amazing" that it has been formally adopted by D&C leadership to improve estimating, forecasting, and customer service accuracy, becoming a fundamental component of the department's current and future operations.

Property Services Team (Submitted by Walter O’Toole)

The Property Services Team had a huge year, with the opening of the CU Surplus Store in January, and partnering with the Environmental Center and the City of Boulder to divert over 10 tons of student Move-Out items from the landfill. This team excels at innovation and are major contributors in making CU Boulder a more sustainable campus. Thank you Denise, Randy G, Frank, Osei, Brandon, Randy C, Scott, Seth, SJ, Connor and Adan for all of your hard work.

Outstanding Student Award

Stephany Correa-Diaz (Submitted by Clark Rider)

Steph works as the Sustainable Transportation Communications Assistant.

Steph has significantly improved outreach efforts, ensuring all communications are timely, clear, and impactful—most notably by ensuring the "Be Mobile" newsletter, for the first time ever, goes out on schedule every month.

Incredibly reliable and detail-oriented, Steph consistently meets deadlines and brings inclusive, diverse perspectives to our messaging. Their initiative, consistency, and contributions easily exceed those expected of an average student employee, making them a standout and valued member of the team.

DEI Award

Claude Masson (Submitted by Clark Rider)

Claude has been a fantastic addition to the IROCC team, bringing a thoughtful, proactive approach to DEI that will have a real and lasting impact. As a member of the Grounds team and a skilled Arborist, Claude has gone beyond his day-to-day responsibilities to help foster a more inclusive and connected workplace. He’s been a proactive voice on our DEI committee, helping to open up space for important conversations and representation. Claude also played a key role in planning and coordinating a department-wide event that brought colleagues together to learn more about our physical campus. It wasn’t just educational—it was a meaningful way to build community through shared experience.

Safety Awards

EH&S Radiation Team (Submitted by Margaret Ashton)

This summer, the CU Radiation Safety Program underwent its triennial inspection by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), which oversees the �Թ��’s Broad-Scope Radioactive Materials License under agreement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The result was an unprecedented second consecutive clean inspection with no findings of non-compliance, a result that reflects the dedication of our research community, the commitment of faculty, staff, and students to maintain a culture of safety, and the support of university leadership.

Claudia Acosta (Submitted by Don Fitzpatrick)

Claudia recently began a new role with Campus Building Services, where she has been instrumental in the new hire training classes and co-led the successful training of 190 custodians in both Spanish and English. While seamlessly taking on these new responsibilities, she continues to lead her custodial team, prioritize safety protocols, and share valuable concepts learned in the Extreme Ownership classes with her staff.

Peter Odgaard (Submitted by Don Fitzpatrick)

Peter has been a member of the Outdoor Services and the Facilities Management safety committee where he offers safety suggestions and reports hazards around campus. Peter also continues to look out for his team members and recognizes them for working safely. Most recently, Peter thanked one of his team members for asking for a team lift - this is a great example of looking out for each other and keeping our teams safe.

Christian Brooks (Submitted by Don Fitzpatrick)

Christian continues to go above and beyond in supporting our building engineers within the HVAC shop by proactively ensuring his team is aware of all training opportunities and making safety training recommendations. He identified a need for enhanced PPE for hand protection and coordinated with our vendor to acquire samples and gather feedback. Additionally, he is an active and participatory member of the FacMan safety committee, consistently contributing to our program.

Elizabeth Angus (Submitted by Don Fitzpatrick)

Beth consistently demonstrates a strong focus on safety by regularly reporting campus hazards and offering proactive mitigation ideas. She is an active participant on both the Outdoors Services and Facilities Management safety committees, sharing valuable insights and topics gathered from her involvement in other organizations, such as Health and Wellness. Furthermore, Beth remains a great example of our safety program's values by looking out for her colleagues and always ensuring team members feel welcome.

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Review and update your contact information by Dec. 15

Nancy Portner — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 19:10:17 +0000

Review and update your contact information by Dec. 15 Nancy Portner Mon, 12/01/2025 - 12:10

The new year is starting soon, which means tax season is just around the corner. Before the year ends, verify that your personal information and pay is accurate now to ensure a worry-free tax season.

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Tuition Assistance Benefit applications are open for Spring 2026

Nancy Portner — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:53:42 +0000

Tuition Assistance Benefit applications are open for Spring 2026 Nancy Portner Mon, 12/01/2025 - 10:53

Spring 2026 applications are open for the Tuition Assistance Benefit (TAB). This benefit provides you and your eligible dependents with financial assistance for tuition on any �Թ�� of Colorado campus, making it easier than ever to pursue your academic goals.

How does it work?

Benefits-eligible employees and dependents may receive up to 12 credits waived per academic year.
CU Boulder students who are dependents of CU Boulder employees receive a 40% discount each semester.
Employees and dependents can use the Tuition Assistance Benefit simultaneously in the same academic year and during the same semester.

Important: Before submitting your TAB application, make sure you are officially enrolled in your courses. Accurate course information is required for processing your benefit.

Review the full rules and guidelines on the Tuition Assistance Benefit website. Verify your campus-specific course registration dates, TAB application deadlines and instructions by going to the How to apply section and selecting your campus.

Deadlines

CU Anschutz: Feb. 4, 2026
CU Boulder: Feb. 15, 2026
CU Colorado Springs: Feb. 4, 2026
CU Denver: Feb. 4, 2026

How to apply

Log in to your employee portal.
Open the CU Resources drop-down menu and select Forms.
Click the Benefits tile, then click the Tuition Assistance Application tile.
Complete and submit your application by your campus deadline.

Don’t miss this opportunity to advance your education and professional development.
Apply today!

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Time Entry for Thanksgiving and Winter Break Holidays and Administrative Leave Days

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:19:30 +0000

Time Entry for Thanksgiving and Winter Break Holidays and Administrative Leave Days Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/01/2025 - 10:19

CU Boulder Campus Holiday & Winter Break Schedule

�Թ�� Justin Schwartz has announced that CU Boulder is granting five days of paid administrative leave and three paid holidays over Winter Break.

The CU Boulder campus will be closed on the following dates:

Thanksgiving Break:
- Thursday, Nov. 27 – Holiday
- Friday, Nov. 28 – Holiday
Winter Break:
- Wednesday, Dec. 24 – Administrative Leave
- Thursday, Dec. 25 – Holiday
- Friday, Dec. 26 – Holiday
- Monday, Dec. 29 – Administrative Leave
- Tuesday, Dec. 30 – Administrative Leave
- Wednesday, Dec. 31 – Administrative Leave
- Thursday, Jan. 1 – Holiday
- Friday, Jan. 2 – Administrative Leave

Regular campus operations will resume on Monday, January 5, 2026.

AiM Time Entry Guidelines for Holiday Leave (Nov. 27, Nov. 28, Dec. 25, Dec. 26, Jan. 1)

If you did not work on these dates:
- Enter your hours of leave using leave code HLDY in your timecard.
If you are overtime-eligible classified staff and worked on any of these dates, you may choose:
1. Holiday leave later (before June 30, 2026)
  - Use your normal time type (e.g. RGS, SHF) for the date you worked
  - When taking the hours of holiday leave later, use leave code FLHLDY and add a comment indicating the original holiday date (e.g. "December 25 holiday")
  - Coordinate with your supervisor to ensure proper scheduling and time entry.
2. Premium Pay (1.5x regular base rate):
  - Use time type 2HW under your assigned work order/phase.
3. Comp Time (Regular hours for all hours worked and 0.5x hours banked for comp time):
  - Use time type CTHLDY under your assigned work order/phase.
  - Coordinate with your supervisor to ensure proper scheduling and time entry.

AiM Time Entry Guidelines for Administrative Leave (Dec. 24, 29, 30, 31; Jan. 2)

If you did not work on these dates:
- Use leave code ADLV in AiM.
If you worked on any of these dates:
- Use your normal time type (e.g., RGS, SHF) for the date worked.
- Work with your supervisor to schedule your hours of Administrative Leave on a future date (before June 30, 2026). On the future date, use leave code FLHLDY and write in the description which Administrative Leave Date you are floating (ie Float Dec. 24).
- Coordinate with your supervisor to ensure proper scheduling and time entry.

MyLeave Instructions

Holiday leave will be automatically entered—no action needed.
Administrative leave must be manually entered. Enter your hours you took off on each administrative leave day and mark status as Administrative Leave.

Supervisors

Please verify that staff have entered the correct pay codes before approving timecards to avoid corrections.
For employees on 4/10, swing, or night shift schedules, confirm scheduled hours and holiday time off.

A complete list of university holidays is available on the central Human Resources website.

Questions? Contact your supervisor or reach out to Aliyah Vigil in I&R Human Resources at 303-735-0347 (office).

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RMA Scholarships now available (applications due March 31, 2026)

Nancy Portner — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 20:38:13 +0000

RMA Scholarships now available (applications due March 31, 2026) Nancy Portner Fri, 11/21/2025 - 13:38

Rocky Mountain APPA (RMA) is pleased to offer tuition scholarships for APPAU (“APPA �Թ��”) for Fall of 2026 or Spring of 2027 (dates TBA). These scholarships support the professional development of facilities leaders at member institutions.

Scholarship recipients will receive free tuition for one of the following options: Leadership Academy (3-day course), Institute for Facilities Management (3-day course), or Nexus (2-day course). For more information, CLICK HERE.

RMA invites all member institutions to apply for scholarships and take advantage of this amazing opportunity for professional growth.

Key Details:

Application Deadline: March 31, 2026
Eligibility: Any member institution staff seeking to improve facilities management knowledge and skills who have not previously received an APPAU scholarship.
Application Requirements: Complete all sections—applicant information, questions, supervisor evaluation, and institutional member representative endorsement.

How to Apply:

Review guidelines and submit your application at: Rocky Mountain APPA

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Wayfinding revamp: A clearer path ahead

Nancy Portner — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 16:40:15 +0000

Wayfinding revamp: A clearer path ahead Nancy Portner Fri, 11/21/2025 - 09:40

Finding your way around campus shouldn’t feel like solving a puzzle. Yet, outdated signage has made navigation challenging for visitors and even long-time campus members. That’s about to change.

The Campus Wayfinding Revamp Project is underway.

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Mobile food pantry set for Dec. 11

Nancy Portner — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:43:02 +0000

Mobile food pantry set for Dec. 11 Nancy Portner Tue, 11/18/2025 - 17:43

Mobile food pantries on campus are free and open to CU Boulder students, faculty and staff, plus community members of Boulder and Broomfield counties. Learn more.

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Participate in a CU Boulder values input session: Dec. 8

Nancy Portner — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 16:20:23 +0000

Participate in a CU Boulder values input session: Dec. 8 Nancy Portner Mon, 11/17/2025 - 09:20

CU Boulder is launching a project to build consensus around a set of shared values that will guide how university communities achieve CU Boulder’s mission, vision and institutional priorities.

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Prepare Your Devices for the New CU Secure Wi-Fi Network

Nancy Portner — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 21:39:07 +0000

Prepare Your Devices for the New CU Secure Wi-Fi Network Nancy Portner Wed, 10/22/2025 - 15:39

As a critical step toward upgrading our campus wireless networks to make them more secure and less susceptible to registration issues, OIT is launching two new Wi-Fi networks: CU Secure and CU Guest in December.

The UCB Wireless and UCB Guest networks will remain available in the rest of the campus buildings through late December, when they'll be fully retired and replaced by CU Secure and CU Guest. Wired networks and eduroam won’t be affected by any of these changes.

Prepare Your Devices

If you normally connect a personal laptop, smartphone or tablet to UCB Wireless or UCB Guest, you'll need to install the CU Secure certificate/app (short link: buff.link/downloadwifi) to connect to CU Secure. You should download the certificate now on your personal devices, such as your smartphone.

Once installed, the certificate/app will allow your device to connect to CU Secure Wi-Fi for two years, after which you will be prompted to re-register.

If your computer was purchased through the university, check to see if it's enrolled in Secure Computing. If it is, then it already has the CU Secure certificate installed; you don't need to take any action for that device.

For links to tutorials, videos and specialty Wi-Fi device instructions (e.g., gaming consoles, smart TVs), visit the Wi-Fi Improvement Project webpage.

CU Guest Wi-Fi

If you’re in an early-access building and can’t connect to CU Secure or eduroam, you have the option to log in to CU Guest.

Similar to the current UCB Guest network, CU Guest isn’t encrypted, doesn’t permit access to certain campus resources, and requires users to log in daily.

Get Support

If you or your colleagues have trouble registering a device, visit the CU Secure Wi-Fi page to access tutorials and troubleshooting resources.

If you are a member of I&R or FBS, please reach out to any member of the FMIT team for support.

Non-FM staff members, please contact the IT Service Center at oithelp@colorado.edu or 303-735-4357.

Provide Feedback

To improve the CU Secure Wi-Fi registration process for the rest of campus, please share your onboarding experience using our CU Secure Wi-Fi feedback form.

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