{"id":36,"date":"2026-05-07T20:34:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=36"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:34:26","slug":"cu-denver-faculty-concerned-over-chancellors-relationship-with-faculty-member","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=36","title":{"rendered":"CU Denver faculty concerned over chancellor\u2019s relationship with faculty member"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Faculty at the University of Colorado Denver publicly announced concerns about the institution\u2019s chancellor, Ken Christensen, dating a professor who oversees a department focused on career advancement.<\/p>\n

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Christensen disclosed his relationship with school psychology professor Bryn Harris to the university through the proper channels in late 2025, according to CU\u2019s vice president of communications, Michele Ames.<\/p>\n

Ames said the chancellor and faculty member are consenting adults who followed the rules in reporting their relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost immediately following, a mitigation plan was put in place,\u201d Ames told The Denver Post. \u201cPer the policy, it requires the two individuals be walled off in terms of the way they interact at the university.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mitigation plan is considered part of Christensen\u2019s personnel files and is confidential, Ames said.<\/p>\n

The confidentiality is one grievance raised in a series of communications provided to the Post from late April through this week between CU Denver\u2019s Faculty Assembly Executive Committee and CU President Todd Saliman.<\/p>\n

The Faculty Assembly Executive Committee \u2014 made up of a dozen educators across the university \u2014 issued a letter to CU President Saliman on April 17 expressing faculty concerns about potential conflicts of interest arising from the chancellor dating a tenured faculty member who also serves as the director of the Center for Faculty Development and Advancement. The CFDA provides resources and guidance for faculty seeking career advancement, such as tenure or grant opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cA relationship between the most powerful administrator on campus and a faculty member embedded in processes that shape faculty careers raises serious questions about the Chancellor\u2019s ability to fulfill his obligations to the university community with the required objectivity,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

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Christensen was appointed CU Denver chancellor in February 2025. He previously served as provost, senior vice president for academic affairs, and chief academic officer at Illinois Institute of Technology. Christensen holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico, a master of science in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a doctorate in theoretical and applied mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.<\/p>\n

In an April 24 response, President Saliman thanked the committee for their \u201crespectful letter\u201d which raised concerns \u201cin good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saliman assured the committee the confidential mitigation plan \u201censures that the Chancellor is walled off from any Center for Faculty Development and Advancement or partner related decisions,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n

The faculty committee wrote back Tuesday, saying they are grateful Saliman confirmed the existence of a mitigation plan but that it was not helpful in assuaging real or perceived conflicts of interest if it was secret.<\/p>\n

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CU\u2019s policy on \u201cconflicts of interest in cases of amorous relationships\u201d establishes that an amorous relationship between two people becomes a conflict of interest when one person has direct evaluative authority over the other. The policy requires the direct evaluative authority be eliminated.<\/p>\n

The policy is in the process of being updated.<\/p>\n

The updates would broaden evaluative authority to include indirect supervisory relationships and cover both real and perceived conflicts of interest, according to the letters exchanged between the faculty council and president.<\/p>\n

In their letter, the faculty committee said not only would potential conflicts of interest arise in the impartiality of future tenure decisions and other professional development opportunities, but in the development and approval of the pending revision of the amorous relationship policy.<\/p>\n

The faculty requested the chancellor recuse himself from involvement with that policy update.<\/p>\n

Saliman wrote back that, absent an actual conflict, the amorous relationship policy \u201chas never been applied in a way that requires the Chancellor or any academic supervisor subject to a mitigation plan to broadly recuse themselves from reviewing proposed policy changes or reviewing all tenure applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, CU Denver professor Wendy Bolyard \u2014 chair of CU Denver\u2019s Faculty Assembly Executive Committee \u2014 made a public statement about the relationship at a faculty council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cExecutive Committee made the difficult decision to disclose this conflict of interest because we cannot protect ourselves from a conflict we do not know exists,\u201d Bolyard said during the meeting. \u201cIt is our obligation, and our privilege, to be the voice of this faculty \u2014 and that means ensuring we have the information we need to make informed decisions about our professional lives and our interactions with university offices and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

When reached for comment, Bolyard said she could not speak on this matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a teaching professor, I do not have the privilege of tenure,\u201d Bolyard said. \u201cRaising difficult issues is quite challenging in my role, knowing I am an at-will employee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faculty members concerned about how a conflict of interest has or could impact them are asked to report to the CU system office\u2019s president of human resources, Tony Gherardini. <\/p>\n

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Read more USPS considers allowing people to ship handguns through the mail<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faculty at the University of Colorado Denver have gone public with concerns about the institution’s chancellor, Ken Christensen, dating a professor who oversees a department focused on advancing other faculty members’ careers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCU Denver faculty concerned over chancellor\u2019s relationship with faculty member - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=36\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CU Denver faculty concerned over chancellor\u2019s relationship with faculty member - 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