Mending CSU-Pueblo’s rift on the hill

Three years after a bruising budget fight, CSU-Pueblo’s student government president wants to start a productive conversation among university administration and faculty for future success.

Antonio Huerta, president of the Colorado State University-Pueblo Associated Students’ Government, has spent the first half of his one-year term addressing concerns that not all students, staff and faculty support the university administration — something the college senior believes is holding the school back from future success.

PULP File / Jason Prescott

“I go to at least 10 other committee meetings involving administration, faculty and staff. Sometimes I can hear mumbling, sometimes there’s body language and you can just tell,” said Huerta, who will finish his MBA and graduate in May.

“There has been a negative vibe since I first arrived (was elected) in April. There are a lot of things going on. I ask questions and I’ve learned that I have to ask the right questions or sometimes people may become upset or defensive.”

The tension Huerta feels at meetings can be traced back to the 2013 budget crisis at the university, when there was talk of up to 50 layoffs and a $3.3 million budget deficit, due to a decision by CSU-Pueblo President Lesley DiMare to not raise tuition to attract more students.

That strategy ultimately failed and left some faculty and students questioning whether the administration and university system were making the right choices for the regional university. Not because of the failed attempt to gain more students, but how the university administration decides to fund CSU-Pueblo.

“I think everyone needs to get rid of old preconceived notions to move forward. I think Di Mare is leaving our university better than she found it.” — Antonio Huerta, CSU-Pueblo student president

Although Huerta has noticed negativity in just a few members of the administration, faculty and staff, he is concerned that a little pessimism could potentially have a detrimental effect on the university.

Despite noticing the division between employees and students and bits of negativity since his freshman year, Huerta never felt it was a problem until he heard certain negative comments made at an American Association of University Professors meeting in early November.

Specifically, one professor that Huerta did not wish to name, had commented that Di Mare was the worst university president that CSU-Pueblo had ever had. Other faculty and staff at the meeting vented about salary increases and cost of living adjustments. However, no one offered a solution or a way to progress.

Huerta said it seemed the meeting had turned into a complaint forum with a few voicing their opinions and some nodding, but no one standing up for the university leadership.

During the budget crisis, AAUP was critical of the administration, even auditing university finances and claiming there was no deficit at all, but too much money being spent on administration salaries.

CSU-Pueblo student government president Antonio Huerta. Courtesy Photo

“Those few (who are negative) are planting seeds. Even one wrong move by admin and everyone could get upset. Everyone makes mistakes and understands this. I know I have. I just want to hear from various areas and understand both sides,” Huerta said.

After hearing the negative comments at the November AAUP meeting, as well as from a few students on campus, Huerta addressed the faculty senate, a representative board of faculty members who address university affairs, with his concerns.

His overall message was that if the university does not come together and work as a unit, administration, faculty, staff and students as a whole will not be as successful, as there is the potential to be and it will be even more challenging to face obstacles that way as well.

The faculty senate welcomed Huerta, and opened discussion with the student body president about his concerns that even a few dissenting opinions hamper success. But there is still a sense that some staff and faculty feel burned from the budget crisis and layoffs.

Huerta feels that differing opinions among faculty, staff and administration is beneficial to an extent, but that if someone feels things should be different, to always voice that and also offer a reasonable solution.

“I think everyone needs to get rid of old preconceived notions to move forward. I think Di Mare is leaving our university better than she found it,” he said of the current CSU-Pueblo president, who announced her plans for retirement this fall.

Transparency is something Huerta feels administration could work on in order to regain confidence from those on campus.

“Transparency is big. I don’t know what questions to ask with the admin or faculty and if I knew the right questions I think I would be answered, but sometimes I don’t know what to ask,” he said.

“I feel that with some of the faculty and staff I have talked to they feel there isn’t a ton of transparency, but administration would do anything for the students and so would they. We need transparency so we can have conversations with everyone and stop talking behind closed doors. We need unity or we aren’t going to be thriving,” Huerta explained.

Starting this conversation was the first step, said Huerta, adding that he is still figuring out his next step as ASG president, a representative of the student body. Moving forward, Huerta said his goal is for everyone on campus to have open conversations about any concern.

“I stress that everyone needs to come with a problem, but also a feasible solution,” he said.

Huerta and the associated students’ government senate will be working on many more projects and addressing more concerns on campus to help create a vibrant campus community.