The owner of the Colorado Rockies, a former top gubernatorial aide and the ex-mayor of Fort Collins are among 16 people nominated by Gov. John Hickenlooper this month to serve on six of the state’s 10 boards of college trustees.
Rockies owner Dick Monfort of Greeley was nominated for another term on the University of Northern Colorado trustees. The governor also nominated Christine Scanlan of Dillon, his former top lobbyist who now heads the Keystone Center. Staff from the center recently assisted the deliberations of a study group that examined teacher licensing. While serving in the legislature Scanlan was a prime sponsor of Senate Bill 10-191, the teacher evaluation law being rolled out statewide this year.
UNC is the state’s largest teacher training institution, and the trustees also include Tony Salazar, executive director of the Colorado Education Association. That nomination was questioned by some Republicans during the 2013 legislative session, but Salazar was easily confirmed by the Senate.
College and university trustees are low-profile, part-time public officials, but they have considerable autonomy and power under the state’s decentralized higher education system. They hire college presidents and decide on tuition rates and college borrowing, two issues of particular interest these days.
The governor nominates members to nine higher education boards. Members of the 10th board, the University of Colorado Regents, are elected. State law requires different combinations of political affiliation, educational background and residency for members of various appointed boards.
Other nominations of interest included Tilman Bishop, a former legislator and former regent, to the board of Colorado Mesa University, along with former Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez.
Click the following links for the trustee nominations at Adams State University, Colorado School of Mines, Fort Lewis College and Western State Colorado University, plus the other nominations for Mesa.