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Aerial photo of students walking along Auraria Campus thoroughfare with Denver Downtown in background.
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Create an Emergency Action Plan, attend Compensation Equity Study town halls

COO Larry Sampler also shares info on waived student-service fees and welcomes a new Administration Branch colleague.

Aerial photo of students walking along Auraria Campus thoroughfare with Denver Downtown in background.

Dear Roadrunners, 

Welcome to Day Four of the fall semester. It’s great to see campus full of students and employees and equally exciting that the Central and West Classroom buildings are once again open and operational. I again applaud everyone involved in developing the Sim Labs and ensuring the success of Project B as well as those who made the reoccupancy process a success.

Create a Departmental Emergency Action Plan

As folks get comfortable in their new spaces or just settle back in for the semester, it’s a great time to develop a Departmental Emergency Action Plan.  

My No. 1 priority for Metropolitan State University of Denver is safety, and every crisis or emergency presents its own unique challenges. Being prepared and having a clear plan in an emergency helps reduce risk and increase resiliency.  

The Auraria Higher Education Center Office of Emergency Management has created a Departmental Emergency Action Plan template to help departments create plans tailored to their needs.  

All departments and offices should use this resource to develop (or redevelop based on existing plans) comprehensive Departmental Emergency Action Plans, including: 

  • Designating a leader 
  • Conducting a site assessment of your area 
  • Determining evacuation plans 
  • Selecting rally points 
  • Identifying shelter-in-place locations 
  • Devising a cascading communication plan for your team 

Additionally, watch the Early Bird and Facilities website for information on fire drills that will be scheduled for early September.

Attend Compensation Equity Study town halls 

Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Compensation Equity Study has concluded. Employees can examine the findings at a series of town-hall events with University leaders and the study’s vendor, Salary.com, on Aug. 29.  

In addition to a high-level overview at the President’s Welcome Back, three sessions will be held in the afternoon to discuss more of the specifics. Employees are invited to attend these town-hall meetings to learn more about Salary.com’s findings and recommendations as well as the University’s next steps. 

Aug. 29 Town Hall Meetings 

Noon-1 p.m.: Methodology, data, statistics  

1:30-3 p.m.: Professional staff town hall 

3:30-5 p.m.: Faculty town hall 

  • All sessions will be held at St. Cajetan’s Event Center, with healthy snacks provided. 
  • Roadrunners may attend in person or via an online broadcast. 
  • Virtual links will be posted to the Compensation Equity Study SharePoint early next week.
  • Event recordings will be available. 

See this recent Early Bird article to learn more.

Bursar waiving FAFSA/CASFA restructuring-related fees

The 2024-25 FAFSA Simplification revisions that happened this year resulted in the processing of more forms and documents, increasing the processing time for the Office of Financial Aid. This week, the Bursar’s Office offered a service–fee waiver to more than 1,600 students who were impacted negatively by delays in paperwork processing caused by the FAFSA and CASFA restructuring. The waiver will be applied to the accounts of students who filed FAFSA or CASFA financial–aid forms that the University was unable to process before the fee deadline. Thank you to the Bursar, Financial Aid and Budget teams for this effort and for continuing to respond to the needs of students.

Library moves to badge access on Sundays 

Starting Sunday, the Auraria Library will move to campus-ID-badge access only. This access shift will likely persist through the fall semester. All patrons should remember to bring a current MSU Denver ID badge or call 303-315-7763 for day-of access. 

Welcome a new colleague 

The Administration Branch is pleased to welcome Ken Tadikonda as the director of Sponsored Projects Accounting and Fiscal Compliance within the Office of the Controller. Tadikonda has worked in higher-education accounting and finance, grants and contracts, operations and administration, procurement, facilities, information technology and human resources. He joins us from the University of Colorado Anschutz Campus, where he was finance administrator/business-services program manager for the Colorado Area Health Education Center Program Office. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Regis University and a graduate diploma in Accountancy from the University of Colorado Boulder as well as additional education from Harvard University and Osmania University in India.  

Helpful reminders: 

Thanks for reading, and have a great semester, 

Larry Sampler