The Colorado Daily is reporting that the CU Board of Regents is set to vote on a 9% tuition increase for next year.  The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday).  It is unclear how the votes will shake out.  In recent years, tuition increases have been approved.

Republican Tom Lucero (CD-4), who is currently running for the United States House of Representatives in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, has been one of the most reliable votes against tuition hikes.  Democrat Michael Carrigan (CD-2), who represents the district in which Boulder resides, has been a supporter of increases, but says that this year his vote will depend on his perception of whether or not the University is “sharing the pain” of the students.

Although the issue of tuition increases is on the agenda, a vote may be delayed for some time.

From the Colorado Daily:

The University of Colorado regents are holding a just-announced meeting Wednesday to discuss and possibly vote on a 9 percent tuition increase for students on the Boulder campus.

“The intent is to vote on tuition,” said Regent Tom Lucero, who would not yet say how he’d vote. In past years, Lucero has voted against tuition increases but has been in the minority.

The administration is proposing a 9 percent tuition increase for in-state students, said CU system spokesman Ken McConnellogue. For CU’s College of Arts and Sciences, which charges $6,153 for in-state tuition this year, a 9 percent increase would translate to an extra $554.

Read the whole thing here.

Jim Geddes (R-Centennial)

A Republican member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents has called on the university to hire more conservative professors in the coming years to balance out the politically lopsided faculty.  Jim Geddes (R-Centennial), who represents the 6th Congressional District of Colorado, made an official proposal to the Board that would set hiring guidelines to encourage “intellectual diversity.”

Michael Carrigan (D-Denver), the Regent representing Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, suggested that his plan was the equivalent of “taking a sledgehammer to a fly.”  Another charge leveled at the plan was that it would open the door for “quotas,” which presumably would lead to unfair hiring practices.  However, Geddes has made it clear he would not favor a quota system of any kind.

Another proposal was put forth by Kyle Hybl (R-Colorado Springs), who represents Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, which the Board appears set to approve.

“We are a public university serving Colorado,” Geddes said. “Our students come to us, and it’s no concern what their politics are, but it is a concern about those who are teaching our students.”

Read the whole story at ColoradoDaily.com.

Gregory Carlson

In an article highlighting a new report that finds college students tend to develop more liberal beliefs on social issues as they progress through college, the Colorado Daily quoted Gregory Carlson, President of the College Republicans at CU.

Gregory talked about how his own political views have taken a more conservative turn during his years of higher education, and also discussed his perception of liberal bias among professors on the University of Colorado-Boulder campus.

On top of his position as the President of the College Republicans here at CU, Gregory currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the Boulder County Republicans.

Here is a sample of the article:

Gregory Carlson, president of CU’s College Republicans, said he’s become more conservative throughout his time in Boulder.

“I definitely think that there is a liberal bias in most classes, and sometimes it’s unintentional,” said Carlson, who abandoned his left-leaning political beliefs after high school partly because of national security concerns following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Carlson said he thinks colleges face a challenging task when it comes to addressing a liberal bias, but he thinks CU would benefit from its planned “Visiting Chair in Conservative Thought and Policy,” an idea unveiled by campus leaders in 2007. The school is still in the fundraising phase for the $9 million endowment.

“I think it’s important to hear all sides of issues,” Carlson said.

Read the whole story at ColoradoDaily.com.