Student Affairs and Student Services

Andrew Loso is SPA's Recruitment and Admissions Senior Professional. The School of Public Affairs actively recruits for all of its degree and certificate programs, and faculty participation is really valuable in encouraging prospective students to come to SPA. Here are some ways that faculty can help to recruit new students to our programs:

• Participate in SPA's recruitment events to represent our programs and concentrations.
• Be available to talk to a prospective student whose interests lie in your areas of research.
• Volunteer to teach sample classes to prospective students visiting campus.
• Participate as a class shadow opportunity for prospective students.
• Immediately connect interested prospective students to our staff for follow-up.
• Tell your friends and neighbors about the School of Public Affairs.
• Encourage talented current students to apply to our programs.
• Share ideas for recruiting new students to specific programs with Andrew Loso (andrew.loso@ucdenver.edu), Recruitment and Admissions Senior Professional.
• Share contact lists and/or outlets where SPA could advertise to prospective students.
• Bring marketing materials with you when you speak to community groups or guest lecture in classes.

Every student at the School of Public Affairs is assigned a staff advisor who is the student’s main point of contact for frontline advising on topics such as degree and program requirements, course selection, and university and school resources. Learn more about academic advising at the School of Public Affairs.

Students are also encouraged to choose a faculty advisor who can help guide more specific academic and career choices. If a student has a question that you don’t feel comfortable answering, please refer them to their academic advisor:

Dawn Savage
Advisor and Academic Services Manager
Advises graduate students with last names beginning with A-L and student honor societies
dawn.savage@ucdenver.edu

Ben Arnold
Graduate Advisor
Advises graduate students M-Z
bejamin.2.arnold@ucdenver.edu

Nora Scanlon
Lead Undergraduate Academic Advisor and Undergraduate Programs Coordinator
Advises BACJ students
nora.scanlon@ucdenver.edu

Hansen Millison
Undergraduate Academic Advisor
Advises BACJ and all BAPA students
hansen.millison@ucdenver.edu

Scott Steinbrecher
Senior Coordinator of International Student Programs
Advises SPA graduate international students
scott.steinbrecher@ucdenver.edu

The generic email address for any advising questions or referrals is spa.advising@ucdenver.edu, and it is checked regularly by staff.

Our academic advisors also provide program support in a variety of ways. For example, advisors consult with faculty program directors and sit in on program committee meetings to provide information and advice on program decisions. Advisors are often involved in revising academic policies and handbooks.

School of Public Affairs College Success Classes
College Success courses, with a UNIV 1110 or 1111 designation, are offered to first-time freshmen through CU Denver’s First Year Experiences programs. The school has developed College Success classes tailored to our students and taught by our advisors. We strongly encourage our first-time freshmen to enroll in these.

School of Public Affairs Academic Support Programs
School of Public Affairs students can self-enroll in a Student Resources Canvas site, maintained by the school, that houses a wide variety of resources. 

In addition to campus tutoring resources, SPA provides free tutoring services for SPA students in the areas of writing, statistics, economics, and budgeting.

Our tutors for 2022-23 are Jenn Hooker (writing) and Shihao Dai (statistics, economics, and budgeting). Please refer students to the SPA Student Resources Canvas site for contact information for these tutors.

You can also contact them directly at jennifer.hooker@ucdenver.edu and shihao.dai@ucdenver.edu if you have questions or want more information about their services.

Undergraduate and graduate students and alumni may request assistance with career placement, including advice on job searches, reviewing resumes, finding internships, and introductions to SPA alumni and contacts in the professional community. Internships and capstone projects are also an important part of career development for students.

Joan Fishburn (joan.fishburn@ucdenver.edu), Career Development and Alumni Engagement Manager, is the school's primary contact for career services. Please forward any capstone/internship/job opportunities to Joan so that she can pass them on to students. Also let Joan know if you hear any news about SPA alumni so that she can update our alumni database.

CU Denver has a wide variety of support services for students, including mental health counseling, tutoring supports, financial aid counseling and a food bank. The Lynx Central website is a great place to find all kinds of resources for students.

CU Denver students with diagnosed disabilities are entitled by law to receive reasonable accommodations necessary to allow them to meet the learning objectives of the class. Depending on the specific disability, these accommodations may mean extra time on assignments or tests, use of assistive technology, note-taking assistance, service animals, etc. Often students are not aware of the availability of accommodations, and it’s always a good idea to put information about the Office of Disability Resources and Services in your syllabus and let students know about it early in the class.

The following are some frequently asked questions about serving students with disabilities.

How do I know what accommodations to provide for a student with a disability?

The student will provide you with a letter from the campus Office of Disability Resources and Services (DRS) that lists the accommodations that have been approved for the student. It is the student’s responsibility to obtain this letter and to make sure it is updated for the current semester.

What if the student doesn’t have an accommodations letter from DRS?

You are not under any obligation to grant a request for accommodations if you do not receive the DRS letter, or if the student has a letter but it is not for the current semester. You may choose to grant the requested accommodation, but keep in mind that you must be fair to all students in your class.

Sometimes students will request extensions on assignments or other accommodations due to an unexpected short-term medical issue rather than an ongoing disability. These types of requests are subject to the university’s Student Attendance and Absences Policy. Contact Kelly Hupfeld at kelly.hupfeld@ucdenver.edu if you have questions about which policies apply to a given situation in your class.

A student in my class just let me know that they have a disability, and we are halfway through the semester. What should I do?

Students with disabilities are not required to declare their disabilities, and sometimes students whose disabilities are not visible think they can make it through a class without accommodations … until they encounter problems. Direct the student to the Office of Disability Resources and Services so that appropriate accommodations can be determined. If the student returns with an accommodations letter and you are able to accommodate them, do so. However, some accommodations require a great deal of advance notice. Refer to the accommodation timeline for appropriate advance notice for a variety of accommodations.

I think a student may have a disability, but they haven’t said anything. How can I help them?

To protect student privacy, it’s best not to single out individual students for suspected disabilities. However, make sure that all of your students are aware of the Office of Disability Resources and Services at the beginning of the semester, and provide periodic general reminders if you think there are students in the class who would benefit from working with DRS.

I have a student in my class who provided me with an accommodations letter allowing extended time for assignments, but the student is now several weeks late with multiple assignments. When am I allowed to grade these assignments down?

Extended time on assignments is a common accommodation. Generally, students with this accommodation are permitted 3-5 additional days, and no more, but sometimes a student will think that they don’t need to meet any deadlines, even revised ones. When a student provides you with a letter granting this type of accommodation, make sure that you and the student are both on the same page with how much extra time is allowed and what happens if the deadline is not met.

I have a student in my class who is entitled to alternative test formats. How does this work?

DRS will provide the alternative test format and administer the test. The student is responsible for giving you a Test Accommodation Form prior to the test. You fill out the required faculty information, and the student will return it to DRS. Staff will administer the exam according to your instructions.

I have a student in my class who is entitled to be assigned a note-taker. What should I do?

Some students have disabilities that interfere with their ability to take notes. In this case, you can ask if any other students in the class will volunteer to share their notes. Alternatively, if you have prepared detailed notes of each lecture, you can share those with the student. If you can’t find a way to accommodate the student in either of those ways, contact DRS for options.

Do I have to allow an animal in my class?

Yes, if the animal is a service animal specifically trained to perform tasks to support a person with a disability. No, if the animal is simply there to provide emotional support for the student, or if the animal is a service animal but is not reasonably well-behaved. Contact DRS for more information.

I don’t understand how to provide the accommodations listed in the accommodations letter. What should I do?

Contact Kelly Hupfeld or the Disability Resources and Services Office.

A student in my class has provided me with an accommodations letter and all accommodations have been provided, but I don’t think the student will be able to meet the learning objectives even with accommodations. What should I do?

You are under no obligation to give the student a passing grade – accommodations are intended to allow the student to access the course at the same level as other students, but do not guarantee that the student will receive a good or even passing grade. In certain cases, for example if the student has experienced worsening disability symptoms that have interfered with their class performance despite their best efforts, you may want to encourage the student to talk to their advisor about whether the student would be eligible for a medical withdrawal.

Other questions about serving students with disabilities? Contact the Disability Resources and Services Office or Kelly Hupfeld at kelly.hupfeld@ucdenver.edu.

Office of Disability Resources and Services
Student Commons Building, Suite 2116
303-315-3510

Students at CU Denver are bound by the CU Denver Student Conduct Code, which prohibits obviously disruptive behaviors such as physical assault, but also prohibits broader behaviors with negative consequences such as “abusive behavior” (defined as verbal abuse, threats, intimidation or other behavior causing severe emotional distress), “bullying” (defined as severe aggressive behavior likely to intimidate or intentionally harm, control, or diminish another person physically or mentally), and disruption or interference with university activities.

In the classroom, your students are expected to refrain from behavior that “a reasonable individual would view as interfering” with the normal operation of your class. You are entitled to direct them to stop this behavior or leave your class; if they do not comply, that is a separate violation of the conduct code because students are required to comply with the direction of university employees who are performing their duties. Coming to class under the influence of alcohol also violates the conduct code, as does recording a person without their permission when the recording is unreasonable and causes substantial emotional distress.

In many cases, students who are disruptive simply may not realize that their behavior is not appropriate, and the problem can be resolved through a quiet conversation with the student. (View the university handout on Disruptive Students.) However, if the student does not curb his or her behavior, or you would like support in handling the situation, please contact Kelly Hupfeld at kelly.hupfeld@ucdenver.edu and/or the Office of Student Conduct.

Unfortunately, sometimes students cheat. This may involve activities like lifting content from another source without proper citation, submitting a paper for your class that was already submitted in a previous class or fabricating sources. Campus policy prohibits academic dishonesty and provides a centralized process for handling charges of academic misconduct. SPA also has an academic integrity policy with procedures that align with the campus policy – you can find SPA’s academic integrity policy in the shared drive: Resources/SPA Policies and Guidelines/Academic Discipline.

If you discover evidence that a student has plagiarized or otherwise cheated in your class, you may impose any consequence that you believe is appropriate, ranging from an admonishment up to and including giving the student a failing grade for the class. Some options for consequences in between these two alternatives include:

• Giving the student a failing grade for the assignment only
• Allowing the student the opportunity to redo the assignment or retake the test but grading the results down
• Requiring the student to submit a written essay on the type of plagiarism he or she has committed
  

While plagiarism is very serious, in most cases it is unintentional. Many students simply do not know what plagiarism is, or how to properly cite their sources. For this reason, faculty often use their discovery of unintentional plagiarism to create a learning opportunity for the student so that it won’t happen again.

Procedures for reporting plagiarism and imposing penalties are governed by university and SPA policies. All instances of plagiarism, intentional or unintentional, must be reported to the university. Refer to the university’s Academic Integrity webpage and SPA’s Academic Integrity policy for the process, and let Kelly Hupfeld (kelly.hupfeld@ucdenver.edu) know if you have any questions.

Student educational records are protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). In general, you should assume that any information related to a student is confidential, and you may not disclose this information to anyone who does not have a legitimate educational interest in it. UCLA provides helpful advice to faculty on how FERPA affects classroom communications and assignments:

• Do not place graded, identifiable student work in the hallway or an unmonitored area for students to pick up.
• Do not post or display grades either publicly or to other students, in print or electronic form, if grades are linked to a student ID number, name, or other identifier. For larger classes, grades can be posted for exams only if a unique ID or number is used that is known only to the instructor and a student.
• Avoid requiring students to post identifiable homework assignments or projects in a publicly accessible online forum (e.g., Facebook, YouTube, and other social media spaces).
• Instead of requiring students to participate in a publicly accessible online blog, allow students to opt out, create a private blog, or consider using the campus learning management system.
• If Doodle or a similar system is used to solicit or share calendar or schedule information, create a private poll so student information is not disclosed to other students.
• Obtain consent from students before sharing any of their personal information, biographical or academic, with other students, faculty or others.
• Do not circulate or post a class roster of student names or one that includes photographs or student ID numbers.
• The cloud computing environment offers many handy and inexpensive applications. However, placing any information about students on a website not under contract with the university may raise FERPA issues. Make the use of these sites optional, or allow students concerned about privacy to provide their information to you in a secure manner.
• In letters of recommendation, faculty, teaching assistants and readers can discuss their personal observations, but they should not disclose information from student records, such as grades, without the student’s consent.
  

You may share a student’s information with other CU Denver personnel who have a legitimate educational interest in the information. For example, you may share relevant information about a student with the faculty program director, the student’s advisor or a campus office that is supporting a student, or your teaching assistant. You may not share student information with a parent unless the student has consented.

For more information, including the requirements for obtaining student consent and additional exceptions to the presumption of confidentiality, visit CU Denver’s Office of the Registrar’s policies page.

Effective external communication begins with effective internal communication, and information sharing is critical. Have news to share? Contact:

Toula Wellbrook
Director of Marketing and Communication
toula.wellbrook@ucdenver.edu
303-315-0174

Targeting your audience

SPA communicates with a variety of audiences, and the contact information for audience segments is stored in a variety of databases accessible through specific software applications. The desired audience segments will typically dictate which software application can be used to reach them.

If there is a particular audience with whom you would like to communicate, please contact Toula Wellbrook at toula.wellbrook@ucdenver.edu to discuss the availability of the data you seek.

Please keep in mind that most announcements to faculty, staff, and students will be communicated via regular, internal newsletters. One-off communications are not typically sent to students unless they are business critical, and these messages typically come from the school leadership.

Additionally, as you grow your own network of contacts, please consider sharing those contacts with Lisa VanRaemdonck (lisa.vanraemdonck@ucdenver.edu) and Joan Fishburn (joan.fishburn@ucdenver.edu) for inclusion in the school's internal community partners database.

Channels

A number of communication channels are managed centrally by University Communications on behalf of CU Denver. Additionally, the School of Public Affairs manages its own communication channels. If you have ideas for content that could potentially be shared via the channels listed below, please contact Toula Wellbrook at toula.wellbrook@ucdenver.edu to discuss.

UComm channels

CU Denver News

This online newsroom is updated daily, with regular news roundups emailed to subscribers within the CU Denver community. Submit content for CU Denver News.

CU Denver social media

• Facebook @UCDenver: facebook.com/UCDenver
• Twitter @CUDenver: twitter.com/cudenver
  
• Instagram #CUDenver: instagram.com/cudenver
  
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/school/university-of-colorado-denver
• YouTube: youtube.com/user/UCDenverVideo

CU Denver School of Public Affairs channels

Website: publicaffairs.ucdenver.edu

The School of Public Affairs website is the world’s window into our school and our most important marketing and student recruitment tool. The website was redesigned during the 2018-19 academic and was launched in March 2019.

Faculty & Staff e-Newsletter

This monthly e-newsletter serves as a means to share good news, important updates, upcoming events, and more to all School of Public Affairs faculty and staff. Each month, faculty and staff are invited to submit content for the newsletter.

Student e-Newsletter

This monthly e-newsletter serves as a means to share good news, important updates, upcoming events, and more to all School of Public Affairs students. The newsletter also serves as a student retention tool, by providing an opportunity to reinforce important messages and calls to action that are critical to student success and retention. Each month, faculty and staff are invited to submit content for the newsletter.

Undergraduate Student Advising Newsletter

These newsletter issues align with key deadlines, calls to actions, and information about academic policies with the aim of student success and retention. The newsletter is a collaboration between the undergraduate advising team and the director of marketing and communication.

Graduate Student Advising Newsletter

These newsletter issues align with key deadlines, calls to actions, and information about academic policies with the aim of student success and retention. The newsletter is a collaboration between the graduate advising team and the director of marketing and communication.

School of Public Affairs Social Media Accounts

Social media provides an opportunity for two-way communication with those who choose to engage with the School of Public Affairs via our accounts listed below. If you have ideas for social media campaigns that are aligned with SPA's strategic goals, please contact Toula Wellbrook at toula.wellbrook@ucdenver.edu to discuss options. Review the School of Public Affairs' social media community guidelines.

Facebook

CU Denver School of Public Affairs
@CUDenverSchoolofPublicAffairs
facebook.com/CUDenverSchoolofPublicAffairs

Center on Domestic Violence (managed by CDV staff)
@CDVDenver
facebook.com/CDVDenver  

LinkedIn

CU Denver School of Public Affairs
linkedin.com/school/university-of-colorado-denver-school-of-public-affairs

Twitter

CU Denver School of Public Affairs
twitter.com/cudenverspa

YouTube

CU Denver School of Public Affairs

Marketing Cloud

This tool, part of the university's eComm suite of tools, enables the School of Public Affairs to design and launch email campaigns that can be targeted to audience segments that are affiliated with CU Denver (e.g., faculty, staff, students, alumni). Contact Toula Wellbrook at toula.wellbrook@ucdenver.edu for more information or for assistance with marketing to these audiences.

Media Relations

The School of Public Affairs works closely with CU Denver's media relations staff so that our faculty, staff and students can have the opportunity to lend their expertise to journalists on topics that are relevant to criminal justice and public administration. Having our SPA community mentioned in the media raises the profile of the school and of our research.

Please consider registering your interest in being contacted as a subject matter expert by the media. Making yourself available to respond to media requests, often on short notice, helps to establish good working relationships with journalists. Occasionally, journalists may contact you directly. On these occasions, please notify Toula Wellbrook (toula.wellbrook@ucdenver.edu), who can partner with CU Denver Media Relations to provide media training upon request.

Photography & video

Neither CU Denver nor the School of Public Affairs employs an in-house photographer. If you have photography needs, please contact Toula Wellbrook to discuss options. Depending on the intended use of the photos, hiring a professional photographer may be an option. Your help may be requested to obtain the appropriate permissions to photograph subjects and to use their images in SPA publicity.

CU Denver provides an in-house video production service for a fee. If you are interested in producing a video, please contact Toula to discuss options. Please also keep in mind that permission must be obtained to film on the CU Denver campus, as well as for filming subjects and using their images in School of Public Affairs publicity.

Submitting photography, video & text

If you intend to submit photos or videos that you have taken or that have been provided to you, or if you intend to submit any copy that has been written by someone other than you for inclusion in any SPA digital or print communications, please be sure to obtain permission from the subjects and authors beforehand. By submitting content to Toula for the purposes of publishing it in SPA channels, it will be implied that you have obtained the necessary permission prior to submitting. Be sure to use the CU Denver SPA Model Image Release Form.

Events

Dee Dee Flynn
Public Relations and Events Senior Professional
deirdre.flynn@ucdenver.edu
303-315-0139

Hosting events provides an ideal opportunity to engage with our School of Public Affairs audiences; however, a well-executed event requires a tremendous amount of advance planning and compliance with university policies. Event planning entails many steps, including:

• Establishing the purpose of the event, event partners or sponsors, and the target audience.
• Establishing whether the event will be in person or a virtual and understanding the protocols in place for in-person events.
• Specifying an event budget and speedtype, with an understanding of the appropriate way to pay for, account, and procure products and services with appropriate approval.
• Booking event locations by knowing the start and end times for the event as well as approximate number of attendees.
• Establishing a means to manage event registration and using approved means of accepting payments for tickets or donations (if relevant).
• Developing messaging to entice the target audience to attend the event and turning the messaging into a communications plan to reach your target audience (and to invite media, if relevant).
• Having your event added to the SPA events calendar as well as the university-wide events calendar for increased promotion.
• Creating your guest list and determining the best channels for reaching your invited guests. If government officials are among your invited guests, being sure to refer to CU’s Guidelines on Inviting Government Officials to Campus.
• Developing event programming and considering the roles and needs of all participants of the event, including attendees, emcees, speakers, facilitators, volunteers, vendors, journalists, etc.
• Planning the event logistics, like parking, room set-up, IT set-up, materials to be handed out during the event, catering, and photography.
• Providing webinar event training, if needed, so that the event host can successfully manage events independently, if desired.
• Understanding university policies around purchasing and serving alcohol, if relevant.
• Developing a plan to further engage your attendees after the event.
• Evaluating the success of the event and participating in a post-event debrief.

This is not an exhaustive list of steps involved in event planning but merely a guide. If you are considering planning an event, please contact Dee Dee Flynn at deirdre.flynn@ucdenver.edu for assistance as early as possible. In the event that she is not available to manage your event, she will be a great resource for ensuring that you understand CU Denver processes and policies around hosting events, and she can provide best practices, checklists, contact information for vendors, webinar support, and more. Emma also can assist you with the messaging and publicity for events that you are hosting.