Chris Smith

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Director of Faculty Affairs

Email Address: [email protected] Primary Phone: 303-315-2074 Office Hours: By appointment

Bio

Chris Smith serves as the Director of Faculty Affairs & HR Operations for the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. She provides operational leadership for all faculty affairs and HR processes, interpreting and implementing university, campus, and school‑level policies to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance. In addition to managing the full faculty lifecycle—from recruitment and appointment to reappointment, sabbaticals, promotion and tenure, and annual performance reviews—Chris oversees all staff personnel and payroll administration. This includes managing staff job descriptions, job progression and classification updates, annual performance review processes, compensation and payroll actions, and the integrity of all position and personnel data across the School. She also supervises the School’s HR & Operations Specialist.

In addition to her faculty affairs and HR responsibilities, Chris manages all scheduling requests for the Dean and supports executive‑level coordination across the School.

With over 28 years of service to CU Denver, Chris began her career in the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, where she led faculty affairs operations for nearly a decade before joining the School of Public Affairs in 2006.