FORT COLLINS — The Colorado State University System’s Board of Governors convened June 6 and 7 on the CSU Fort Collins campus for its regular meeting, bringing together system leadership, board members, and campus representatives to review finances, employee benefits, compensation, and internal audit priorities. CSU Pueblo was a consistent presence across two days of discussions, with institutional leaders reporting on the university’s budget management, employee benefits administration, and ongoing operations.

CSU Pueblo Demonstrates Sound Benefits Management

One of the meeting’s notable new additions was a system-wide benefits report, presented to the board for the first time. Chancellor Frank framed it directly by stating, “Human talent is the most important asset that any institution has and one of the most important pieces of attracting and retaining that talent is benefits packages.”

Jennifer Martin White, Director of Human Resources for Employee Relations at CSU Pueblo, presented the university’s benefits structure and its participation in the Colorado Higher Education Insurance Benefits Alliance Trust, known as CHEBA. The trust, created in the early 1970s, pools purchasing power across eight Colorado higher education institutions to negotiate better rates and share risk on large claims.

CSU Pueblo currently covers 337 employees on its benefit plans, with an additional 349 dependents, totaling 686 covered members. Through CHEBA, those employees join a pool of more than 9,000 covered across member institutions.

“Employees should be able to choose what is best for them and their families as opposed to just the cost.”

Jennifer Martin White, Director of Human Resources for Employee Relations at CSU Pueblo

Martin White outlined the three medical plan options available to CSU Pueblo employees, ranging from a high-deductible plan to PPO and point-of-service options. A deliberate decision was made to price the PPO and point-of-service plans at the same cost to employees.

The university covers 74.2% of employee medical premium costs, with dental costs split equally between the institution and employees. CSU Pueblo has also been strategic in pursuing cost efficiencies within CHEBA. The university moved to self-funded vision insurance in 2025, a transition Martin White described as successful, and moved to self-funded dental in 2026. A decision on whether to self-fund medical insurance in 2027 is currently under analysis.

Last year, CHEBA’s trust-wide plan design adjustments reduced projected premium increases by 4%, without raising employee contributions.

CFO Ortiz Reports on Budget Trends

CSU Pueblo Chief Financial Officer Ortiz presented the university’s year-over-year budget trend report to the Finance and Audit Committee, using the same format introduced by the Fort Collins campus CFO for system-wide comparisons.

Ortiz opened by identifying two significant factors shaping the university’s Education and General subfund — known as ENG, the institution’s primary general fund — in the current fiscal year. The loss of federal Title V grant funding affected several line items, and the university took early action at the start of FY27 to reduce vacancies in academic affairs.

“It is much better practice that we have now decentralized those costs down to the actual colleges, which allows us to see that cost now at a college and position level.”

CSU Pueblo Chief Financial Officer Ortiz

He also described a notable operational change: the university decentralized its fringe cost pool as part of its Workday implementation, moving benefit costs from a central line item to individual colleges and positions.

CSU Pueblo’s total enterprise stands at approximately $115 million across all subfunds. The ENG subfund, at a little over $66 million in FY27, includes the majority of academic programming as well as facilities, campus safety, and operations.

The university entered FY27 managing a structural gap in ENG. Through coordinated efforts across multiple divisions, the university addressed that gap while preserving core programming. Reductions across the schools focused largely on sweeping vacant positions and shifting funding sources.

Ortiz noted that academic affairs, and the provost’s office in particular, contributed more than 5% in reductions over the past two fiscal years toward structural balancing. He credited the provost’s office and the collaboration across divisions for protecting instructional programs during the process.

The largest single variance in the budget report was a 13.9% reduction to student affairs, driven by contributions those units made toward the broader structural balance.

Internal Audit Update

The board’s Finance and Audit Committee also approved the FY27 internal audit plan. Director Serrano presented the system-wide plan, which addresses risks across all CSU campuses.

The committee heard that the CSU Pueblo Auxiliaries audit was recently completed, with 10 total recommendations — eight rated medium risk and two rated high risk. The high-risk findings centered on financial controls within the auxiliaries unit, including the absence of a dedicated accounting position in a department that generated approximately $8 million in revenue in fiscal year 2025. The audit also identified a need for more measurable strategies to address cash and fund balance deficits within that unit. The auditor noted that CFO Ortiz had already identified the staffing gap before the audit was completed and had begun taking steps to address it.

The committee also reviewed an overdue recommendations report. All 16 overdue items currently on the system’s list pertain to CSU Pueblo, with staffing and capacity constraints cited as the primary reasons for delays. Several items are rated high or critical risk, largely related to financial controls. Director Serrano noted that ongoing conversations with President Epper and Ortiz are focused on making progress on those items.

The FY27 audit plan, approved by the board, includes a Workday post-implementation review across the system, along with audits of parking services, bookstore, and AI governance. New this year, the audit team is also scheduling direct campus trainings on internal controls and fraud awareness.

Board Recognizes System Leadership

The Board’s Personnel and Evaluation Committee opened the second day of sessions with its annual review of compensation for system leaders. The committee chair addressed the board with findings from the year’s performance evaluations.

“Looking back at the past year, the board is pleased with the leadership of the chancellor and our three presidents and their work to meet their annual goals during a challenging and changing time for higher education.”

CSU System Board of Governors Personnel and Evaluation Committee Chair

For President Rhonda Epper, whose contract includes compensation set through her existing employment agreement, the committee recommended no changes to her current compensation structure. Base salary adjustments across the system take effect July 1, 2026.

The board voted unanimously to accept the committee’s recommendations.

New Board Members Connect to Pueblo

During board introductions, two new members with direct ties to CSU Pueblo introduced themselves. Nathaniel Krieger, the incoming student board president at CSU Pueblo, shared that he grew up between Pueblo and Colorado Springs and has roots in smaller Colorado communities. Governor Justin Holman shared that he grew up in Pueblo and attended Centennial High School.

The CSU System Board of Governors meets regularly to provide oversight for Colorado State University, CSU Pueblo, and CSU Global.