The CU Regents govern Colorado’s largest university system.
Colorado’s founders established the University of Colorado as the state's flagship university with a nine-member Board of Regents to govern it (Colo. Const. Art. 9, Sec. 12-13). Today, CU spans four campuses in Boulder, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Aurora (Anschutz), making it Colorado’s largest university system, the third-largest employer, and contributing $17 billion annually to the state’s economy.
The Regents are responsible for passing CU’s budget, which last year totaled over $6 billion, hiring and managing the University’s President, establishing policies and laws that apply across the CU system, approving tenure recommendations, and much more. The Regents operate as a policy governance board much like local school boards.
Eight of the nine Regents are elected by congressional district, while one Regent is elected statewide (at-large).
The at-large seat is currently open because incumbent Regent At-Large Lesley Smith is running for the state house of representatives and is therefore not seeking reelection to the Board of Regents.