Urgent: Action Needed, One Last Time!

Metro State needs your help to restore state funding
for the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) Science Building.

Prominent K-12 education associations have recently come out in opposition to these bills, so your action is VITAL to ensure funding for the Science Building.

Please call your State Representative this week and ask that they support BOTH SB 218 and SB 233 to secure funding for the AHEC Science Building.

Thanks in part to your actions, the Colorado State Senate has passed two measures needed to bring funding to the AHEC Science Building, after the state’s revenue projections led to an initial decision to not fund the building. The mechanisms needed to bring that funding to fruition are 1. SB 218, a change to the Federal Mineral Lease revenue allocation and 2. SB 233, a subsequent Certificates of Participation (COP – each initial pronounced) bill to allow the state to bond for specified higher education capital construction projects, including the AHEC Science Building. In addition, the Senate and House will need to approve a Joint Resolution listing the projects to be funded. This list does include the AHEC building.

Calls to Representatives should be made immediately!! The legislature is aiming to adjourn early, so these bills must pass the House this week.

If you don’t know the name of your State Senator, you can easily identify your legislators at www.vote-smart.org. Contact information for state legislators is available at www.leg.state.co.us.

You can print and distribute an
updated fact sheet to help get
the word out.

Please explain that State Funding for the AHEC Science Building is essential! Why?

• The current science building presents health and safety hazards because of overcrowding and outdated HVAC systems. Two labs have had to be closed due to dangerous levels of chemical fumes and inadequate ventilation.
  
  
• AHEC has already begun construction of the Science Building , based on an appropriation from the state last year. If state funding doesn’t come through this year, the project is placed in serious jeopardy and will – at a minimum - result in very costly delays.
  
  
• The AHEC Science Building supports the training of future science and technology workers. The new science building, with students from all three institutions, will educate more future scientists of color than any other location in the state and support the state’s economic development.

Background on AHEC & the Science Building Proposal

• The student population on the AHEC campus has grown 250% since the campus opened in 1976 and now serves 39,000 students.
  
  
• One fifth of all public higher education students in Colorado attend classes at Auraria, the majority of them Metro State students. The number of students has doubled since Auraria opened, with only a 15% increase in space and 8.9% of the capital construction funds distributed to higher education institutions in the past 10 years.
  
  
• Colorado has the highest concentration of high-tech workers in all 50 states. The new science building on the Auraria campus will help support Colorado ’s fast-growing high-tech/science industries, enhancing Colorado ’s economic development.
  
  
• Metro State students will gain 13 biology, chemistry, and earth and atmospheric labs, four research labs, a geographic information systems classroom and a computer lab.

Proclamation Applauding Governor Ritter and General Assembly leadership for re-establishing state funding for the Auraria Science Building Renovation and Expansion for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Science Building Fact Sheet

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METRO STATE ALUMNI ACTION TASK FORCE

Who We Are

The Metropolitan State College of Denver's Alumni Action Task Force (AATF) is a coalition of 150 alumni volunteers who share a commitment to higher education and to their alma mater. A grassroots effort formed to "swing the alumni bat" on behalf of Metro State , the network recruits, educates, and mobilize alumni and friends to deliver the College's key concerns and messages to the legislature.

With over 57,000 alumni, a united voice can be a powerful tool at the Colorado State Legislature and in Colorado 's communities.

Membership includes alumni from the first graduating class to recent grads and spans all areas of Colorado . The group's mission - to act as a public voice for the College - reflects the mission of the Alumni Association to "cultivate relationships, motivate participation and create opportunities for a continuous connection with the College, its alumni and the community."

The Alumni Action Task Force is supported by the Metro State Alumni Association, a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, through private funds.  No state funds or student fees/funds are used towards any AATF efforts.

What It Means for Alumni

The Alumni Action Task Force provides a vehicle for interested alums and other supporters of Metro State to learn more about policy decisions that impact Metro State and how they can make a difference.

History

The Alumni Action Team first took shape early in 2000 in response to Colorado House Bill 00-1289, which called for an examination of the Colorado higher education system. As the year 2000 came to a close, the consultants studying higher education in Colorado released their final report. As a result of the study's recommendations, the Metro State Alumni Association called on its alumni to support the glowing recommendation that an independent governing board should govern Metro State .

In 2001 and 2002, the group worked closely with the alumni board and the Metro State Foundation by writing letters, making phone calls and paying personal visits to Colorado legislators in order to support Metro's call for independence. On June 7, 2002 , Colorado Governor Bill Owens signed House Bill 02-1165 into law, which granted the establishment of an independent governing board for Metro State .

Since that time, the AATF has also engaged to maintain the Intercollegiate Athletics Program at Metro State , and in support of Referendum C and D which appeared on the November 2005 ballot. Passage of Referendum C was vitally important to avoid additional and substantial cuts in state support for institutions of higher education including Metro State .

For more information, or to join the Alumni Action Task Force, please contact Stefanie Carroll at 303-556-6935 or via email at volunteer@mscdtaskforce.org or click here to join the AATF.