Faculty Senate Meeting Summary 5/30/24; Year in Review

Dear Colleagues,

The final meeting of the Faculty Senate for AY 2023-24 was held on 5/30/24. This report contains the usual meeting summary, and a brief year in review. Full text of remarks and reports from 5/30 can be found on the agenda.

Senate Chair’s Remarks:

Chair Cindy Dougherty summarized some of the considerable work accomplished this year in shared governance, including her priorities: dispute resolution (the inauguration of the faculty liaison program; administrative guidelines for conduct complaints), and faculty well-being (results of survey; safety concerns). She thanked all involved in the Senate, councils, and committees, for working hard and engaging in detail. And thank you, Cindy, for your caring and your tireless work on behalf of faculty.

Secretary of the Faculty:

Professor Mike Townsend (School of Law) will retire on 9/15 after eight years of service as the Secretary of the Faculty. Thank you, Mike, for your distinguished service, and enjoy your well-deserved retirement! Congratulations to Professor Gautham Reddy (School of Medicine, Radiology), who was elected as the incoming Secretary of the Faculty for a term of five years.

Dispute Resolution:

The Executive Committee on 5/20/24 endorsed the “Implementation Guidelines for Upholding Standard of Conduct Requirements in the Faculty Code (FC 25-71)” (p. 5-7 in the Senate agenda). Along with the faculty liaison program, this administrative recommendation is the result of work of the Dispute Resolution Working Group, and aims at reducing or providing off-ramps to the adversarial 25-71 process. Senate leadership will follow through with administration on implementation.

New Business and Discussion Items.

Class A Legislation – Expanding Candidates’ Rights in the Promotion Process.  The Senate approved the third and final version of this legislation which has recently been distributed to the faculty for vote, with a deadline of June 15. This version is the result of significant work in the Faculty Council on Faculty Affairs in response to administrative concerns about the initial version. If passed, the two major changes to the Faculty Code would 1) expand the rights of promotion candidates to review and respond to documents created in the process of review, and 2) explicitly recognize the role of the Provost in order to regulate that level of review. Details can be found in Exhibit G of the agenda.

Class C Resolution – Use of Student Course Evaluations. The Senate debated and passed this resolution, presented by the Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning, which suggests a series of guidelines for the Provost’s office in the use of student evaluations in promotion review, understanding evaluations as tools for improvement and growth rather than absolute rankings.

Class C Resolution – University of Washington Tri-campus Structure. The Senate debated and passed this resolution which presents multiple inconsistencies in administrative structure between the three campuses, and calls on tri-campus and Senate leadership to align Executive Orders with the Faculty Code.

Class C Resolution – Regarding Ethical Divestment from Companies Contributing to Human Rights Violations in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The Senate debated and passed this resolution calling on the UW Regents to divest from companies whose products or services contribute to human rights violations including but not limited to those involved in the current war in Gaza.

There were two discussion items which the senate was not able to fully discuss at the end of the meeting: updates from campus safety listening sessions (Exhibit K), and the results of the Chair’s faculty wellbeing survey (attached here, also linked). A shared theme across the safety sessions was a desire for more faculty involvement in solutions. The wellbeing survey revealed that merit, salary, and “realistic workload” were significant concerns across rank, title, and campus, along with salary issues like equity and compression.

Other Updates:

Faculty salary adjustment update from the Provost: All adjustments moving forward will take place on the same date, September 1^st, each year.

FT impacts on research: the Faculty Council on Research is conducting a follow-up survey on Financial Transformation. Please share your experiences.

Year in Review

Here are just a few highlights of the Senate’s work in 2023-24 under Chair Dougherty’s leadership. More details and links can be found in entries on the Faculty Senate news page.

Legislation on Secretary of the Faculty qualifications, voting timelines, retention offers, promotion and tenure (Class A); incompletes, academic standing, majors (Class B).

Resolutions on decarbonization, support for research scientists, teaching evaluations, divestment, tri-campus structure (Class C).

Presentations on retention offers and demographics, the Faculty Regent, Financial Transformation’s impacts, Disability Access, unit adjustments, future of teaching and learning. PI status of teaching faculty.

Dispute Resolution outcomes: faculty liaisons and administrative guidelines.

Academic Freedom Webinars from Pen America: within and outside the classroom.

Council webinars on decarbonization, holistic mentoring and DEI statements.

Looking Forward

I hope that these Senate vice chair’s newsletters have provided insight into the work of the Senate and councils this year, although they do not of course replace minutes as official records of meetings. It has been an honor to work with the fantastic Senate staff this year, and every single one of my colleagues in shared governance: Chair Dougherty and Senate leadership, council chairs and members, senators, the Senate Executive Committee, and our administrative partners. Faculty service is not given the recognition it deserves – an issue I hope we can address next year as part of a broad conversation on workload equity – and it’s inspiring that so many of you choose to do it anyway. As I step into the role of Senate chair, I’m looking forward to continuing to work with and learn from you next year. Please do get in touch over the summer if you have thoughts about Senate priorities or operations next year. For those of you who are Senate-curious, please consider serving on Senate and/or one of our councils. We’d welcome having you.

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate, and Chair-Elect for 2024-25.

 

Colleagues,

The recording of the Pen America discussion titled, “Robust Conversations in the Classroom – Academic Freedom and Inclusion” can be found on OneDrive.

Cindy Dougherty

Chair, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Summary 5/2/24; Promotion and Tenure Legislation

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing with a report on the Senate meeting held on 5/2/24. As always, full text of remarks and reports can be found on the agenda. Of particular and timely note is revised Class A legislation on promotion and tenure (see below), which will be discussed at a special meeting on 5/14. Senators have received a document explaining the legislation and recent changes: please engage them with any questions or concerns before the vote on 5/14.

Senate Chair’s Remarks:

Chair Dougherty gave updates on many initiatives, including: the faculty wellbeing survey has closed with over 800 responses, and results will be presented in the 5/30 Senate meeting. The dispute resolution taskforce is finalizing new suggested processes intended to problem-solve before “25-71” disciplinary procedures. Recent listening sessions with Sally Clark (Vice President, Campus Community Safety) on faculty safety across our three campuses are summarized in the slides in Exhibit L. There will be a webinar with Pen America providing tools for “robust conversations in the classroom”, held on 5/16 from 12:00-1:00.

UW President’s Remarks:

President Cauce shared thoughts on the Palestine liberated zone on campus, recognizing the protestors’ commitment and pain, and their free speech rights. She spoke to the complexity of financial divestment demands, and indicated that prohibiting members of the UW community from scholarly partnerships with Israel would violate academic freedom. She urged faculty who might be working with students in the movement to help them stay safe.

Election Results:

The following colleagues will serve in Senate leadership roles in 2024-25: Professor Aarti Bhat as Vice Chair of the Senate; Professor Jacob Vigdor as Faculty Legislative Representative; Professor Amanda Kost as Deputy Faculty Legislative Representative.

The Senate Executive Committee considered four nominees for Secretary of the Faculty, to serve from 2024-29. One name was forwarded to the Senate, who will confirm by vote.

Unfinished and New Business.

Class B Legislation– Registration Priority: Class B legislation on registration (first Senate consideration on 4/11) was disapproved by the President, whose letter is in the agenda.

Class B Legislation – Majors: The Senate passed legislation to migrate academic major criteria into Scholastic Regulations, with the understanding that this is just a first step to codification. The legislation will be distributed to faculty in a Class B Bulletin.

Class A legislation – Transparency in Retention Raises. Senators gave second consideration to this legislation, addressing presidential concerns around units’ rights to determine their own policy. A version was passed that reaffirmed these rights, and sought to balance transparency with privacy in retention offers. It will be distributed for a full faculty vote.

• Class A Legislation – Expanding Candidates’ Rights in the Promotion Process. Senators gave second consideration to this legislation that would increase candidates’ rights to see, and in some cases respond to, documents gathered for their promotion files. There was Presidential concern on the initial legislation mostly related to impacts on timeline. The Senate Executive Committee presented the Senate with hypothetical amendments to address these concerns. Discussion in the Senate quickly revealed that both the SEC alternative proposal and the original Senate legislation would need to be fine-tuned in order to receive Presidential approval. Rather than attempt to fine-tune in real time at that meeting, the Senate voted to refer the legislation to FCFA (Faculty Council on Faculty Affairs) allowing time to think carefully and choose the right words. FCFA now have a revised proposal which has been sent to senators and will be discussed on 5/14.
• Class A Legislation – Voting Timelines. The Senate passed this non-controversial change to the Code that helps steer legislation through the pipeline by June 15^th each year, and exempts breaks from voting timelines.

Faculty Senate business is always most impacted at the end of the year, as councils move legislation they’ve been working on during the year, and we acknowledge that it feels like a lot all at once. I hope these updates help, although they do not replace full, formal minutes. Please reach out with any questions.

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate

 

Dear Colleagues,

Please join us on May 16 from 12-1pm via Zoom for a discussion with Pen America titled, “Robust Conversations in the Classroom – Academic Freedom and Inclusion” sponsored by the Executive Office and the Faculty Senate. A flyer with information about the event is attached.

This session is designed to explain the authority of professors in the classroom to set expectations, community standards for communication, and assessments based on information integrity, disciplinary standards, and learning objectives. Concrete tools for classroom activities that can elicit student engagement and open exchange across viewpoints, while also supporting active listening, nuanced dialogue, and community building will be shared.

If you would like to submit anonymous questions or comments before the discussion, please use Slido.

Cindy Dougherty

Professor, School of Nursing

Chair, Faculty Senate

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University of Washington Faculty Senate

Gerberding Hall Box 351271
1704 Grant Lane, Gerberding 36, Seattle, WA 98195-1271
206.685.2703 / senate@uw.edu
http://www.washington.edu/faculty/

Dear Colleagues,

Our April Senate meeting on the 4^th went into a continuation meeting, held on the 11^th. The continuation meeting adjourned with some business still unfinished. We’ve been busy!

This is a report on both April meetings. As always, full text of remarks and reports can be found on the agenda. Items 10g and 10h are unfinished at the time of writing.

New business and discussion in Senate:

Senate Chair’s and UW President’s Remarks: Chair Dougherty announced listening sessions for each campus concerning safety; a webinar on academic freedom in the classroom; and a survey on wellbeing. Please look for forthcoming e-mail announcements for all. President Cauce spoke on the horror of the escalating crisis in Gaza, and on a volatile climate on campus where some are being personally targeted. She commended the members of the recently-formed task forces on Islamophobia and antisemitism for working in dialogue on their extremely difficult charges.

Adjudication Panel – Request from the Secretary of the Faculty: Mike Townsend noted the urgent need for more faculty to serve on the Faculty Adjudication Panel. Open to voting faculty, and emeritus faculty who had voting status on retirement. Please e-mail Joey Burgess (jmbg@uw) if interested.

Faculty Retention Data: Marjorie Olmstead, AVP for Academic Personnel, presented centrally-held data on (completed) retention offers, including some demographics. Slides are in the agenda. We are grateful for this move towards transparency, which we also hope to support with the Class A legislation described below.

Faculty Legislative and Deputy Legislative Representative (FLR and FDLR) Candidate Presentations / Vice Chair Election Second Round: Senators heard presentations from four excellent colleagues running for election to represent us in Olympia–and to represent Olympia to us. Their letters of interest are in the agenda. Thank you all for stepping up to create coalition around higher education in our state capital. Our Vice Chair elections are moving to a second round; with three very strong candidates, there was no initial majority. Senators, please remember to vote for all three by Friday April 12th (look for “election” in e-mail subject).

Class A legislation – Transparency in Retention Raises. Senators gave first consideration to proposed legislation that would require informing all faculty in a unit of a proposed retention offer, and remove the option for a unit to follow an alternate policy. There was robust debate about this latter change, and an amendment was passed that would keep in place the right to alternate policies. Proposed language requiring deans to submit all data on retention requests (not just successful ones) was maintained.

• Class A Legislation – Expanding Candidates’ Rights in the Promotion Process. Senators gave first consideration to proposed legislation that would significantly increase candidates’ rights to see documents gathered for their promotion files, and that makes more transparent the existing role of the Provost as granted by the Regents. One amendment was passed; the legislation as a whole enjoyed great support.
• Class A Legislation – Voting Timelines. This is a non-controversial change to the Code that helps steer legislation through the pipeline by June 15^th each year, and exempts breaks from voting timelines.

Class B Legislation (4/11 continuation meeting) – Registration Priority: Senators discussed proposed Class B legislation to address course registration bottlenecks in Period 1. The legislation passed with a major amendment and will be reviewed by the President (UPDATE: the legislation was disapproved by the President).

Other updates:

Recruitment: As well as the need for Adjudication Panel volunteers, we always welcome hearing from colleagues interested in serving on our councils, which are the engine rooms of shared governance and a chance to help change policies. Diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and views are welcome and necessary. Please contact Joey Burgess if you are interested.

Event recordings: The Faculty Council on Research held a hybrid workshop on holistic mentoring, and the Faculty Council on Race, Equity and Justice hosted a webinar with Dr. Randall Kennedy who presented his arguments against required DEI statements. Huge thanks to our hardworking councils for their impact, responsiveness, and outreach.

The next regular Faculty Senate meeting is May 2, 2024. Please do engage your Senator and our Councils on issues that matter to you. I also hold Office Hours. In the meantime, I hope the quarter has started off as well as possible.

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing with a summary of our most recent Faculty Senate meeting, and some general updates including upcoming panels and webinars.

The fifth full meeting of this year’s Faculty Senate was on 3/7/2024. Full text of remarks and reports can be found on the agenda. In particular, the reports from our Planning and Budgeting Chair, and our Legislative Representative, both contain information of broad interest to faculty: future alignment of the timing of unit adjustment and annual merit review processes; and state-level enrollment and budget issues, including athletics.

New business and discussion:

Senate Chair’s and UW President’s Remarks: Chair Dougherty and President Cauce both expressed gratitude for our faculty’s hard work and resilience during a difficult quarter. Chair Dougherty announced two upcoming discussion panels, detailed below. She also requested that senators be ready to discuss the faculty code section 25-71, “Standards of Conduct,” since the dispute resolution working group may be proposing legislative changes, with a view to providing alternatives to this process.

Vice Chair Candidate Presentations: Senators heard presentations from three inspiring colleagues running for election to serve as next year’s Vice Chair. Their letters of interest are in the agenda. We thank these colleagues for leaning into the challenges of governance in difficult times. I know how hard it is to put yourself out there, and it will be a privilege to serve with whomever is elected. Senators, please look for a separate e-mail with a reminder to vote by March 15.

UW Financial Transformation (FT) Update: the Faculty Council for Research (FCR) presented results from the council’s survey of FT’s impacts on faculty research. The slides in the agenda show the level of responsiveness of the Office of Research to faculty concerns expressed in the survey. Thank you to our colleagues in the Office of Research and in FCR for exemplifying how shared governance can work at its best to confront difficult issues.

Webinar, “Conceptual Foundations of Free Speech and Academic Freedom”. As part of Chair Dougherty’s focus on negotiating difference, and with Provost Serio’s support, Professor Lara Schwartz, J.D., from Pen America presented a workshop on the legal framework of the First Amendment, principles of free speech and academic freedom, and unprotected speech such as harassment or threats, including articulations with equity concerns. The recording can be viewed here (UW ID required), and some background on the invitation is here. Resources, including the Campus Guide to Free Speech, are here. There will be another webinar in the spring related to classroom conflict; details to follow.

Other updates:

Upcoming panels: please consider attending these panel discussions hosted by our hard-working colleagues in faculty councils:

• Mentoring, hosted by Faculty Council on Research: March 27^th, 12-1 pm. HUB 214 and online via Zoom (link forthcoming). Multiple panelists will speak on “Holistic Mentorship and Creating a Positive Research Climate”.
• A critical view on DEI statements, hosted by Faculty Council on Race, Equity, and Justice: April 5^th, 11-12:20 via Zoom only. Register here, and post questions here. Dr. Randall Kennedy (Harvard Law School) will provide a different viewpoint on DEI statements from that supported in last year’s webinar with Dr. Brian Soucek. 

Recruitment: Applications for the Secretary of the Faculty, Faculty Legislative Representative, and Deputy Legislative Representative are now closed. Excellent candidates were nominated for all three positions. The Senate Executive Committee will update on next steps after the March 25^th meeting. On an ongoing basis, we always welcome hearing from colleagues interested in serving on our councils, which are the engine rooms of shared governance and a chance to help change policies. Diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and views are welcome and necessary. Please contact Joey Burgess if you are interested.

Parental Leave for Non-Birth Parents: in February, Provost Serio announced a significant policy development : faculty may now use sick leave to care for a birth parent, and more changes to parental leave policy are being developed. This was based on input from faculty, including the Faculty Council on Gender, Equity, and Justice. Thank you to everyone who advocated, and to Provost Serio for acting on feedback. This is great news, and an example of how participation in governance can change policy.

The next full Faculty Senate meeting is April 4, 2024. Please do engage your Senator and our Councils on issues that matter to you; they can’t represent you without hearing from you. In the spirit of increasing access to governance, I have been holding Office Hours this year. In the meantime, I hope you can find a few days, despite the pace of the quarter system, to step back from work during spring break.

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate

In August, the Senate Leadership and the Provost jointly identified academic freedom and free speech as issues of importance at our University and began a conversation with Pen America about providing training opportunities for faculty on these topics. Provost Serio had previously participated in such trainings. After circulating an invitation to the faculty to attend a Zoom forum with Pen America on March 7, a faculty member alerted us to an incident at a Pen America-sponsored event in Los Angeles on 1/31/24, which you may read about here.  Approximately 600 writers and poets have also penned an open letter to Pen America.

We acknowledge that there will be a range of opinions among our faculty about the stated principles, practices and approaches used by Pen America, and we welcome those perspectives. At the same time, this situation is emblematic of the challenges that we all face every day: how to protect the rights of all to speak even when we are in disagreement. While one can question whether we would have asked this specific group to lead that conversation given recent events, the Campus for All program is a separate division of Pen America and, given their work with other campuses, is well suited to facilitate a discussion at the intersection of academic freedom and free speech.  We believe that this discussion is an important one for us to have at this time. Participation in the forum on March 7 is voluntary, but we hope that you will join us in this space to learn, to be in dialogue together, and to grapple with this tension, independent of any one issue. We also acknowledge that different perspectives will be valuable in guiding our own thinking on these topics. We will work together to identify other partners to support our continued conversation around free speech and academic freedom.

Faculty Senate Meeting Summary 2/8/24; Recruitment Updates

Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing with a summary of the first Faculty Senate meeting of Winter quarter, and some general updates on our recruitment efforts into shared governance.

The fourth full meeting of this year’s Faculty Senate was on 2/9/2024. Full text of remarks and reports can be found on the agenda, including updates from Planning and Budgeting, our Legislative Representative, and many of our Faculty Councils. I hope you can take the time to read them and appreciate how hard our colleagues are working behind the scenes on our behalf.

New business and discussion:

Chair’s Remarks: Among other updates, Chair Dougherty informed the Senate that, with Provost Serio’s support, PEN America will be conducting a webinar workshop during our next Senate meeting, March 7^th, on academic freedom and free speech in our public institution. There will be space for 1,000 attendees. Please watch for this e-mail announcement, and join us if you can for this timely and useful event. Also, our three faculty liaisons are completing training to help faculty involved in dispute resolution, and the program will go live by the end of the month.

President’s Remarks: acknowledging the painful issues we face in our community and the world, President Cauce affirmed her personal and institutional commitment to academic freedom. She invited senators to offer their thoughts on collective /departmental statements on university websites. She does not want to ban such statements as other university leaders have done, but wants to strike a balance with the right to dissent and institutional neutrality. As such, she discussed potential guidelines – not a ruling – for collective academic statements on topics of public interest. Guidelines are likely forthcoming in a non-binding form.

Class C Resolution on the Timetable for Climate Crisis Finance and Decarbonization. After a second review by Senate Executive Committee, this Resolution from the Council for Campus Planning and Stewardship, was submitted to the Senate for vote. It passed with a substantial majority. Students were in attendance to show support. It calls for a goal of 95% reduction of Scope 1 emissions by 2035.

Disability Access Requirements on the Horizon: Coordinators for DRS (Disability Resources for Students) and  our ADA office presented an overview of existing and possibly-forthcoming requirements for accessibility in the context of a big increase in demand. They asked us to share out specific questions to constituents about how to shift our model to meet demand and legal requirements. These questions can be found at the end of their presentation; please discuss within your units. Course materials and modalities will be particularly implicated.

Recruitment announcements:

Applications for Secretary of the Faculty: our esteemed SecFac Mike Townsend is stepping down in September after 8 years of outstanding service. We are seeking nominations for his replacement, due by February 16^th to jjsmith4@uw.edu. Candidates must be a voting faculty member at the rank of associate professor or professor and have deep knowledge of, and commitment to, shared governance.

Faculty Legislative Representative and Deputy Faculty Legislative Representative: representing faculty issues in Olympia for the academic year 2024-25. Please send nominations to secfac@uw.edu by March 1^st.

Faculty Councils: please consider serving on one of our councils, which are the engine rooms of shared governance and a chance to help change policies. Diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and views are welcome and necessary. Please complete the interest survey to indicate your issues of interest.

Vice Chair of the Senate: nominations are closed and interviews are being conducted.

The next full Faculty Senate meeting is March 7, 2024.

I continue to be inspired by my colleagues in shared governance who step up to do critical labor that is not recognized enough in our metrics of excellence. Governance is not an easy space, but you lean in with such good faith, bringing your expertise and a spirit of service to benefit us all. Thank you.

And as always – in fact more than ever – we welcome the engagement of faculty at large. Your Senator can be found on the roster, and I hold Office Hours.

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate

Dear colleagues,

This is a longer update as we head into the break. It contains a summary of December’s Faculty Senate meeting, as well as more general updates on ongoing work and concerns.

The third full meeting of the Faculty Senate was on 12/7/2023. Full text of reports can be found on the agenda, including written reports not summarized here: Planning and Budgeting (unit adjustments), and our Legislative Representatives (public records).

New business and discussion included:

• Chair’s Remarks. Chair Dougherty acknowledged ongoing distress related to war abroad and campus shootings in the US. She updated faculty on the possible implementation of the Okanagan Charter for healthy universities, and participating in events run by PEN America touching on free speech protections. The Faculty Council for Faculty Affairs will launch a survey in the Winter on faculty well being.
• President’s Remarks. President Cauce addressed the Senate in the midst of a student-led pro-Palestinian occupation of Gerberding Hall, the administrative building on the Seattle campus. She expressed support for free speech, and condemned religious discrimination. Task forces on Islamophobia and antisemitism are being charged, and there will be a series of events on Israel-Palestine sponsored by her office starting in Winter. The President invites faculty to inform her about anyone who is experiencing identity- or viewpoint-based harassment.
• Oral report from our inaugural faculty Regent, Professor Alexes Harris, who shared her first impressions and invited faculty to attend Board of Regents meetings, especially the quarterly DEI Committee meetings, which she chairs. Slides are in the agenda, p. 10-19.
• Finance transformation report by Chief of Staff Margaret Shepherd, presented by Vice Provost Sarah Hall. Senators asked many questions about FT’s impact on research, and slides are attached.
• Update from Vice Provost Fred Nafukho on plans to use Interfolio’s Review, Promotion and Tenure (RPT) module, and the Office of Academic Personnel website redesign. On the latter, VP Nafukho has asked for faculty input via this survey; please take a moment to complete.

Other ongoing work includes:

Newly-charged working groups, continuing the Provost’s Future of Teaching and Learning Initiative. The feedback form is still open—please share your thoughts. AI continues to be a hot topic: this article on AI in the classroom gives a practical list of assignment examples, including links to suggestions for those who may not want to work with AI.

For updates on preventing or addressing sexual violence, including the Title IX office which has a new reporting form, see the President’s recent message. The UW also offers confidential advocates, SafeCampus, and training tools.

The newly-formed Disability Staff and Faculty Association provides support and community for disabled employees and allies. For our disabled students, as we prepare course materials for Winter, here are resources—many of them easy to implement—for designing with accessibility in mind.

Lastly, it feels wrong not to acknowledge the extreme horrors in Israel Palestine, and their impacts on campus. Senate leadership cannot express a particular viewpoint on behalf of the faculty. But we will work with administration to support the ability to share expertise without retaliation. Shared governance is as effective as the faculty makes it. Now is the time to lean into working relations and shared trust—for those who can, of course. We are so grateful to our colleagues in Senate, in Councils and Committees, and beyond, who are doing this engine-room work. And as always – in fact more than ever – we welcome your engagement. Your Senator can be found on the roster, and I hold Office Hours.

The next full Faculty Senate meeting is Feb. 8, 2024. I’ll try to write mid-January with what’s in the pipeline, and of course shortly after the meeting. In the meantime, I hope we can all find at least a few days’ rest over the break. As Chair Dougherty reminded us, quoting the Surgeon General, “pausing is what sustains the heart.”

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate

—

Louisa Mackenzie (they/she)

Associate Professor, Comparative History of Ideas

Vice Chair, Faculty Senate University of Washington, Seattle

 

Book a meeting with me to discuss Senate issues and concerns

 

All correspondence to/from this address constitutes a public record per R.C.W. 42.56.

Dear colleagues,

In the second full meeting of the Faculty Senate on 11/9/2023, the following main issues were on the agenda. The agenda includes full text of all reports.

• Chair Dougherty’s Remarks. These included updates on the Chair’s priorities: negotiating difference, and faculty well-being. The Chair is considering standing up an ad hoc committee on faculty morale.
• Report from the Chair of the Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting, whose discussions have included unit adjustments, and the progress of Finance Transformation. Of particular note to faculty is the work of a task force in Summer 2023 recommending some best practices for unit adjustments: communication about this work is forthcoming.
• Report from the Faculty Legislative Representative, on the challenges of asking Olympia for more money when the UW is doing better (finances and enrolment) than other WA universities.
• Second review of Class A legislation related to qualifications for the Secretary of the Faculty. This aligns code chapters related to  Class A Legislation 170 passed last year.
• Initial review of Class B Legislation amending Scholastic Regulations 110:1 to update our policies on Incompletes and the “X” annotation. Incompletes would no longer appear on transcripts, and would be completed the subsequent quarter (except for summer).
• Initial review of Class B Legislation amending Scholastic Regulations 107 to change terminology used to communicate academic standing to students, to prefer the terms “alert, warning, and drop”. This does not change the policies, only the language.
• Presentation from the Future of Teaching and Learning Instructional Quality working group which is seeking feedback on its proposed core elements of excellent teaching. Please take some time to watch the video and provide feedback.
• Presentation from FCTL on resources for teaching with/about Artificial Intelligence. This Teaching@UW website is a good place to start. Other resources were shared and can be viewed on the agenda.

We welcome your engagement on these and other issues as we work together to create, improve, and sustain the best possible working and learning environment for all. Your Senator can be found on the roster, and I hold Office Hours.

Sincerely,

Louisa Mackenzie, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate