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