May 5, 2005
UWT faculty group cites achievements, challenges
Editor’s note: This is one of a series on the councils and committees of the Faculty Senate. Robert Jackson is the chair of the UW Tacoma Faculty Assembly.
UW Tacoma enters its 15th year as a vibrant, expanding metropolitan campus for the South Sound. Having already established seven academic and professional programs, our campus was directed this spring by the Legislature to plan and implement a four-year undergraduate curriculum while continuing to provide the current upper-division and graduate course offerings.
At the center of these developments and integral to its progress is our Faculty Assembly, the body sanctioned for faculty engagement in campus shared governance. All members of the faculty of our campus are automatically members of Faculty Assembly. Many have stepped up to take leadership roles in the further development of our campus as we enter this period of accelerated institutional change.
This year UW President Mark Emmert named Patricia Spakes to the top leadership post at UWT. Shortly after her arrival she called for the creation of a campuswide Implementation Group with a steering committee and key subcommittees to translate legislative intent into working plans. This will provide members of our faculty new opportunities to join the campus development efforts together with a diverse representation of staff, students, community representatives, and representatives of regional community colleges.
Meanwhile, the important yet more routine responsibilities of faculty to review new courses, to examine faculty applications for advancement, tenure and promotion, and to assist with student affairs will continue.
Accomplishments of the Faculty Assembly this year:
- A part-time staff person was hired to assist with the work of Faculty Assembly and its officers. This staffer kept minutes of meetings, established ongoing records, and assisted with communication between the various councils and committees.
- A Faculty Assembly page on the UWT Web site was developed. This page lists public meetings, committee members, and officers along with their terms of office and the missions of their committees. It also posts the policies relevant to faculty advancement, tenure, and promotion.
- This year key faculty leaders took charge of the revision of our Faculty By-laws to reflect the language and structure of the Code and to make our working policies both more consistent with UW legislation and relevant to our own campus. Our voting faculty adopted these revisions at the April 20 Faculty Assembly meeting.
Challenges for the development of shared governance at UWT:
- To promote and sustain faculty interest and activity in shared governance. This activity, though useful and generally appreciated, is often not viewed as career-advancing work. We are working to find ways to attract more participation in shared governance while balancing time demands on faculty.
- To examine the nature of scholarship and research in the metropolitan university and consider new ways in which the campus can serve the needs of diverse constituencies in the South Sound, addressing the sometimes-competing interests of faculty, students, and community groups.
- To evaluate and refine methods of reviewing courses and programs of study. We will continue to work with the UW Faculty Senate and Tri Campus Council to make the undergraduate program review established this year more efficient and effective.
- To institutionalize policies and procedures of faculty governance so that practices are coordinated, routine, and responsive.
A half-day retreat for the Executive Committee is planned for this fall to assist communication and orderly planning for faculty and all the contributing elements of the campus.
Our hope is to build upon accomplishments of this year and make shared governance the norm, embedded in the day-to-day customs and working policies of campus life. It’s true that life on a university campus in its infancy (or adolescence, depending on whom you ask) is frustratingly unpredictable and challenging at times. Nonetheless, as faculty on this campus we have an exciting and historic opportunity.to join the ongoing development of a first-rate, South Sound UW campus.
