Colleagues, 

Welcome to spring and (hopefully) nicer weather!  As we approach the end of the academic year, I wanted to update you on several things that happened at Faculty Senate during the winter quarter and where we are heading this spring.   

Late in the winter quarter, we sponsored a forum on Academic Freedom & Free Expression with two excellent speakers who are experts in this area.  We were joined via Zoom by Dr. Jennifer Ruth (Portland State University) and Dr. Thomas Merrill (American University) to discuss the differences between academic freedom and free speech, and the role that faculty can play in helping cultivate a culture that values these concepts.   

If you were unable to join us and would like to watch the webinar, here is a link to the recording.  We also have several useful resources related to academic freedom and free expression available on the Faculty Senate webpage.

We have also been busy working on updating the Faculty Handbook.  These revisions are being reviewed and voted on by the full Senate as the ad hoc committee completes work on different sections.  We hope to have most of this work completed by the end of the academic year.  

On April 2, we emailed faculty about the Faculty Senate elections for two-year terms to run from 2024-26.  There are a total of nine seats representing several colleges that are open this year. Elections are administered by college governance bodies, with results certified by the Faculty Senate. If you’d like more information about the nature of our work, time commitments, or anything else, please feel free to contact me at dupontb@wwu.edu or 360-650-2058.   

In Winter Quarter the Academic Coordinating Commission (ACC) approved 598 curriculum proposals (including 124 program of study proposals and 463 course proposals) via Curriculog. Year to date, the ACC has approved a total of 826 proposals, including 661 course proposals and 115 Alternate Modality approvals. For more details on ACC’s recent work, please refer to their Winter 2024 quarterly report to the Senate.  

Finally, I’m grateful that earlier this year we were able to revive the Senate Outreach and Continuing Education (OCE) Committee and the Senate Library Committee.  Neither committee had met for several years, but I see this work as key to shared governance on campus.  Thank you to everyone who serves on these and other Senate committees!   

All the best,

Brandon Dupont

Faculty Senate President

Colleagues, 

I hope that everyone has had a productive fall quarter!  We have been busy at the Faculty Senate and would like to take this opportunity to update you about a few of the key things we have done. There are more details available in the Faculty Senate report to the Board of Trustees.  Here is a link to the most recent report, presented to the Board at its December 8 meeting.   

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We have been hard at work reconstituting a couple of the Senate’s standing committees, including our Outreach and Continuing Education Committee (OCEC) and the Senate Library Committee (SLC).  These committees are both now meeting for the first time in several years. The standing committees are key to effective shared governance, so I am grateful to those who have stepped up to serve on these and other important university committees.  

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Call for Applicants: Deputy Budget Representative 

The Senate recently approved a significant restructuring of the UPRC, which moves the budget discussions into Senate Exec and the full Faculty Senate. As part of this new structure, we have a Budget Representative and a Deputy Budget Representative, both of whom will serve on the University Budget Committee. 

The most recent UPRC chair Allison Giffen will remain as the Budget Representative for the duration of the academic year, but we are soliciting nominations for the role of Deputy Budget Representative, who will take over as Budget Representative in Fall 2024.  If you are interested in this position, would like more information, or would like to nominate someone for it, please email us at faculty.senate@wwu.edu or feel free to contact me at dupontb@wwu.edu.  

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Call for Members: Academic Grievance Board 

We need volunteers to serve on the Academic Grievance Board. This board meets as needed whenever a dean’s decision on an academic grievance filed by a student is appealed. The pool of board members shall consist of six faculty appointed by the Faculty Senate for three-year terms.  

Details about the Academic Grievance Board may be found here.  

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The Senate approved a new ACC policy that requires review of all permanently approved online and hybrid courses. This policy provides a recommended review process to ensure that all courses taught in alternative modalities comply with the new College Modality Policies, the ACC Syllabus Policy, and the ACC Credit Hour policy. This proposal was approved by The deadline for completing these reviews is December 1, 2024.  

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Finally, as we head into final exams, just a friendly reminder that faculty are expected to follow the final exam week policy, which reads in part as follows:  

All final examinations are scheduled during the last week of the quarter, which is known as final examination week. No final examinations except laboratory finals — whether for a whole class or part of a class or an individual — may be given before final examination week. This means that students may not petition faculty for early final examinations and that students should plan their end-of-quarter schedules in the expectation of final examinations in all courses. 

I hope everyone has a pleasant holiday break! 

All the best, 

Brandon Dupont 

Professor of Economics & Faculty Senate President 

On behalf of the Faculty Senate, I want to welcome everyone to the new academic year. The Senate has a lot of work ahead of it this year, and we are committed to working in an open and collaborative manner with our faculty colleagues, the student representatives on the various Senate committees, and the administration.

As Senate President, I had the opportunity to “meet” lots of our new students at the New Student Convocation ceremony on September 26. As I noted in my remarks at convocation, the start of the academic year is always exciting and filled with an energy that is hard to replicate. I hope that we can sustain much of that energy throughout the year.

In the Senate, we will be working on ways to improve our communication with campus more broadly about a variety of important issues, especially as we work to rebuild some of the inactive Senate standing committees. I am particularly eager to get the Senate’s Outreach and Continuing Education Committee up and running, given the variety of off-campus initaitives now underway.

We are also going to be engaging in a comprehensive review/updating of the Faculty Handbook, so lots of work ahead on that front!

Finally, let me draw your attention to our new Faculty Senate website where you can find what we hope is a lot of useful information. Many thanks to Jamie Lawson who built this website over the summer.

Please stay in touch with your representatives on Faculty Senate and feel free to contact me with any concerns or issues.

Warm regards,

Brandon Dupont

Professor of Economics & Faculty Senate President

Dear colleagues,

You are invited to an All Faculty and Staff Budget Presentation, hosted by the University Planning and Resources Council, to be held via Zoom and livestreamed to YouTube.

Description: Presentation by Faye Gallant, Executive Director of Budget and Financial Planning, for all WWU faculty and staff on the 2020-21 budget. Presentation will also be livestreamed to YouTube and available as a recording. The presentation will be followed by a question and comment period (conducted via Qualtrix) and by a Faculty and Staff Forum on September 29th. Hosted by the University Planning and Resources Council.

When: Sep 23, 2020 4:00 PM Pacific Time

Pre-registration is mandatory for individuals who wish to attend the live Zoom presentation. Register in advance for this meeting at https://wwu-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0pc-qupzIjEtPkTlrVW4nU5Bb-NDa8re0c

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Individuals may also watch via a concurrent livestream which will also be available after the presentation concludes as a recording. To watch via livestream or recording, go to https://youtu.be/J85puB8Wp-Q

Theresa Warburton, UPRC Chair

Dear Colleagues,

Copied below is a statement from WWU’s Black Student Organizations, and below that is a link to the entire document including short and long term demands.

Western students asked that I share this with faculty so that we can work to address problems here and now on our campus.

In light of the recent unprovoked murders of Black people in the United States, scores of universities have published statements reflecting their solidarity with the African diaspora as well as their institutional commitments to diversity. Western Washington University is no different in this regard. Western has agreed to open conversations, reach out to Black students and consider how it might support national change. What it has not done, however, is commit to real, tangible change that will significantly impact the lives of its current and future Black students. To be clear, Black Student Organizations are tired of being used as tokens, whose needs are only brought forth when there is a new hashtag trending. We have always expressed our needs explicitly, and yet it seems as though Western Washington University and the Associated Students only acknowledge our needs when saying “Black Lives Matter” is socially acceptable. Posting “Enough is Enough” on Western’s homepage, might seem to be an appropriate, politically correct response; however, it does nothing to address the very real concerns we have continually brought forth. Beyond issuing idle words, what lasting change is underway for Black students at our university? In the aftermath of multiple acts of anti-Black violence, will the university see its complicity in everyday racism and its lack of real change to support its Black students as less violent than those perpetrated by the police?

We are writing this statement to demand that you start with us first. Fix what has been broken for decades on this campus, before committing to stand with the nation and the world for racial justice. In the event our previously expressed needs have escaped your memory, we are including them in this document, along with additional demands to help the university move beyond lip service and into action. These demands are non-negotiable. We do not wish to be brought into endless meetings to help you figure out how to do this work. We expect the short term demands to be started immediately, and long term goals to follow directly thereafter.

Read more. Link to entire document.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jeff Young