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Faculty Senate Report to the Board of Trustees for its June 13, 2008 meeting

It has been a long and challenging year, but there is still much to show for it.  While the protracted contract negotiations and some other circumstances prevented the Faculty Senate from completing some of its intended tasks, the Faculty Senate was still able to accomplish much of its “to do” list for the year. 

The completion of bargaining means that it is now time for the Faculty Senate to amend its Constitution and bylaws, and the Faculty Handbook so that they are compatible with the bargaining agreement.  As a first part of this task, we ask the Board of Trustees to approve the changes to the Constitution of the Faculty Senate (approved by the Faculty Senate 3/12/07).  As a second part of this, on June 2, 2008, the Faculty Senate passed the following resolution:

Whereas the Faculty Senate on behalf of the faculty of Western Washington University, recognizes that the contract agreed to by the bargaining teams representing the United Faculty of Western Washington and Western Washington University, once ratified, supersedes the existing Western Washington University Faculty Handbook in several sections.

Be it therefore resolved that the Faculty Senate commits to submitting revisions of the Faculty Handbook to the Western Washington University Board of Trustees to remove conflicts with the ratified contract.  During that process, we respectfully request that the Board of Trustees preserve continuity in shared governance by honoring the sections of the existing Faculty Handbook that do not conflict with the ratified contract.

The third and final part of making the Faculty Senate compatible with the bargaining agreement is completing the changes to the Faculty Senate bylaws, including the standing committees.   

The current status of the standing committees is:

• The Faculty Senate passed changes to the charge of Academic Technology Committee (2/25/08). 
• The Faculty Senate has approved posting changes to the Senate Library Committee to the faculty (6/2/08); once feedback is reviewed, these proposed changes can be adopted at the next meeting of the Faculty Senate in the fall. 
• The Faculty Senate needs to come to agreement on one part of the charge to the Academic Coordinating Commission after which time the proposed changes can be posted to the faculty and passed at a subsequent meeting of the Faculty Senate.
• The Faculty Senate deferred discussion of the University Planning Council until after a bargaining agreement was reached, and looks forward to working with President Shepard on this issue next year.
• The Faculty Senate has suspended the Salary and Welfare Committee and will disband it in the fall.
• The Faculty Senate has suspended the Grievance and Sanctions Committee and will determine its future in the fall
• The Faculty Senate received a report from its ad hoc Committee on Faculty Diversity recommending that the Faculty Senate form a standing committee to support faculty diversity.  The Senate will take up this issue in the fall.

The Faculty Senate also made a change to the bylaws (5/19/08) to allow members of standing committees to serve for up to six consecutive years.

In other areas, the Faculty Senate worked closely with Dr. Guenter-Schlesinger, Executive Director of the Equal Opportunity Office, and Deans Burton, Kleinknecht, and Norman, to amend the University’s Appointments of Opportunity Policy and create accompanying procedures.  At the time of the submission of this report, the policy is slated for final review and potential approval at the June 9, 2008 meeting of the Executive Policy Group (EPG).  The procedures will be finalized after the policy is approved by the EPG.  The Faculty Senate would like to extend sincere thanks to Deans Burton, Kleinknecht, and Norman for their work on this policy, and a special thank-you to Dr. Guenter-Schlesinger, without whom the changes would neither have occurred nor have been so thorough.

The Faculty Senate reviewed policies passed before the implementation of the open EPG process, and has requested that the EPG start a public review process for POL-U5400.08 Conducting Background Checks, which was on the EPG agenda for its meeting on June 9, 2008, and has requested clarifications to POL-U5352.13 Charging and Billing Fines and POL-U5400.11 Verifying Employment Eligibility.  The Faculty Senate also participated in the presidential search process, the university accreditation, and the development of a performance agreement with the Legislature.

Finally, at the June 2, 2008 meeting, the Faculty Senate passed the following resolution thanking the bargaining teams:

Be it hereby resolved that the Faculty Senate, on behalf of the faculty of Western Washington University, commends, congratulates, and extends thanks to those who served in the negotiations for the first contract between the United Faculty of Western Washington and Western Washington University.  This endeavor required great effort and sacrifice, and the work is greatly appreciated.

All things considered this has been an interesting and productive year, and we look forward to the challenges and opportunities awaiting us in the fall.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeff Newcomer, Senate President 2007-2008