Abstract of Oct. 25, 2010, Faculty Senate meeting

Scott Pearce, Faculty Senate president, called the 2010-2011 Faculty Senate to order at 4:03 p.m. Senators accepted senate minutes of Oct. 11, 2010, and standing committee minutes.

Pearce responded to previous constituent concerns:

  • New wait-listing policy: Faculty have the same control as before and can accept the order or change it if they publicize criteria. The Registrar’s Office will provide a staff person to provide hands-on instruction to departments who ask.
  • Signs will soon be posted to regarding skateboard and bicycle regulations.
  • Francis Halle is seeking ways to provide sites on campus for breastfeeding mothers.
  • The bookstore reports that although departments currently purchase Scantrons through the Testing Center, an alternate source for student purchase might be provided.

Pearce announced that faculty and staff would welcome 1,000 fifth graders to campus Tuesday to learn to envision what it might be like for them to attend college in the future.

President Bruce Shepard reported that Western’s budget presentation to the Higher Education Coordinating Board emphasized what the state will miss out on if it does not fund us and what the board’s role is in advocating on behalf of Higher Education. Shepard added that budgeting issues are hooked to the new Strategic Plan.

Provost Catherine Riordan reported that Western had seen vast improvement in areas of transparency and budget processes since the 2008 visit by the accreditor, and only assessment remains in initial improvement stages.

Riordan reported that Western was listed in the Chronicle of Higher Education among the top 14 master's institutions in the country receiving Fulbright scholarships. Riordan attributed this to talented students writing excellent applications and involved faculty writing good letters of recommendations.

Steve Garfinkle, United Faculty of Western Washington president, announced that responses to the UFWW survey regarding wages, benefits and working conditions were critical to developing the contract issues upon which bargaining will take place. Two faculty fora will be held to solicit feedback: 4 p.m. Nov. 3 in Academic Instructional Center Westn Room 204 and 4 p.m. Nov. 4 in Fraser Hall Room 3.

Senators are asked to remind constituents to respond to the HERI Survey on climate and workplace conditions to be sent out tomorrow. The 2008 HERI survey information is available for review on the senate website.

Senators learned that Associated Students will provide a ballot box for dropping off voted ballots from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Election Day in Viking Union Room 714.

Constituent concerns included problems with spam filtering that cause messages to be posted to junk mail despite saving the sender’s email address.

Presentation: Senators heard John Krieg, Economics, present results of a pilot study on using electronic Student Course Reaction Surveys. Senators suggested that faculty members should have the option of choosing either paper or electronic surveys, and they recommended that survey data be delivered in a way to allow easy downloading to an Excel or CSD file.

Draft Strategic Plan: Senators reviewed faculty comments from the General Faculty Assembly on the Strategic Plan and recommended 1) that a preamble to the plan could state core values and be more assertive in how the liberal arts and intellectual rigor have a real impact on the state; 2) a way to point out that the creation of knowledge is important and the education of individuals is a by-product; 3) that the Strategic Plan should state what we want to really say about ourselves, liberal arts, excellence in scholarship and teaching. It should include a statement that supports the research done by undergraduates in collaboration with faculty, which is unique to Western; 4) that the senate also draft a resolution, building on the Strategic Plan, stating a general faculty consensus on the future direction of Western.

Senators adjourned at 5:49 p.m.

APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS – Chuck Lambert, Appointments Officer

Senators reviewed FAQs on the Committee Appointment Process and will bring recommendations to the next senate meeting.