Faye Gallant Selected as Executive Director of Budget and Financial Planning at WWU

Faye Gallant has been selected as executive director of Budget and Financial Planning at Western Washington University, Rich Van Den Hul, vice president for Business and Financial Affairs at Western, announced today.

“We were impressed with Faye’s broad base of university experiences, skills and abilities. We are excited to have Faye come to Western to lead the Budget Office as we enhance its capacity to support the strategic plan through better financial planning and analysis, policy and reporting,” Van Den Hul said.

Gallant is a project administrator and executive officer at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and brings 10 years of experience in financial administration and project management in a state university system. Gallant was hired following a nationwide search and will start at Western on Jan. 6, 2020.
“I’m so pleased to be joining the Western community, and to be working with a great group of people in a very special place. I especially look forward to being part of Western’s work in inclusive achievement and positive impact,” Gallant said.

Gallant has a bachelor’s degree in Geography from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a master’s of Public Administration from the University of Alaska Southeast. As a project administrator, she is managing a multi-year, multi-institution research project spanning geographically diverse environments in Alaska’s boreal forest and coastal margins ecosystems. Prior experience at the University of Alaska includes as an IT project manager; as senior business analyst and business analyst, Management & Budget; as pre-award administrator, Sponsored Programs; and as proposal coordinator/lead, Geophysical Institute. In addition to her project administrator role, she also has been serving as the university’s interim executive officer.

At the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Gallant also served as president of the UAF’s Staff Council and coordinated the Gender Inclusive Working Group, which brought together staff, faculty, students and administrators to address barriers for trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming members of that university community.

The executive director of Budget and Financial Planning at Western is responsible for University resource planning and budgeting, including the development of the University’s biennial operating budget request and the development, administration and oversight of the University’s operating budget in support of the University’s strategic plan. The executive director is also responsible for conducting comprehensive analysis and reviews of state and University budget issues and the analysis of budget planning drivers, such as enrollment patterns and trends, long-term revenue and expenditure projections, and the development, analysis and presentation of policy recommendations with fiscal implications. The position also works closely with the executive director for Government Relations in the representation of University budgetary information to governmental, legislative and inter-institutional entitles and other external requests.

The executive director reports to Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs Rich Van Den Hul. As a leader within Business and Financial Affairs (BFA), the executive director will be expected to share the division’s vision to deliver excellent services for student and University success, and with BFA values which include: integrity; serving Western; communicating effectively; innovative thinking; positive leadership; professionalism; respect and care for self, people, and place; and, teamwork, collaboration, and partnerships.