PULLMAN, Wash. – The Faculty Senate added a meeting in each semester of 2014-15 to better meet Washington State University’s curricular needs and plans to continue with that schedule of 11 meetings a year.
“The Senate had a productive year, moving through a large number of curricular items, making important revisions to the Faculty Manual and helping support faculty productivity,” said chair Craig Parks.
“I am most proud of the strides we made in addressing issues of concern to non-tenure-track faculty and initiating a comprehensive effort to address academic integrity issues,” he said.
“Next year will be a busy one,” Parks added, “as we become fully engaged in creation of the medical program and preparation for the reaccreditation visit.”
Among Faculty Senate committee highlights and accomplishments for 2014-15 were:
- The Catalog Subcommittee examined 370 requests and was able to move each through the process in 4 weeks or less.
- Graduate Studies had 35 items, often consisting of multiple courses or proposals, approved by the Senate and reviewed 26 sets of bylaws.
- Academic Affairs had 50 items – consisting of courses, bulletins, rules and other proposals – passed by the Senate.
- Faculty Affairs proposed several changes to the Faculty Manual, which were passed by the Senate, dealing with faculty structure, reasonable accommodation, felony conviction, the granting or denying of tenure, bullying, the promotion process and clinical faculty appointments.
A number of updates were presented to the Senate by guest speakers:
- President Elson S. Floyd regarding the medical school, capital projects, National College Athletics Association and a potential relationship with Bellevue College.
- Provost Dan Bernardo and Vice Provost Erica Austin regarding implementation of the strategic plan.
- Vice President for Research Christopher Keane regarding the 120-day study.
- Meredyth Goodwin, director of the Access Center, regarding access policies.
- Christopher Coons, Global Campus, regarding transfer from Angel to Blackboard.
- Matt Skinner, chief enterprise systems officer, regarding updates for the Student Information System.
- Tony Opheim, Information Technology Services, regarding OneDrive, part of the Office 365 update.
“We very much appreciate the strong and supportive relationship we have with President Floyd, Provost Bernardo and WSU leadership in general,” Parks said.