Dear Colleagues,
As we close out an eventful year for the Faculty Senate and shared governance, I would like to convey the salient accomplishments of this year. We have maintained a strong and steady presence for faculty representation in the multiple spaces occupied by shared governance in our university. This work was made possible by the steadfast contributions of countless faculty in all our schools/colleges and campuses, our office of shared governance, and our standing university faculty councils, ad hoc committees, and elected faculty councils. The momentum from prior years has been sustained and strengthened, and we leave this year in shared governance with some key legislative enhancements. We have also sown the seeds for future collaborations and legislative work and provided structure in the form of committees that will deliver legislative and non-legislative recommendations in the upcoming year.
LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS from the Faculty Senate this year:
Parental leave听– amended the Faculty Code and Governance to establish the first parental leave policy for UW faculty, in collaboration with UW Human Resources. This policy provides for 90 continuous days of paid parental leave to birth as well as non-birth parents within a year of a qualifying event. The policy goes live on July 1, 2026, but administration and HR have agreed to allow retroactive effect from January 1, 2026. Comprehensive guidance and applicable request forms can be found on the
Retirement plan聽鈥� A called on the administration to revisit the retirement plan vendor change that went into effect on Jan 1, 2026. We had multiple collaborative meetings to understand the deviations from the expected process and develop next steps. The President has agreed to a new request for proposals for the retirement vendor. This work will follow due process, starting this summer.
Tri-campus procedures听– brought the Faculty Code in alignment with the Executive Orders and with the Faculty Governance structures and appointment and promotion procedures at UW Bothell and UW Tacoma.
Promotion and tenure听– 聽clarified voting hierarchy in elected faculty councils, allowing schools, colleges, and campuses to use non-hierarchical voting at the EFC level and permitting associate professors who serve as department chairs to evaluate candidates for promotion to full professor.
Undergraduate Learning Outcomes Committee听– amended the Scholastic Regulations to establish聽 the framework for undergraduate learning outcomes and to create an Undergraduate Learning Outcomes Committee.
Academic freedom听– A聽supported academic freedom for faculty in administrative roles.
For a full list of the legislation and resolutions passed by the Senate this year, please visit our聽.
The legislative year was busy, with a total of 5 Class A鈥檚, 5 class B鈥檚, 4 class Cs. But not all shared governance efforts are legislative. Our 12 university faculty councils are key venues for shared governance and have been busy throughout the year assessing and improving things, where they can, for the faculty and the university. Each council includes faculty, a presidential designee, and staff.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FACULTY COUNCILS:
Faculty Council on Academic Standards – behind all the coordination of scholastic standards, one of the most prolific for Class B and student regulation related work. All except one item of Class B legislation has arisen from this council.
Faculty Council on Faculty Affairs – ultimate go-to council for all things related to faculty conditions of employment and work. All but one piece of Class A legislation proposed this year have come from this council that meets every fortnight and always has a full agenda.
Faculty Council on Tri-campus Policy – had a huge lift this year, in aligning the Faculty Code, recent Executive Orders, and practices related to promotion & tenure and shared governance at our UW Bothell and UW Tacoma campuses. This is a huge milestone in streamlining administrative processes and addressing the faculty鈥檚 need for clarity and acknowledgement.
Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning 鈥� the council that will coordinate everything that faculty say/think/want of AI in the university. Faculty are predominantly of a mind to think deeply about incorporating AI into their teaching and scholarship. FCTL will coordinate with the new AI@UW and Vice Provost for AI.
Faculty Council on Student Affairs 鈥� as long as we鈥檙e talking about AI, this council has generated a student-facing survey on their attitude towards AI, to be sent out shortly. They have also participated in discussions about student conduct policy and review.
Faculty Council on Gender, Equity, and Justice – has spent much of this year creating space for safe conversations and working with HR to create Class B legislation on parental leave policy and clarifying the policy on other types of faculty leave.
Faculty Council on Race, Equity, and Justice – has spent much of this year creating space for safe conversations and been a huge partner to the Senate leadership in meetings with the administration.
Faculty Council on Research – this year has focused on the ongoing challenges that research faculty are dealing with in the aftermath of Workday transition. The Office of Research and the upper administration have a group working on possible solutions.
Faculty Council on Benefits and Retirement – is one of our pivotal councils that produced a health benefits insurance comparator. This year, this council has been pivotal in our recognition of the failure of the process to move to a single retirement record keeper, and the council has partnered with Senate leadership to address this matter.
SHARED GOVERNANCE EVALUATION: To get a better idea of our self-perception and self-efficacy, we conducted a that yielded a reassuring picture of our work and purpose while highlighting areas for improvement.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE:
In looking at mission-critical work that faculty shared governance needs to contemplate and organize into legislative and non-legislative action, the Senate Executive Committee has approved the following two ad hoc committees.
Ad hoc Committee on Faculty Dispute Resolution聽鈥� to build on prior multi-year efforts to update and clarify the Faculty Code on faculty conduct and grievance procedures.
Ad hoc Committee on Shared Governance聽鈥� to assess the current status and perform a gap analysis on shared governance mechanisms and suggest improvements.
I welcome your ongoing participation in our 鈥淭wo hours in my shoes鈥� project. This project was designed to enhance faculty鈥檚 awareness and connection with our many wonderful and innovative colleagues in other departments/schools/colleges/campuses. The idea for this project arose from my observations of the proverbial distances among us and partly because we all should meet the entirely amazing and fun colleagues who, each in their own way, are the fundamental reason this university exists. This project is currently in its third phase, and we welcome all faculty to self-nominate for this fun, cross-connection program.聽 We will continue to accept faculty at any time, but next phases will include administrators and staff, and potentially community members and donors. 鈥� we would love to share this project with you, build and strengthen our connections.
Collective progress requires many heads and many shoulders. I want to thank all my colleagues in the Office of Shared Governance, our university faculty councils, elected faculty councils, and the many faculty who contribute in committees and think-tanks and who create for us a powerful present moment and an even stronger future.
The Office of Shared Governance continues its work over the summer. I will be writing many letters of support specifying the university service contributions of our colleagues. The Senate Executive Committee can still be called upon to convene and opine on behalf of the Senate and all faculty.
Please let me know if you have any questions, or observations/suggestions. As a final disclaimer, I have to share, rather impishly, that I have not used any AI help to craft any of my letters/communications/responses during the course of my duties as Chair of the Faculty Senate. It is not that I am a non-adopter, but rather setting the tone for clear attribution 馃槉. It has been an honor and privilege to serve the University in this role. Thank you for your trust,聽 your support and your grace.
With warm wishes for a wonderful summer,
Aarti Bhat