The Faculty Senate Chair-elect and Executive Secretary application form are open and will close at 5:00 pm on February 3, 2026. Eligibility to run for these positions are open to all tenure-track or career-track faculty with a faculty appointment greater than or equal to 0.5 FTE and are not serving in an administrative position (Article II, Section 1 of the Faculty Senate Constitution and Bylaws — see below for the full text). Article III of the Faculty Senate Constitution and Bylaws outlines the roles and responsibilities of the chair-elect, chair, immediate past chair, and executive secretary of Faculty Senate. Additional information is available under Duties and Responsibilities of the Senate Executive Committee (link below the election timetable.)
| Election Timetable & Procedural Steps | Timeline Identified | 2026 Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Dates and procedures announced; application forms open | First Faculty Senate meeting | January 15 |
| Formal application due to Executive Secretary | 5 PM Tuesday after second Faculty Senate meeting | February 3 |
| Candidates announced | After the third Steering Committee meeting | February 5 |
| Ballots sent to senators | Friday after third Faculty Senate meeting | February 13 |
| Ballots due | 5 PM Tuesday before fourth Faculty Senate meeting | February 24 |
| Ballots read and counted by Executive Secretary and ASWSU President | Wednesday before fourth Faculty Senate meeting | February 25 |
| Winning candidates or need for second round 3 announced | Fourth Faculty Senate meeting | February 26 |
| 2nd round ballots distributed | Friday after fourth Faculty Senate meeting | February 27 |
| 2nd round ballots due | 5 PM Tuesday before fifth Faculty Senate meeting | March 10 |
| 2nd round ballots read and counted by the faculty senate executive secretary and ASWSU president | Wednesday before fifth Faculty Senate meeting | March 11 |
| Winning candidates announced | fifth Faculty Senate meeting | March 12 |
Duties and Responsibilities of the Senate Executive Committee
The Executive Committee requires both independent and shared responsibility for specific projects.
A summary of the current duties of the senate executive committee roles are identified below.
Financial Support
The Provost provides financial support to help offset the workload of faculty senate leadership. At this time, the Chair-Elect, Chair, and Executive Secretary receive support in the form of buy-outs and other compensation that is negotiated with the faculty member’s chair or director and dean. The following link details those funding mechanisms.
Candidate responses and links to CVs will be posted on this site before candidates are formally announced on February 5, 2026.
1Eligibility for Nomination
From Article II, Section 1 of the Faculty Senate Constitution and Bylaws:
The Faculty Senate represents all faculty; however, the primary appointment of the faculty representatives in and to the Faculty Senate should be as WSU faculty members. Faculty from the tenure track or the career track are eligible to participate in Senate provided they have a faculty appointment greater than or equal to 0.5 FTE and are not serving in an administrative position. For this purpose, a faculty member is considered to be serving in an administrative position if they have any of the following: an appointment at the associate dean level or higher, an appointment at the associate vice chancellor level or higher, or a 50% or greater appointment in a dean’s, chancellor’s, provost’s, vice president’s, or president’s office. Participation in the Senate is defined as voting for senators or serving as a senator, a Senate committee member, or a Senate officer. Eligibility requirements stated here are used in apportionment to determine the number of senators allocated to each campus and college.
2Statement and CV
Chair-Elect Nominees (self-nomination is permitted) are requested to prepare a statement outlining their background and goals for their term as an officer of the Faculty Senate. This statement and a copy of their CV will be posted to the Faculty Senate website; submitting them constitutes formal acceptance of the nomination. These documents are to be submitted by the time formal nominations are due (5 PM on Tuesday after the second Faculty Senate meeting in spring semester).
3Second round
The italicized entries in the table occur if a second round is needed, i.e., if no candidate has a majority of the votes cast in the first round or if fewer than 40% of senators vote. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the first round move on to the second round of voting.
From Article III, Section 4 of the Faculty Senate Bylaws:
All elections of officers shall take place by a majority of those present and voting. If no candidate secures a majority, a run-off election shall be conducted between the two candidates with the highest number of votes.