Meeting Minutes: February 12, 2026

MINUTES

The Faculty Senate met on Thursday February 12, 2026, in Faculty Senate Conference Room French Admin 344B and via Zoom. Sixty-two (62) senators were present, two (2) vacancies with twenty-nine (29) absent, and nineteen (19) non-voting participants. The meeting was called to order by Ken Roberts, Senate Chair, at 4:04 pm

Guest Presentations (3:30 pm – 4:00 pm):

Access Center Update – Matthew Jeffries, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Accommodations and Disability Resources and Dr. Heather Case, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Care Case Management

Partnering with Student Affairs

Access Center Presentation Overview

1. Call to Order 4:04 pm
2. Approval of minutes from January 29, 2026, Faculty Senate meeting (PDF)
   • Approved by unanimous consent
3. Additions or changes to the agenda
   • Added Legislative Update to agenda (erroneously omitted)
4. Updates
   1. Remarks by Faculty Senate Executive Committee
      1. Faculty Senate Chair – Reported that recent forum posts and departmental emails have provided useful feedback on the proposed 90‑credit bachelor’s degree, though some responses reflect misunderstandings about the proposal. To address this, the leadership will work to provide a FAQ document with a clearer, more comprehensive description of the concept and share a Qualtrics survey to gather additional feedback. After this process the Senate will reopen the discussion and share a summary of the collected feedback before revisiting the proposed revisions to the Academic Regulations (ARs).
      2. Immediate Past Chair – Nothing to report
      3. Chair-Elect – Not present
      4. Executive Secretary – Executive Election ballots will be distributed immediately after this meeting via a Qualtrics survey. Please ensure you select a candidate for each office. A minimum of 40% of eligible voting Senators must submit ballots for the election to be validated. Election results will be presented at the February 26 Faculty Senate meeting.
   2. Board of Regents – The BoR will meet in Vancouver on March 5^th & 6^th. A faculty session of the President’s Listening Session is scheduled for the day before the Regents meeting. Also, the Faculty Senate Exec. Team will visit the Vancouver campus at the end of March.
   3. Legislative Update – The legislative session has reached its midpoint, with all bills now past the initial cutoff and moving through their respective chambers. Budget development is the major focus in the coming weeks. The state revenue forecast will guide the House and Senate as they prepare and release their budget proposals in the week of February 23. Debate and negotiation will continue through March, with a final state budget anticipated later in the month.  Early indications suggest that higher education, including WSU, will likely face budget reductions. The Governor’s December proposal included cuts of approximately 5%, though the Legislature may propose smaller reductions; the final impact remains uncertain.  Faculty are permitted to contact legislators only as private citizens and not on behalf of WSU. Concerns or positions may also be communicated through supervisors, through the Office of State Relations, or via Faculty Senate channels. The Faculty Senate legislative representative communicates faculty interests but does not speak for the university.
5. Information Items
   • None
6. Agenda Items
   1. Action Items
      1. (Item #2026.01.29_589_Steering) Proposal to Create MS in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (Exhibits 589A, 589B, 589C, 589D, 589E, 589F, 589G)
         • Motion Approved; 50 Approve, 5 Reject
      2. (Item #2026.01.29_590_Steering) Proposal to Create MS in Viticulture and Enology Program on Tri-Cities campus (Exhibits 590A, 590B, 590C, 590D, 590E, 590F, 590G, 590H, 590I)
         • Motion Approved; 55 Approve, 2 Reject
      3. (Item #2026.01.29_591_AAC) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 6, Requirements (Exhibit 591A)
         • Motion Approved; 59 Approve, 0 Reject
      4. (Item #2026.01.29_592_AAC) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 7, Requirements (Exhibit 592A, *592B)
         • * This exhibit has been corrected
         • Motion Approved; 58 Approve, 0 Reject
      5. (Item #2026.01.29_593_PHSC) Professional Health Sciences Major Change Bulletin No. 2, Requirements (Exhibit 593A)
         • Motion Approved; 57 Approve, 0 Reject
      6. (Item #2026.01.29_594_AAC) Proposed EPPM32 regarding the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code Assignment (Exhibits 594A, 594B)
         • Motion Approved; 54 Approve, 2 Reject
   2. Discussion Items
      1. (Item #2026.02.12_596_CRP) Graduate Major Change Bulletin No. 6, Courses (Exhibit 596A)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
      2. (Item #2026.02.12_597_CRP) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 6 Courses (Exhibit 597A)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
      3. (Item #2026.02.12_598_CRP) Professional Health Sciences Major Change Bulletin No. 4, Courses (Exhibit 598A)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
      4. (Item #2026.02.12_599_FAC) Proposed Update to Faculty Manual Section III.D.8 regarding descriptions for Regents Professor and Laureate Professor (Exhibits 599A, 599B)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
      5. (Item #2026.02.05_600_Steering) NOI to Rename Doctor of Philosophy – Individual Interdisciplinary Program to Doctor of Philosophy – Interdisciplinary Studies (Exhibits 600A, 600B, 600C, 600D)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
      6. (Item #2026.02.12_601_GSC) Proposed Plan Updates from CESHS (Exhibit 601A, 601B)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
      7. (Item #2026.02.12_602_GSC) College of Nursing Request to Close Academic Program Plans (Exhibits 602A, 602B)
         • No discussion, move to action 2/26/26
7. Constituent Concerns
   • Concern brought forward surrounding the recent removal of Turnitin’s AI detection feature. Key issues were outlined key issues related to process transparency, proper use of AI‑detection reports, student impact, and increased faculty workload associated with adapting assignments for AI‑resilient instruction. He noted that many faculty found the tool useful for preliminary review and expressed concern about insufficient consultation and clarity around broader software‑subscription decision making. Bill Davis, Vice Provost of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement explained that Turnitin had previously bundled AI detection with plagiarism detection, leaving WSU unable to disable the feature until this year. With the contract renewal window opening and Turnitin now unbundling the services, leadership opted to remove the AI‑detection tool to align with peer institutions and mitigate high false‑positive risks. Davis confirmed that many academic integrity cases were being submitted with AI‑detection reports as the sole evidence, prompting concerns from the Center for Community Standards. Student complaints about limited transparency and inability to view their own reports also influenced the decision.

Matthew G. Hudelson

Executive Secretary, WSU Faculty Senate

Associate Professor, Mathematics

Email: mhudelson@wsu.edu