Meeting Minutes: February 27, 2025

MINUTES

 The Faculty Senate met on Thursday February 27, 2025, in French Admin Graduate Studies Conference room 344B and via Zoom. Sixty-one (61) senators were present, four (4) vacancies with twenty-eight (28) absent, and twenty-three (23) non-voting members. The meeting was called to order by Tracy Klein, Senate Chair at 4:11 pm.

Guest Presentation (30 minutes):

WSU Enrollment Update – Saichi Oba, Vice Provost of Enrollment Management; Andrew Brewick, Assistant Vice Provost for Enrollment Management

Graduate Enrollment Management Update – Tammy Barry, Dean of the Graduate School & Vice Provost for Graduate Education

1. Call to Order: 4:11 pm
2. Approval of minutes from February 13, 2025, faculty senate meeting (PDF).
   1. Approved by unanimous consent
3. Additions or changes to the agenda
   1. J. McDonald motioned to move discussion item #2 (Item #2025.02.27_492_FAC) Proposed Title IX changes to Faculty Manual (Exhibit 492A, 492B) to move from discussion to an action item. J. Miller second.
      1. Motion passed: 52 Approve, 2 Reject
4. Announcements
   1. Legislative affairs
      1. Approximately 2,000 bills were introduced to legislature, maybe around 400 will make it out of session (not all effect higher education).
      2. Fiscal climate extremely challenging. Budget reductions are expected across the state.  Will not know the full impact until April.
      3. The governor proposed mandatory furloughs during his recent press conference. Proposed 3% reductions for higher education and 6% for other state agencies.
      4. J. McEwen – Certain other universities have “paused” their PhD programs. What is WSU’s stand on this?
         • T. Klein – Provost has been speaking about the expense of Graduate programs, he has been willing to come to every meeting, but due to time constraints, we told him not this meeting.
         • T. Barry – No program at WSU has been told to (or taken it upon themselves) to pause admissions that she is aware of.
5. Board of Regents Update
   1. J. Mcdonald shared the Board of Regents update and provided draft FY2025 budget documents.
      1. Faculty Senate Board of Regents Update
      2. FY2025 Budget Document – Draft  
6. Reports
   1. Remarks by Faculty Senate Executive Team
      1. T. Klein, Faculty Senate Chair
         • Defer to February Blog
      2. E. Shelden, Immediate Past Chair
         • Athletics Oversight Committee met on 2/18 & 3/18. Projections still show they will balance the budget.
      3. K. Roberts, Chair Elect
         • Committee openings and updates (COC)
           1. Have reached out to committee chairs to solicit members.
           2. International Affairs Committee and Faculty Compensation Committee are almost ready for CoC meeting and then to Senate. The goal is to solicit applications for membership before the Senate finishes meetings for the year.
      4. M. Hudelson, Executive Secretary
         • Faculty Senate Executive election update
           1. 39 ballots have been submitted so far, and the election portal closes 3/18/25.
7. Information Items
   1. (Item #2024.10.31_453_) Notice of Intent to Rename the College of Education, Effective May 1, 2025 (Exhibit 453A, 453B)
   2. (Item #2025.02.27_491_CRP) Minor Change Bulletin No. 5 (Exhibit 491A)
8. Agenda Items
   1. Action Items
      1. (Item 2025.13.25_488_AAC) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 6, Requirements (Exhibit 488A)
         • Motion passed; 51 Approve, 0 Reject
      2. (Item #2025.02.13_489_Steering) Proposal to Discontinue the Bachelor of Science in Construction Engineering degree (WSU Pullman) (Exhibits 489A, 489B, 489C)
         • Motion passed; 49 Approve, 2 Reject
      3. (Item #2025.02.27_492_FAC) Proposed Title IX changes to Faculty Manual (Exhibit 492A, 492B)
         • Motion passed; 49 Approve, 1 Reject
   2. Discussion Items
      1. (Item 02.27.25_490_AAC) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 7, Requirements (Exhibit 490A)
         • No discussion; move to action item 3/20/25
      2. (Item #2025.02.27_493_FAC) Proposed changes to section III.C.7 Annual Review of Faculty (Exhibit 493A, 493B)
         • No discussion; move to action item 3/20/25
      3. (Item #2025.02.27_494_CRP) Graduate Major Change Bulletin No. 7, Courses (Exhibit 494A)
         • No discussion; move to action item 3/20/25
      4. (Item #2025.02.27_495_CRP) Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 7, Courses (Exhibit 495A)
         • No discussion; move to action item 3/20/25
      5. (Item #2025.02.27_496_CRP) UCORE Renewals and Changes approved by the UCORE Committee – Bulletin No. 4, Courses (Exhibit 496A.
         • No discussion; move to action item 3/20/25
      6. (Item #2025.02.27_497_AAC) Undergraduate and Major Change Bulletin No. 8, Requirements (Exhibit 497A)
         • No discussion; move to action item 3/20/25
9. Constituent Concerns:
   1. J. Barber – Concerned that Faculty Senate website does not show the lefthand menu options unless the user has the site “full-screen”.
      1. A. Dimitrov – Confirmed he has issues with Faculty Senate website left menu visibility.
   2. T. Klein – Shared that the new Governor has proposed a 1-day a month furlough for all state employees (including higher education). There is a section of the Faculty Manual section III.C Faculty Furlough and/or temporary salary reduction in a time of budgetary crisis that we will need to review thoroughly if this comes to fruition.
      1. J. McDonald – If state “mandates” how the furlough is to be applied, the Faculty Manual will not apply.
10. Adjournment: 5:02 pm

Matthew G. Hudelson

Executive Secretary, WSU Faculty Senate

Associate Professor, Mathematics

Email: mhudelson@wsu.edu